Went up to Derbyshire to see an old friend on Saturday evening; 200 yards short of her house, car pulls out of a side road and hits my van, taking out nearside headlight, wing, bumper and indicator lamp. Undamaged myself though slightly shaken.
I had right of way, he admitted fault (said he didn't see me, it's a Merc Sprinter-sized van ferchrissakes) so I phoned my insurers, Chaucer, who were very helpful; yes they could offer recovery, but it would only be to a "storage point" where they'd look at the van, assess it and repair if possible, but I'd have to make my own way home and claim the costs back.
Didn't fancy that; apart from it being Saturday night and the propect of a long wait for a train, I'd got one of my Harleys in the back, (in bits) which i was intending to drop off to my resorer friend in Birmingham on Sunday morning. So I rang the RAC; on my breakdown cover I've got something called "Accident Care", and it sayeth on the RAC website that "The RAC will:
Rescue your vehicle if you're involved in a road traffic accident in the UK. Wherever possible, we'll recover the cost from the insurer, so you're not out of pocket"
There is a bit of small print which says "Wherever possible, the RAC will recover the cost of the recovery from your insurer or 3rd party insurer. If this is not possible, you will be asked to pay for recovery."
The rather snotty lad on the other end of the phone went through all the blurb, then stopped me by saying that it only applies within a 150 mile radius of the accident; and I was 250 miles from home. It does say this in the booklet they send out, which i didn't have with me, but not on their website.
When I politely queried this he got even more snotty, and I got the distinct impression that they were going to find a way somehow to get out of it.
Suffice it to say I shall not be renewing with them, and that brat will be the subject of a formal complaint on Monday for his attitude..
|
Check these peops out next time Harley man: www.startrescue.co.uk/
|
|
Many thanks my canine friend. Remarkably cheap; do forgive my cynicism but is there a catch?
Last edited by: Harleyman on Sun 20 Mar 16 at 21:32
|
>>Remarkably cheap; do forgive my cynicism but is there a catch?
I'll let you know if and when my 9 year old scooby doo breaks down.
|
My biking partner has a very, very nice 2CV. Coming through central Manchester on green lights, a car turned right across him and took out his whole front end. It was a hire car, from one of the big companies, with four east Europeans in it.
All very simple, he called out the RAC to get it to the specialist who looked after it, about 10 miles. Eventually a transporter turned up, promptly loaded up the other car, a Passat I think, and disappeared. No one else arrived, the RAC said the hire firm were their priority, as a big fleet customer. He had to trawl through the phone book and pay a private firm to collect him.
He let his membership lapse.......I wonder why !
The 2CV was repaired..cost about £5K after a wrangle with the insurers......but then Tony is a chartered loss adjuster and knows the ropes !
|
I was a member for over thirty years, I jojned them because they were the only ones who would do a roadside repair on a bike tyre....it happened once. I had a very good membership thing, as it was so old it carried certain "grandfather rights" - it was dirt cheap, covered me and any vehicle I was driving or a passenger in. I ditched them as my bike insurance covered me for similar things and as I generally owned cars within warranty I decided it was an unnecessary expense. My Bank now offer me cover as part of a "packaged" account that costs me 5 quid a month, for that I get recovery from the AA, mobile Insurance for both cell-phones in the household, worldwide travel insurance and fraud cover. They just sent me six cinema tickets as a "reward".....
I've used the cover twice - both times for punctures on the bike. AA have been excellent - plugged the tyre for me after a 30 minute wait. Then escorted me most of the way home. No complaints at all.
|
>>
>> My biking partner has a very, very nice 2CV. Coming through central Manchester on green
>> lights, a car turned right across him and took out his whole front end. It
>> was a hire car, from one of the big companies, with four east Europeans in
>> it.
>>
>>
>> The 2CV was repaired..cost about £5K after a wrangle with the insurers......but then Tony is
>> a chartered loss adjuster and knows the ropes !
>>
It must have been a very very VERY nice 2CV to avoid the grim reaper with that much damage, but as a fellow 2CV owner, I'm glad to hear it was not written off.
|
>
>> It must have been a very very VERY nice 2CV to avoid the grim reaper
>> with that much damage, but as a fellow 2CV owner, I'm glad to hear it
>> was not written off.
>>
It certainly is, BB. A very very nice red and grey Dolly. Tony doesn't skimp and there is a specialist not far away working from home who won't bodge and uses the best stuff he can get.
He makes a good living for himself and his son...both real enthusiasts.
|
2CVs go for silly money now. £2500 seems to be the starting price, rising sharply if it's being 'worked on', new chassis for example.
I've been scratching my head the last few days to try and identify a car which is currently undervalued by the market but might rise in the future. I might buy one as a project now that I am retired and am getting bored with daytime TV. I'm thinking maybe an MGF.
|
|
Fiat Barchetta might be fun. Uno based.
|
Regata.
;-)
Serious suggestion - Alfa 156.
|
Wasn't there someone on here who had a project Alfa? Or maybe it was on the 'other place'.
I quite like the idea of an MGF, I've seen a few for under a grand, even with the well-publicised head gasket replaced.
|
|
Actually the full terms and conditions are available on the RAC website. I don't think any of the breakdown companies provide free breakdown recovery after an accident.
|
Don't understand this bit:
...it only applies within a 150 mile radius of the accident; and I was 250 miles from home.
Didn't you call from the scene of the accident? I have something similar in my AA Gold Member's (!) package; s'pose I ought to check the conditions as we may be off on long trip next weekend.
|
What the RAC say they will do
If the vehicle cannot be driven as a result of a road traffic accident within the territory, we can arrange for the recovery of the vehicle up to a maximum of 150 miles as measured by us from the location o the road traffic accident for an additional charge
(as the membership does not cover attendance for
a road traffic accident, fire, flood, theft or act of vandalism).
