Car Insurance

[Elstow]

I have a multicar policy for our 2 cars. I let the Insurance company

know that I would be spending much more time in France, and to check

that I would still be covered. I have been told that I have up to 90

days cover in France, and that I can extend this to 120 days for a fee.

It will not be possible to extend the policy beyond 120 days, and this

will effectively restrict the time I can spend in France.

Clearly,

this is not much good to me, as I would like to spend up to 6 months in

France.I therefore need to find a policy that will let me do this. Does

anyone else have this problem, and if so, have you found a way around

it?

[suein56]

[quote user="Elstow"]Clearly,

this is not much good to me, as I would like to spend up to 6 months in

France.I therefore need to find a policy that will let me do this. [/quote]

Perhaps this might help you.

http://www.saga.co.uk/insurance/car-insurance/cover-at-a-glance-table.aspx

It will give you something to read until someone more knowledgeable comes along.

Sue

[Pickles]

It depends whether you mean 6 months in one go, or for shorter individual periods totalling 6 months (or more).

Apparently the Co-op will allow you to have multiple European visits of up to 90 days each (on payment of a small supplement). Aviva do up to 180 days European cover in total in a year. Indeed there are some specialist policies which reportedly REQUIRE the vehicle to be out of the UK most of the time!

I seem to recall that some have had success with the broker Stuart Collins.

It shouldn't be too difficult to find a policy to suit your needs: just that it may not have multicar discounts.

Of course, the other thing to bear in mind is that what you are paying for is to extend your COMPREHENSIVE cover for a longer period: your existing insurance will (HAS TO) provide the legally-required minimum insurance for whatever EU country that you are in for the whole term of the policy (eg in France Responsibilité Civile et Tiers): it's just that it doesn't have to cover damage to YOU and YOUR CAR unless you extend the comprehensive cover.

 

[idun]

Watch out for your health cover too, only up to six months allowed to stay in the NHS IF you are state pension age, and if not, then only three months per year.

[EuroTrash]

NFU used to include full unlimited EU cover as standard. Not sure if they still do.

[Gardengirl]

We have Saga cover, have been very satisfied with it and spend up to

6 months each year in France. Within a few months of moving to them I caused a huge amount of damage to my husband's car while driving in France, but his cover the following year only went up a very few £s. They were easy to deal with about the accident and were quite happy for us to leave repairs until we were back in UK a month or so later - it was perfectly OK to drive. My insurers asked for a huge rise after that, so I moved to Saga at a much lower cost; that also includes European cover although my car doesn't get driven abroad. We also have breakdown cover in UK from them, which was much cheaper than directly with the AA as in the past, and they are part of the same group.

Saga cover includes driving abroad for up to 364 days each year, although I see that on their website they put it as 'unlimited' length of cover. Breakdown cover abroad for the car wasn't very expensive on top of insurance cover as an optional extra. In the past we had looked at Saga and found their policies expensive compared with other companies, however that has changed in the last few years.

[AnOther]

[quote user="idun"]Watch out for your health cover too, only up to six months allowed to stay in the NHS IF you are state pension age, and if not, then only three months per year.[/quote]Nonsense !

[vette]

With regard to SAGA. When I renewed with them a couple of years ago they changed the policy to 'SAGA Select', upon reading the small print, I noticed that cover outside of the UK was limited to 90 days per year and not the full year as before. I never did find out why they did this as they couldn't tell me. I had never claimed from them so was at a loss to understand.

Best to check with them just in case.

 

Les

[AnOther]

Perhaps they have cottoned on to the abuse which is going on [;-)]

[PaulT]

Insurance due on 1st May currently with M&S which is run by a company that runs schemes for the likes of RAC and also owns one of the comparison websites.

Once again the renewal for M&S higher than what comes up on the comparison sites for M&S - a quick call will normally get them beating that price.

Before contacting 'M&S' which only provides for 90 days in EU I looked at other insurers - Saga including breakdown was £423 and stay abroad as long as you like.

Nationwide was £315, 180 days in EU and same over as in UK including breakdown, courtesy car (standard on their policies), protected NCD and legal assist. LV was the same but with a courtesy car (additional £19.60) £333. The interesting thing is LV provide the insurance for Nationwide, so go direct and pay more.

