European Breakdown Cover

I know a few of you are driving abroad this summer.   Has anyone got any advice regarding breakdown cover whilst abroad?

I thought I'd found a good deal but then it started talking about ensuring your car had the correct service history according to the manufacturer and I havn't a clue whether mine has 

Any advice welcome!

I normally go with the AA - but whether that's a good deal or not i've no idea.  

I can assure you the AA is brilliant... especially when you need them...

I know people who had an accident on Christmas morning on the A 26 Motorway just outside St Quentin, France, at about 3 am... in really foul weather.

Once the Police and the Fire brigade had swept them up the AA 

• arranged for the car to be towed to a garage,
• arranged and paid for a hotel room,
• arranged a hire car to get them on their way by 10 am on Christmas day
• paid for a taxi to get them to their hire car
• contacted the insurance company, 
• arranged for the car to be repaired (in France)
• paid half of the repair bill (insurance companies covered the rest)
• covered a hire car back to the uk (car was not full repaired by the end of the holiday)
• paid for flight to go back, from UK and collect the car once repaired
• paid for a hire car to get from airport to garage to collect car
• paid for single trip on tunnel to get car back

All paid by the AA the insured did not have to pay and claim back..

All done with no fuss, or hastle, just happened.

A number of car manufacturers have their own Europe wide breakdown service... depending on how old your car is etc check it out. You may not have to spend any more.

`Cheers ISB- looks like the AA may be the way to go! 

I use Britannia Rescue and can only describe them as fantastic. They aren't the cheapest of the cheap but the cover is extensive. Worth a nose if you haven't taken the plunge?

SS - check out if your vehicle insurers have any deals/tie-ins with any of the breakdown services. many offer this as an add-on when you take out an insurance policy so no doubt they can offer a deal for buying it later. it may be cheaper that way than taking out a separate breakdown policy.

I have European AA with my back account .. including caravan etc

and as an aside to FB's good advise, make sure you TELL you insurers as you may not be covered, most are extra now as we are all trying to get cheaper insurance they tend to take it off, I have just added mine for Euro Disney and they did it for £20 for the year but last year when I was with Kwik Fit insurance it was £65 for the month.

Thanks for all the advice.  I've checked my Insurance and I'm allowed 90 days in Europe but i will still phone them to make absolutely sure!

i've taken the plunge and bought a single trip AA package as I couldn't see any tie-ups with my insurance Company and Breakdown services.

If I was travelling on my own i might have risked it but with my family on board that was never an option.

Getting my car towed back from Embrun might just cost a packet!  

as Roseys says check that your policy document has the European cover stated on it - some insurers still charge for a "Green Card" which extends the cover to Europe for whatever term you need. the Green Card gives you the same terms as the UK cover, and not reduced to 3rd party if you don't have it

I always make sure that my minibago has both annual European insurance cover and annual European breakdown cover as that's the vehicle I'm likely to take - and having it at renewal means I don't have to worry about extra faff when heading off into Europe. it might cost a bit more but less faff is worth paying for imho

I know this thread is old, but its not easy finding helpful people. like slimshady posted, I need breakdown cover for abroad - and there are a lot of companies out there. The prices of the AA and RAC seem massive compared to some. But I am wondering how comprehensive some of the cheaper policies are. Does anyone have any experience of going for any of these or any advice on how to check they are any good? an example of one which offer to beat any price (makes me suspicious already) is http://www.europeanbreakdowncover.com - has anyone used these or know of any company that is any good?

Thanks,
Ffjamesm

Its been a while since I've been with them, but I've previously been covered by a German company called ADAC. Its a long story, but basically to race round one of the German F1 race tracks, you needed breakdown cover with a local company. They charged about £70 per year, but ultimately upon further research it covered you throughout Europe - and thus people here got wind of it.

For breakdowns in the UK, an AA van would turn up - BUT on my experience you would be bottom of the priority list. I used them twice - first time had to wait 2 hours, 2nd time was something like 3.5 hours, and then there was debate about how much cover I had.

Both times I got a satisfactory cover, but the wait was too long, and so I decided to cancel it. There were also rumours of issues about recovery from abroad back to the UK - something about the worth of the vehicle vs cost of recovery.

I can't recommend them, but thought I'd share my 2 pence worth. I'd do much further research on them because its been a couple of years since I've been with them, and things may have changed. To research further I'd scour some of the VW enthusiast forums - thats where I original found out about the deal.