Puncture from clipped kerb = RTA, no free RAC recovery!

Car_54

LilElvis wrote: »

Not true. Two years ago my car was t-boned by a highways lorry on a roundabout. I called RAC (like OP "free" with bank account - Barclays Premier) and they not only took my car to a garage in my home town twenty miles away they also gave me a courtesy car within 24 hours and dealt with the whole claim. They even sorted out solicitors for my personal injury/ damage to personal possessions claim. I only called my insurer to inform them of the RTA - they had no input whatsoever in the process.

That sounds like RAC Accident Care (rebranded by Barclays), not the standard breakdown service.

LilElvis

Car_54 wrote: »

That sounds like RAC Accident Care (rebranded by Barclays), not the standard breakdown service.

I'll have a look later and see what it says about cover. I just googled RAC on my phone, told them I was a Barclays customer and they put it all in motion, though I think having independent witnesses was the deciding factor. Excellent VFM as the service costs me nothing as I have a legacy Premier account.

The accident prior to that (also not my fault) was dealt with by Mercedes directly rather than my insurers.

Billy1112

I clipped the kerb and burst two tyres!! The RAC said I wasn't covered because it was a road traffic accident. It was 5 in the morning so I chose to have the car towed for £160! With hindsight, what I should have done is call out a 24 hour mobile tyre fitter. I didn't have a spare either. I think a lot of new cars don't have spare wheels (I have a Vauxhall emergency puncture repair kit) and even if they do it's one of those little temporary ones.

AdrianC

"Hitting stationary object and damaging car" is classed as an RTA. Well, who would have thought it?

Simple solution? Don't drive into stationary objects.

leviathan

konark wrote: »

Neither the AA nor RAC will recover you free after an 'accident', however they define it, Green Flag and many others will do.

When the Mrs got hit and the car was undrivable the other party's insurance would recover the car as they hadn't been told about it yet.
So we rang our breakdown co, Britannia.
They came out and collected the car to home at no charge.
The courtesy call a couple days later I asked them to send me a bill so their costs would be claimed, "oh no sir, no need for that". I was insistent and made sure that their costs were returned when the claim was made against the 3rd party.

Johno100

Should have said you believed it was a pothole or raised/displaced ironwork you hit, I'm sure they'd have recovered you no problem in those circumstances.

AdrianC

Johno100 wrote: »

Should have said you believed it was a pothole or raised/displaced ironwork you hit, I'm sure they'd have recovered you no problem in those circumstances.

Kinda hard when there's a chunk out of the sidewalls, no pothole or ironwork just behind you on the road, but a big mark on the kerb.

Johno100

AdrianC wrote: »

Kinda hard when there's a chunk out of the sidewalls, no pothole or ironwork just behind you on the road, but a big mark on the kerb.

I doubt very much the recovery chap is going to conduct a forensic examination of the preceding road surface (not sure why you think the vehicle would come to an immediate stop) to determine what happened, especially in the dark at 5 in the morning as the poster describes.

AdrianC

Johno100 wrote: »

(not sure why you think the vehicle would come to an immediate stop)

It takes a spectacularly incompetent driver not to come to a halt in pretty damn short order with both nearside tyres pancaked.

Johno100

AdrianC wrote: »

It takes a spectacularly incompetent driver not to come to a halt in pretty damn short order with both nearside tyres pancaked.

And they'd be equally as incompetent if they didn't try and find somewhere safe to pull over, even with two flat tyres. Anyway my point stands, a recovery driver isn't CSI whatever, once tasked to recover they'll recover.