So phone M&S at renewal cost £321 but on comparison site £291. First thing said to them was 'DO NOT AUTO-RENEW ME - I am looking at alternatives but what can you do, I need up to 180 days EU cover'. The reply was 'cannot do more than 90 days'.

So have just taken out insurance with LV but via Nationwide.

Breakdown cover is provided by Britannia. A little unhappy about going away from M&S as their cover was via RAC and when I had to cover an ageing hire van to take stuff down to France that broke down RAC were 110%.

In my research it did seem that only LV was automatically providing the 180 days as opposed to 30, 60 or 90 days and £100 cheaper than Saga and we do not need more than 180 days.

[EuroTrash]

Don't worry about Britannia Rescue, they provide a good service. Have in the past used them in France for everything from changing a wheel to repatriating a motorhome. When I was in the UK I chose them over the RAC every time, cheaper and better.

[powerdesal]

Shouldn't every driver be capable of changing a wheel themselves rather than calling out a rescue service ?

[Pickles]

[quote user="powerdesal"]Shouldn't every driver be capable of changing a wheel themselves rather than calling out a rescue service ?[/quote]

Well, I'm not sure if my 80-year-old mother can, though she knows HOW to do it!

However, current advice in the Highway code states that if you are on a motorway and have a breakdown, you should "not put yourself in danger by attempting even simple repairs" but call a rescue service. This is generally interpreted (not least apparently in the Theory test) as meaning that you should not change a tyre yourself on a motorway.

[Jay]

[quote user="powerdesal"]Shouldn't every driver be capable of changing a wheel themselves rather than calling out a rescue service ?[/quote].

All been said before http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance/cs/forums/3071212/ShowPost.aspx

[Rabbie]

[quote user="powerdesal"]Shouldn't every driver be capable of changing a wheel themselves rather than calling out a rescue service ?[/quote]

With many workshops overtightening wheel nuts it can be extremely hard for some drivers with physical limitations to change a wheel. Luckily punctures seem to be less common than they were in the days of my youth.

[EuroTrash]

powerdesal, so you'd be happy to jack up a 3.5 tonne campervan and change a wheel on the side next to the traffic on an autoroute?

Some posters are a little quick to judge...

As said, official advice in the UK these days is not to try and do it yourself. Not sure if the same applies in France but the rescue people that came out didn't at all give the impression that they thought I was wasting their time and should have done it myself (myself being of the fairer sex, I might add).

[AnOther]

[quote user="EuroTrash"]so you'd be happy to jack up a 3.5 tonne campervan and change a wheel on the side next to the traffic on an autoroute?[/quote]Hyperbole - where did PD or anybody mention 3.5t camper vans !

[quote user="EuroTrash"]the rescue people that came out didn't at all

give the impression that they thought I was wasting their time and

should have done it myself[/quote]Do you not think that the fact they

were making money out of it might have just had the teeniest effect on their

attitude ?

As for wheel nut's, whenever I have tyres fitted the

first thing I do when back home is to undo them and re-tighten them to

how tight they NEED to be and that is never too tight for my OH to undo.

Before

the doomsayers step in and tell me my wheels are going to fall off I've

been doing this for 50 years and never lost a wheel yet nor even had

one come loose.

[EuroTrash]

Hyperbole - where did PD or anybody mention 3.5t camper vans !

Exactly. Maybe people should find out what vehicle it is before they jump in and imply that it's feeble to call the breakdown service out to change a wheel. In fact campervans had been mentioned because it was the same one that had been repatriated a few years earlier, I didn't go into detail cos I didn't realise was going to be pulled up over it.

I think he earned his money crawling underneath the van on hard wet mucky tarmac to get the spare out of the cage and then lifting the old wheel back into the cage afterwards. It would have well spoiled my dress if I'd had to do that. Not one of Mercedes' best ideas, slinging spare wheels underneath the van.

[Gardengirl]

[quote user="powerdesal"]Shouldn't every driver be capable of changing a wheel themselves rather than calling out a rescue service ?[/quote]

Why on earth should that be so?

