Which European Breakdown with recovery for boat

GolfBravo

Try adac@nrh.adac.de

blued

I've filled out the online form so will see how that goes, thanks.

forgotmyname

Find out if they cover you if you have an issue with the trailer.

UK breakdown will tow the trailer if the car breaks down but if the trailer breaks down its classed as commercial.

Caravan clubs offer extra cover with some companies so they cover the trailer breaking down.

Maybe something to check. Dodgy brake or wheelbearing in the middle of nowhere. Maybe costly and not covered.

mikey72

blued wrote: »

We're planning a trip to Italy in the summer and will be towing a boat with an X-Trail. The boat trailer is approx. 7 metres long. Can anyone recommend suitable European breakdown cover?

If the worst happened and the car could not be repaired then I'd like the option to have the car and boat recovered back home to the UK. We'd also need a hire car so we could get home...

Seems a good option for european recovery, but you need to join the AA for UK recovery as well.
ADAC can write off the car if it's a cheaper option than bringing it home, but I don't know how you stand with the boat then.

GolfBravo

mikey72 wrote: »

Seems a good option for european recovery, but you need to join the AA for UK recovery as well.
ADAC can write off the car if it's a cheaper option than bringing it home, but I don't know how you stand with the boat then.

You don't need to join the AA Ltd., ADAC Plus Membership covers the whole of Europe, including UK (they use the AA mechanics and tow trucks). I used to have both UK and EU cover from the AA, but it started to cost a lot of money in the end: £89 + £230 so I told them good bye and joined ADAC for €79.50 (around £67) for full EU roadside assistance and travel insurance.

And yes ADAC can write off the car if it's cheaper, so can the AA Ltd.

mikey72

GolfBravo wrote: »

You don't need to join the AA Ltd., ADAC Plus Membership covers the whole of Europe, including UK (they use the AA mechanics and tow trucks). I used to have both UK and EU cover from the AA, but it started to cost a lot of money in the end: £89 + £230 so I told them good bye and joined ADAC for €79.50 (around £67) for full EU roadside assistance and travel insurance.

And yes ADAC can write off the car if it's cheaper, so can the AA Ltd.

Have you read ADAC's full t&c's?
I guess you've never actually been recovered in the uk?

UK roadside assistance, and towing, is limited to an indemnity of 200 euros.
Ok for most roadside repairs, and transport to a local garage.

It's recovery home they seem to fall down on.
It's a service they subcontract out to the AA, who charge around 4 euros a mile for recovery/towing, so the limit of a free tow is 50 miles, then you get billed by ADAC.

EU recovery is classed as transportation, and not as roadside assistance, so they will bring you home from europe. Still unclear on the boat/trailer if they decide not to transport the car as well though, and just pay the write off value.

GolfBravo

mikey72 wrote: »

Have you read ADAC's full t&c's?

Yes, both in German and English, with a big magnifying glass, and before I bought their cover I spoke to them twice to clarify a number of things.

mikey72 wrote: »

I guess you've never actually been recovered in the uk?

No, but I know someone who had their car towed from Bournemouth to Henley-on-Thames free of charge.

mikey72 wrote: »

UK roadside assistance, and towing, is limited to an indemnity of 200 euros.
Ok for most roadside repairs, and transport to a local garage.

Nope. It's not UK only, it is actually Europe-wide limit including Germany. There is €200 limit for roadside repairs. Then you have up to €200 limit for towing to the nearest garage. Provided only the local garage is unable to fix your car it gets transported/recovered home free of charge, and they need that local garage to confirm it first - I guess this is to protect themselves from any overzealous roadside mechanics trying to tow a car 300 miles because of a blown brake light fuse.
That total €200 hard limit nonsense that you may find on internet forums is just the way the AA were interpreting ADAC's T&C's to their own advantage and charging people big £££ for recovery they didn't need. The ADAC person I spoke to last year told me that this is the reason why the AA have to now forward all ADAC member calls to ADAC directly (the AA used to handle all UK enquiries through their Lyon call centre, older ADAC brochures/policies list that number, newer brochures don't so you can ring their German number instead). Also, should the roadside repairs and recovery cost more than €200 you don't have to pay the AA a penny - the Plus membership also provides financial assistance which means ADAC will automatically pay any excess and then invoice the customer within two months (you have 14 days to pay). You may find some internet forum stories where the AA charged people for towing already paid for by ADAC.

