Travel insurance for self drive to France

martindow

knightstyle wrote: »

A lot depends onyour age, we are both in our 70s and now do not take out insurance, relying on our EHIC cards. In France this means paying to see a doctor, about 22€, and for medication. BUT all emergency treatment will be free.

But you still taking a risk without insurance if you ended up in hospital and incurred extra costs or at worst needed repatriation (alive or dead). Very unlikely but these would be extremely expensive if they happened.

I'm not sure of the logic of the implication that you are less likely to need insurance in your 70s than in your 30s, say. As we age the risk tends to increase (writing as someone ageing rapidly!).

AlexMac

European Motor cover is included in all UK policies but only on a legal minimum basis ( typically Third Party). My car insurer charges me an extra £40 or so to extend that the same Comprehensive level of cover that I enjoy here; but that's for a whole year of multi-trips; your may be less.

And if you're not already on some kind of premium banking, compare costs of basic travel Health insurance (as little as £40 a year online for a whole year) to what you'd get by switching to one. For example my Nationwide "Flexplus" at £13 per month fee comes with family travel insurance, plus UK and European Car breakdown recovery and a whole range of other benefits. Now we're over 70 our travel premiums rocket, so Nationwide is cheaper- price-check it.

petemackie

AlexMac wrote: »

European cover is included in all UK policies but only on a legal minimum basis ( typically Third Party). My car insurer charges me an extra £40 or so to extend that the same Comprehensive level of cover that I enjoy here; but that's for a whole year of multi-trips; your may be less.

And if you're not already on some kind of premium banking, compare costs of basic travel insurance (as little as £40 a year online for a whole year) to what you'd get by switching to one. For example my Nationwide "Flexplus" at £13 per month fee comes with family travel insurance, UK and European breakdown recovery and a whole range of other benefits. Now we're over 70 our travel premiums rocket, so Nationwide is cheaper- price-check it.

It's definitely worth lookin at taking out a joint account at nationwide for this - it will provide you the European breakdown cover and travel insurance. Additionally as long as neither of you have an account already you could use the refer-a-friend switch to get £100 cash switching an account - just set up a dummy current account with two small DDs on it to switch if you don't fancy switching your actual accounts. And the £100 will find the account fees. You can then close it after the trip or look for another switching offer.

jackomdj

Look at Quidco (other cash back sites available!) for money back on your car breakdown. Probably ins too, but we use our Lloyds account.

As someone else said, don't forget all the things you need hi- vis is one for every person (only drivers needs to be accessible from the front), full set of spare bulbs, triangle and I am sure you need a spare pair of glasses (oh doesn't wear them so not 100% sure on this one)

z1a

Kynthia wrote: »

When I've driven to France I've informed my car insurance and paid the extra if some European days at fully comp weren't included. Then I'd buy the relevant roadside assistance, which will bring the car back to the UK if needed. Both of those were after I'd booked holiday insurance. Finally I would ensure my car contained all the things legally required to drive in France such as hi-vis jacket, triangle, breathalyser, etc.

I suppose one thing to check could be whether the insurance covers consequential loss. If the ferry is cancelled for day would it reimburse you the accomodatiom you didn't get to use?

I agree, but breathaliser no longer needed, but first aid kit & spare bulbs are.

knightstyle

One thing the Gendarmes were checking a couple of years ago was the CE mark on the hi-viz jackets, our French friends warned us about this as when the rule came in there were a lot of cheap ones for sale in the French boot sales (vide greniers) which didn't have the required CE labels.

z1a

knightstyle wrote: »

One thing the Gendarmes were checking a couple of years ago was the CE mark on the hi-viz jackets, our French friends warned us about this as when the rule came in there were a lot of cheap ones for sale in the French boot sales (vide greniers) which didn't have the required CE labels.

Yep, I've heard about that. Also hi-viz jackets must be in car cabin, not the boot.

donna1979

We've got all of the equipment from a previous trip. I have just ordered some replacement breathalisers as the others were out of date I hadn't realised that law had changed. I'll have to check out the hi viz jackets. 2 came with a kit and hubby got 2 from work for the kids - we keep them under the drivers seat. Thanks everyone

Gloomendoom

I’ve never bothered with the breathalysers. Apparently, even if you caught without them, there is nothing that they can do. I’ve never had to put this to the test though.

The other requirements, such as the in-cabin high viz vests and warning triangle etc, are actually a good idea in my opinion so I routinely carry them in the UK.

donna1979

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I’ve never bothered with the breathalysers. Apparently, even if you caught without them, there is nothing that they can do. I’ve never had to put this to the test though.

The other requirements, such as the in-cabin high viz vests and warning triangle etc, are actually a good idea in my opinion so I routinely carry them in the UK.

They are just really cheap disposable ones from Amazon so figured best to be prepared. My hubby is was a hgv driver in the army so has always had the other stuff in the car anyway - it was just the 2 extra for the kids which, like you say, makes sense anyway!