Breakdown cover

[Diane_Rolph]

We've recently reinsured our elderly Rover in France, with UK plates.  However, the policy does not include Breakdown cover which is quite important with an elderly car!

Is is possible to get just Breakdown cover?  The AA don't seem to operate in France.

Any assistance gratefully received.

Diane

[Val_2]

In France when you break down,you just contact either your local nearest dealer/usual garage or nearest one to where you have broken down to sort you out.I've had to call out Renault recovery when a radiator burst and Citroën recovery after an accident and both were there within 20mins. It will cost you to get the vehicle transported back but the service is very reliable. As for things like the AA, I believe there is assistance for new car purchasers with Renault and Citroën etc but not in the way the AA works,perhaps someone else can clarify this. One point to note for anyone with Green Flag whilst visiting France. Check where your nearest garage is that deals with your make of car as friends are with them and to their horror the only garage that deal with Rover and Green Flag here are three hours away in Rennes, no one else will deal with it closer.

[Miki]

We've recently reinsured our elderly Rover in France, with UK plates.  However, the policy does not include Breakdown cover which is quite important with an elderly car!

Why didn't you ask your insurers to include it on your car insurance ?

I am surprised it is not in your policy anyway.

Normally there is a section in your car insurance that tells you just how much you are covered for in case of breakdown or accident. It varies depending on your type of cover but I think you can increase the cover of breakdown etc. Ours cover us for breakdown. Once, it was as long as it was over 30km's from home.  Now we have it start from a lot nearer but without digging it all out, not sure exactly where it starts from. Any accidents are covered from doorstep.

Go to your insurers and ask them to include it or if not, where you can get cover for such.

Having looked again at your posting, you say it is an elderly Rover and are you planning on staying in France with the car?  If so, don't forget you will have to re-register the car on to French plates within 3 or 6 months (depends on who you believe!)

Will the car be worth all the trouble of doing that ?

Also, the way many of us read the situation, if you insure the car through a French insurer and have an accident after the legal time set down for keeping the car on original foreign plates, you may well find your insurance nul and void and therefore no payout.

 

 

[Diane_Rolph]

Val : thank you for the constructive advice.  In fact, the car has already broken down once since we’ve been here and our local garage recovered it (from just outside the village, luckily!) and carried out repairs to the tune of €2000.  They basically rebuilt the engine and the fact that it was a Rover didn’t phase them at all.  It was worth spending more than the car is actually worth because the car belonged to my late father, so has sentimental value, but also the bodywork and interior are in pristine condition. 

 

Miki: Thanks for your reply. However, most of it was not quite relevant to our situation.  We have let our house in the UK for six months, and there is every possibility that after this period we will need to return.  This is why we did not consider re-registering the car in France.  Our UK policy was due for renewal, but as soon as The Pru found out that the car would be outside the UK for more than 90 days they declined to reinsure us.  We found an advert for a company who insure UK plated cars in France and they were willing to take on our Rover for 6 months, but the policy did not include breakdown cover.

 

So I return to my original question which perhaps I’d not explained clearly enough, does anyone know if there are any organisations in France similar to the AA where it would be possible just to obtain breakdown cover?

 

Thanks

Diane

 

[BJSLIV]

I fear that like many people who flit back and forth your requirements will fall down the cracks.

I did think that you could use Europ-Assistance.

They have a French Annual Travel policy that covers two people and a car for twelve months travel and breakdown cover for about £100. But it only applies to French registered cars.

They have a UK European policy that covers up to a maximum of 180 days in a year for UK cars, but they only cover cars up to 16 years old, how old is your old Rover?, and each journey has to start in the UK.