My guess is that the AA staff are simply not used to assisting either foreign registered cars or people with foreign roadside recovery, they are not familiar with their T&C's and try to apply as many of their own rules to their advantage as possible. After all the AA is a limited company and their only objective is profit, where ADAC is an automobile club (just the way the AA used to be).

Last November my car's battery died - called ADAC UK number, it turned out to be the AA European recovery centre in Lyon. The AA guy said that he must transfer me to ADAC. ADAC then organised for the AA van to arrive within 30 minutes. The AA mechanic then turns up and says "So, you're with ADAC then. Right!", like I was committing some sort of crime. He then tried to flog his crappy Unipart battery for £180 (I then bought a better capacity Excide battery from Euro Car Parts for £52), and said that unless I buy the battery from the AA they will not recover me again should the old battery go flat. About five minutes later I had a phone call from ADAC checking whether everything is OK, and when I asked about the "battery refusal rule" they said it's total B/S, and to remember that ADAC cover me, the AA are just subcontracted for repairs/towing.

mikey72 wrote: »

It's recovery home they seem to fall down on.
It's a service they subcontract out to the AA, who charge around 4 euros a mile for recovery/towing, so the limit of a free tow is 50 miles, then you get billed by ADAC.

As I said recovery/towing home kicks in only when the local (to the breakdown) garage is unable fix it. Then ADAC organise for the car to be transported home, and up to 9 passengers and luggage free of charge. The recovery home part is included in the travel insurance provided by their Plus membership.

The ADAC home recovery may take a little longer for them to organise. So if you must have the car home ASAP, you can then join the AA for £101 and use their national recovery.

mikey72 wrote: »

EU recovery is classed as transportation, and not as roadside assistance, so they will bring you home from europe. Still unclear on the boat/trailer if they decide not to transport the car as well though, and just pay the write off value.

With their Plus Membership they don't distinguish between individual countries - it is a EU-wide cover regardless of place of residence (the standard ADAC cover is Germany only). The only difference is that in Germany they obviously use their own ADAC mobile mechanics, and elsewhere they rely on local roadside assistance companies.

mikey72

GolfBravo wrote: »

........................ Provided only the local garage is unable to fix your car it gets transported/recovered home ...................

That's the issue.
I don't want the car fixed at a garage in the middle of nowhere, for an inflated price.
If it can't be fixed at the roadside, I want it recovered home, and not with a bill for the excess over 200 euros from ADAC later.


And towing is uk, "transportation" is outside uk, with different rules, and different costs, it's a clear distinction in the t&c's.

sunshinetours

If I wasn't covered by BMW Emregency I would use ADAC also if towing. They are well covered on many camping/caravanning sites and some swear by them as do many on the Red Pennant cover with Caravan Club which is probably slightly more comprehensive but consideravbly dearer.

OP if you belong to any boat specialist forums maybe check on there as it will certainly be covered more on there and get more relevant replies from people who have actually done it

mikey72

Not good so far.

I've emailed them, over a week ago.
No response.

I just phoned them

0049 1805 10 11 12 (germany)

Apparently I speak more german then they do english, eventually I got through to the membership department, after several other transfers (no english spoken), only to find the one person who did speak english wasn't available, so we agreed to leave it.
They seems very surprised anyone from england had even heard of them, yet alone wanted to join from the uk.

It's shame, as I would certainly save on cover for EU transportation home over the AA, even if I joined the AA for cover for UK recovery as well, but it doesn't seem easy to arrange.