C&CC Arrival Overseas Option

And another for you to look at is Eurobreakdown.com

 

I suppose it might depend on if you also take out the health cover with RP or have a separate health cover provider. Combined we have always found them good value. Just taking the health cover when we did a Eurostar trip was expensive. Does the same apply if you just take out the breakdown?

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

We've not used Arriva but I know there are members on CT who have. They should pick this up and comment soon. 

We have used RP a few times but stopped using them about 7 years ago. We now use our bank for both overseas breakdown and holiday insurance. RP is very expensive compared to other suppliers, one year we did use Green Flag overseas service. 

Strangely the only times we had to use a service was with RP, the staff were very helpful but it didn't all go smoothly. 

In the past, I have used both but like TG I now use alternatives. From what I recall Club Care had wider geographical coverage, in my case it was better for visiting Morocco. I also seem to remember there was a difference in the cover for pets, only significant if your travel with one. It always appeared as though RP was the more professional but I never had to call on either so that is a very subjective assessment. However, it was some time ago and insurance conditions change. If C&CC Club Care is still available, I can only recommend you read the policies, both should be available on line and decide for yourself.

Some of the alternatives people use are usually through the banks and vehicle insurance. I have European wide breakdown insurance as part of my vehicle insurance and I find the Nationwide World Wide travel insurance policy available to account holders good value.

peedee

Thank you all for your comments.

SteveL - The figures I have quoted refer to breakdown cover only. I have annual health cover with my bank which I am happy with.

Deleted User User - That's frustrating. Although I was under the impression Red Pennant did the same. I may be wrong.

Tammygirl - I did put a question on CT but it didn't get much traction. Must be a quiet time of year. Or it's a boring subject lol.

Peedee - I have read the terms of conditions of both policies and, on the surface, they seem similar. But I want to make sure I am not missing something obvious. Especially with regard to being able to continue a holiday after a breakdown. Also, hearing of users experiences with Arrival would be useful. 

I am a little wary of putting my faith in other "non caravan specific" breakdown policies. I'm sure all of these policies cover the caravan when it is attached to the car, but a vitally important area to me (and I'm sure all caravaners) is what cover you have when you are on holiday but not towing. Whether it's a caravan being immobilised whilst on its pitch, or if your caravan be will be picked up, and if necessary recovered back to the UK, if you breakdown whilst away from the van. 

Eurotraveller - Thank you. I had recently heard about Eurobreakdown.com and I have had a quick look at their website. I have yet to ascertain if the caravan is fully covered as I mentioned above. Have you signed up with them?

Are there any other "caravan specific" breakdown policies that people are aware of? Brittania Rescue? 

Grateful for any advice.

Stato, I suspect your requirements may be more demanding than mine ever were.

I was content with breakdown insurance which covered  80% of the problems which might arise, but I accepted there were always going to be exceptions that weren’t covered. My requirements were smaller than some people would regard as essential.

I never required onward travel to a pre booked destination. Several times we sat on a local campsite for a few days while repairs were under way - and then carried on.

I never phoned a UK number to tell the insurer that I had a problem and needed them to solve it. I always got local garages to fix the problem, paid them, and put in a claim when I got home. 

I never asked for a car with a tow bar to continue a tour, but once we abandoned a caravan to be brought back from France on a low loader and discovered some very nice hotels on our own drive  back. On another occasion in an emergency we flew home from Nimes and went back to collect car and caravan a few weeks later.

We never needed to include medical and health cover for ourselves as we always had an annual worldwide  policy in place for our other travels .

In short I am probably not the right person to advise you but I hope your travels go smoothly. Mine rarely did ! 

 

Thank you eurotraveller for your interesting comments. 

The value I put on overseas caravan specific travel insurance has changed since last year. I certainly learnt some invaluable lessons. I can't remember the last time I was in a car that broke down. It was an almighty pain in the rear.

My car developed an issue whilst I was away from the van. Fortunately I was able to get back to the van in limp mode. If the car had stopped completely, and I only had a bog standard breakdown policy, the recovery service would have been under no obligation to take me back to the site to pick up the van. At least that is how I read it. That would have been a major headache for me. Fortunately I had Red Pennant which meant I was fully covered. And luckily for me it was only two days before we were due to come home anyway.

In my opinion the days of waiting a couple of days for a local garage to fix a car may be over. After my car was recovered back to the UK I was advised by Hyundai that the part required to fix the problem was not available. They estimated it would be about six to eight weeks before they could get the part. I was quite shocked. That is why I would like a breakdown policy which, if required, would supply a replacement tow car to enable me to continue my holiday. We are having a five week trip this year. I would be gutted if I had to come home early due to car issues.

Apologies for prattling on.

Would still be grateful for any views on Arrival, or any other similar type breakdown service.

Thanks

 

 

 

 

Are there any other "caravan specific" breakdown policies that people are aware of? Brittania Rescue? 

Not exactly caravan specific but the policy provided to Nationwide's Flex Plus account holders is underwritten by the AA. It seems fine and includes European cover, up to normal limits for caravans and M/Hs. One thing I noticed last year when perusing the policy prior to travelling abroad was that repatriation of pets didn't seem to be covered. We don't have any so didn't affect us.

If you don't have the account or thinking of opening one then just ignore post but might be worth exploring AA stand alone cover.

When I last used the CCC overseas booking service pre covid,I am sure they  used a company called Intana or something similar for breakdown insurance rather than adding on RAC arrival cover.

This was part of the additional cost along with the health side of it.I can remember it being good value at the time as it was priced to how long you needed when touring abroad.Luckily I didn't have the need to use their breakdown company.

Looking at their foreign travel service now,I cannot see any insurances run by the CCC for overseas now.