The charge for this service will be agreed with the member or the driver (as applicable) when they request road traffic accident assistance and before any costs are incurred. This charge will vary depending upon the level of assistance required.
you will be liable to pay the road traffic accident assistance charge within 180 days of the recovery, in a single instalment. However, the member or driver may be entitled to recover this from their motor insurer. This will be subject to the terms and conditions of the relevant motor insurance policy. Alternatively, the member or driver may be able to recover this cost from a third party or their insurer, if the third party is considered liable for the road traffic accident.
|
Yes, thanks, I'm aware of that; as I said above it's in the booklet, but it isn't on the page which I found on the website.
www.rac.co.uk/insurance/accident-legal/accident-care
As you can see, there are a list of conditions at the bottom but they don't mention the 150 mile radius; and that is the page I found on me phone as I hadn't got the booklet with me. I'm not so much annoyed about the lack of cover as the lack of consistency in the information, and the dismissive way in which I was treated. To be honest it would seem that the service isn't worth the paper it's written on anyway, it's just promotional fluff to justify the high membership price.
As it happened I drove the van home today, having stayed overnight in Derby. Wasn't overly happy with this, as I didn't have a front nearside indicator, and was worried that I might get a tug from DVSA, being in a van. As an HGV licence holder it's quite possible that I'd be more at risk of a fine than your average car driver, which could have led to embarrassment at work.
I suppose if I'd stuck a BMW or Audi badge on the van nobody would have noticed the missing indicator. ;-)
|
|
If the terms and conditions don't mention the mileage restriction make a complaint. Is the cover technically insurance may be worth waiting for their response and then going to the Financial Services Ombudsman. At least that would cost them whatever the outcome.
|
|
Indicators are tiresomely noisy things.
|
>> If the terms and conditions don't mention the mileage restriction make a complaint. Is the
>> cover technically insurance may be worth waiting for their response and then going to the
>> Financial Services Ombudsman. At least that would cost them whatever the outcome.
>>
The terms and conditions do in fact state the mileagle limitation - see above
It is important to understand that recovery under breakdown coverage alway excludes the cost of recovery after an accident. This applies to all providers including the RAC.
THE RAC however say that as an additional benefit, folowing an accident they will arrange recovery for you at your expense but with a mileage limitation. You have to pay back the costs.
Breakdown Recovery schemes are outside the scope of the FSO
|
I don't understand why anyone would call breakdown service rather than his/her own insurer for recovery after an accident.
AFAIK, if it is other party's fault, you can even ask their insurer to recover your car.
|
>> I don't understand why anyone would call breakdown service rather than his/her own insurer for
>> recovery after an accident.
>>
Don't you? I can
Imagine that you have had an accident in the back of beyond, It's 10.30 on a Sunday night you have skidded off the road and your car is in a ditch and don't know who to call and you just want someone to sort it all out for you and recover your car
A single call to the RAC seems a good plan to me even though you know will have to pay them back later. As you say the costs of the recovery should be recoverable from your insurer
|
Having witnesses several recoveries over the years, the firms the police often call for you are a bit unthinking and anything not straightforward will probably incur more damage. An example of this is the standard recovery of a rolled car. The shell often is repairable until they've dragged on its roof until it it hits something and gets turned the right way up. I've assisted in the recovery of a RS2000 where the driver was not only compos mentis but organised a bunch of bystanders to roll the car the right way up before the police realised what was being done. That accident was caused by a breakage in the back axle and clipping a curb and a lamppost. I saw it occur and the driver was not speeding either.
I've also assisted in a heavy recovery where a vintage truck spun and got wedged across the road. Bunch of blokes bouncing while a tractor unit pulled. Job done and a tow sorted out before the police could work out who to call.
If the car/truck is a vintage one, best to take ownership of the aftermath and sort out the scene and ignore the police who will doubtless be claiming Health and Safety as a reason for letting the recovery firm wreak your pride and joy. Of course, some recovery firms are excellent, but many are not.
|
>> I don't understand why anyone would call breakdown service rather than his/her own insurer for
>> recovery after an accident.
>>
>> AFAIK, if it is other party's fault, you can even ask their insurer to recover
>> your car.
>>
They would have done, and were willing to do so; the complication was the dismantled motorbike in the back which I was reluctant to leave in the back of the van in some storage yard, which was where the insurer's recovery would have taken me.. Quite apart from the delay in getting it to my mate in Birmingham, I was concerned about potential hassles in getting it back at all should the van be written off. I saw the RAC option as a chance to get recovered home, simple as that.
I saw the accident Rescue bit on my RAC card, checked out the page I quoted above and went from there. Not being in the habit of getting my van rammed by a blind car driver, it's not a situation i'd been in before.
|
>> I don't understand why anyone would call breakdown service rather than his/her own insurer for recovery after an accident.
Really? What if the only damage is to a tyre*?
Or you're riding a motorbike, and the only damage is a broken off gear lever?
Neither would be worth putting in a claim for, especially if its an own-fault accident - but both make immobilise the vehicle.
* One of my cars has only an inflator and some gunk.
|
I've spent many a frustrating at the scene of collisions, road blocked or partially blocked, trying to convince drivers that their breakdown cover does not include collision recovery.
Recovery agents are far more professional and switched on these days and normally give better response times. Better than "Within the hour"
|
RAC; Refusing Assistance to Customers? - Dog
