European breakdown cover

Nationwide flexplus cover at £18 per month is the whole lot, UK and EU. If it is a joint account, both account holders get personal cover.
 
When you get a Breakdown Policy, it is important to read the policy and not assume becuase you were not asked about something, that 'something' does not matter.

Ref the vehicles covered ....

First bit of relevance says:
any mechanically propelled vehicle, registered in the UK, that requires insurance for use on the public highway as specified under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and does not exceed any of the following dimensions when fully loaded: ​
• Caravans and trailers - 8 metres in length (including A-frame). ​
• Motorhomes - 8 metres in length or 7.5 tonnes in weight. ​
• All other vehicles - 7 metres in length, 2.3 metres in width, 3 metres in height or 3.5 tonnes in weight. ​
All vehicles must also meet the criteria specified in Section B – Vehicles.​

Ok, so Heavier Motorhomes are covered. Result :) But don't forget to check the caveat in "Section B - Vehicles" ....

Motorhomes – must be a recognised make and model which has been coachbuilt for that precise purpose.​

So if you have a self-build that is over 3.5t, you are not covered at all. So watch out if you got it uprated to 3700Kg or 3850Kg for extra payload
 
Geek said:
Nationwide flexplus cover at £18 per month is the whole lot, UK and EU. If it is a joint account, both account holders get personal cover.
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We managed to need them yesterday. An engine problem that left us mostly on a grass verge at the side of a rural road. A safe place in daylight, but not after dark (which I made clear to them).

Had the usual pantomime of being told that the motorhome wasn't covered because of being over 3.5T, but he went to check and confirmed we were covered.
That happened at 4pm.

I explained that the engine has broken down and we needed recovery. He said he'd never dealt with a >3.5T and was clearly struggling with the IT. The call ended about 4.20pm.

At 5.15 I rang again (each time you have a four minute recorded message, amongst other things, telling you not to get angry with their staff - I can understand why that warning is needed)

He told us he'd have to 'pass it upstairs' to get someone out to us.

I rang again at 6.15 to ask what was happening.

I was told they would contact us shortly with info. I asked whether 'shortly' was 5 minutes or 50 minutes. I was told '5-10 minutes'

At 7.30pm I rang again. She said a recovery truck was booked, gave the company name and where they were coming from and said they would be with us between 8.30 and 9pm.

And about 9pm the AA app started telling us the recovery truck was on its way. The arrival time started at 9.15pm, I think.

Each time the arrival time had passed by about two minutes, it was updated to five minutes later.

So after seven updates each had offered new disappointment, it was a pleasant surprise to finally see a breakdown truck!

The Yorkshire Rescue driver was friendly, helpful and efficient, his rollback truck was only a few weeks old and very smart.

He just managed to get the motorhome on. He said it was the biggest vehicle he has carried on that truck.

I suspect that the overhang was about 30cm too big, but it was dark by then.

After an hour and a quarter's drive to our chosen garage (going the long way to avoid overhanging trees) we were unloaded by 00.45.

Too late for a bus home, we spent a surprisingly peaceful night sleeping in the yard.

Due to a miscommunication in the AA, they thought they were quoting to recover at my expense. Their price was £241.75. Of course, it was free because it was included.

I had already asked a local firm what they'd charge: £350 callout plus £4 per mile - but that was for a big low-loader, not a rollback.

Overall, eleven marks out of ten for the recovery service, two marks out of ten for the AA's organising it.

One of those stars was for not sending out a patrol to approve the recovery. That saved an hour or so.

However, at first they took three hours to do anything at all. They had described a 7.5 metre Hymer motorhome as a Mercedes Sprinter, which is why they sent a truck that was a bit small for the job.

And even as I was going to bed at nearly 1am, the AA app was still popping up apologies for the recovery truck not being there yet.

I'd switch to Britannia Rescue or Mayday at Green Flag (they will take C&M non-members on the sly), if I didn't want the occasional european trip covered.

I just wish there was some way to get Nationwide to move back to Green Flag for UK cover. They were better - but they had also called it a Mercedes Sprinter in the past, leading to too small a truck coming out.
 
Oh no that was a long drawn out affair. As well as the 7.5m length did they question/sk the height , I see Nationwide have a 3m limit? I does appear these breakdown lot ,in general don't have a clue when it's not a car. RAC don't rank very high at all. In three call out in 15yrs its always been at least a 3hr wait
 
Britannia are good, been with them for about 16 years, the only issue is the office staff don't listen when you tell them you're in a motorhome, they keep turning up expecting an Audi A6, which I sold more than 10 years ago, and I had already told them to update it.
 
Geek said:
I wasn't aware of a height limit, but the van is a little under 3m. And that's to the top of the roof aircon, which might not be counted.
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I just checked. There is no height limit. This is what the policy details say:

"The vehicle must be roadworthy, within 3.5 tonnes (7.5 tonnes for motorhomes), no wider than 2.55m, and no longer than 8m in Europe"

Which is interesting. That implies longer than 8m is covered in the UK.

What it doesn't say is whether the 7.5 tonnes limit is actual weight or GVW. Though for most people (including me) their licence limits them to 7.5 tonnes GVW.

An interesting snippet the recovery driver told me. Because he doesn't have a Class 1 licence, he can't tow a trailer or caravan when recovering a vehicle.

He also implied that he can't use the spectacles to transport a vehicle too long for the bed due to not having Class 1, but I didn't get a chance to ask more about that at the time.
 
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Looking at this thread again, I see that wildebus' quotation mentions a height limit that doesn’t apply to motorhomes.

It doesn't mention a 2.55 m motorhome width limit.

Given that 2.55 m is the legal width limit for vehicles in the UK, this ought not to make much of a difference.

It is a proper maze of rules and limitations, though.

Motorhomes - 8 metres in length or 7.5 tonnes in weight.
• All other vehicles - 7 metres in length, 2.3 metres in width, 3 metres in height or 3.5 tonnes in weight.
 
Geek said:
He also implied that he can't use the spectacles to transport a vehicle too long for the bed due to not having Class 1, but I didn't get a chance to ask more about that at the time.
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Is that a typo or something I don't know about?
 
YeoBlade said:
Is that a typo or something I don't know about?
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No, spectacles lift the front wheels off the ground and tow it with the rear wheels rolling
images (1).jpg
 
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