I've never changed a wheel in my life, never actually needed to - and

wouldn't dream of starting now! Surely anything that occurs when out

driving that needs putting right is covered by the fee paid to the call-out company. I've rarely

needed to call AA or anybody out, but that's what insurance is for -

when that time comes.

[Araucaria]

[quote user="gardengirl "][quote user="powerdesal"]Shouldn't every driver be capable of changing a wheel themselves rather than calling out a rescue service ?[/quote]

Why on earth should that be so?

I've never changed a wheel in my life, never actually needed to - and

wouldn't dream of starting now! Surely anything that occurs when out

driving that needs putting right is covered by the fee paid to the call-out company. I've rarely

needed to call AA or anybody out, but that's what insurance is for -

when that time comes.

[/quote]

When I changed a wheel a couple of years ago in an underground carpark, the nuts were so tight I had to jump up and down (and I mean literally) on the flimsy wheelbrace supplied with the car. After that I bought one of those extending bars with a reversible 17mm/19mm socket (less than €10) - it will undo even the wheelnuts that have been overtightened by the helpful chap at the garage. But going by my own experience I wouldn't expect the average motorist to be able to change a wheel with what is supplied by the car manufacturer.

And then there's my "new" car, a Citroen Xsara Picasso. The wheelbrace is stored in a special plastic box that lives inside the spare wheel, and the spare wheel is in a cage under the back of the car. Other owners of this car say that if you get a rear wheel puncture that gives you a flat tyre (as opposed to a soft one) it's impossible to lower the cage far enough to get the wheelbrace out. So I think calling out the local garage would be a sensible choice then, too.

[PaulT]

In the back of my car is a torque wrench so as to tighten the nuts correctly. Garages that use the air wrench to tighten wheel nuts to the same torque on each vehicle (which is the same torque as securing the propeller to a large liner) need shooting at the very least - plus the risk of causing fractures in the bolts.

The thing about the autoroutes that worries me is how narrow the hard shoulder is - some seem less than a vehicle width!

[Gardengirl]

[quote user="PaulT"]In the back of my car is a torque wrench so as to tighten the nuts correctly. Garages that use the air wrench to tighten wheel nuts to the same torque on each vehicle (which is the same torque as securing the propeller to a large liner) need shooting at the very least - plus the risk of causing fractures in the bolts.

The thing about the autoroutes that worries me is how narrow the hard shoulder is - some seem less than a vehicle width![/quote]

Even worse, in UK they are using the hard shoulders of motorways in some places as actual lanes. Seems hugely dangerous to me!

[PaulT]

Totally agree on the dangers of using the hard shoulder as a lane. Seems though that some drivers think that there should be an additional outside lane - often the outer lanes are chock-a-block but the inside lane is empty. Is it machoism that makes some feel that it is cissy to use the inside lane?

[powerdesal]

Obviously a number of people took exception to my comments about being able to change a wheel.

There will always be those who are physically limited in the ability to change a wheel and I have no issue with that. Personally I have always insisted that my daughters were shown how to change a wheel before they were allowed to drive, similarly I have always made sure the wheel nuts are removable.

My wife is perfectly able to do a wheel change and has done when necessary.

On the subject of the dangers on the autoroute / motorway, I appreciate the hazards, in fact I have in the past driven on a 'flat' to get to a safe place, yes, it wrecks the tyre and possibly the wheel itself but what price safety.

The guy you call out will be in the same dangerous situation.

I take the advice of the UK Govt in this regard as another example of 'nanny state-ism'.

I must admit to having been ''called out'' to change a wheel for my wife on one occasion, in mitigation it was in an ambient temp of approx 45 deg C in the shade ( which there wasn't any of ) and the car was on sand so required more than simple jacking up.

[EuroTrash]

"The guy you call out will be in the same dangerous situation."

Not really because they have a big breakdown truck full of flashing lights to park on the hardshoulder to clearly signal the danger to traffic, plus they are trained and experienced. Which I thought was the reason the UK discourages people changing wheels on motorways. Not that they're not capable of changing a wheel, but in the absence of a strategically positioned truck with flashing lights,to give advance warning, a person crouching down beside a car is not easily spotted by traffic travelling in the inside lane at 100kph and in the case of poids lourds creating a dangerous sidedraught.