Red Pennant and Sanef autoroute in France
It is my understanding from various other posts that only Sanef breakdown vehicles can recover you if you break down on an autoroute in France.
If you have Red Pennant does the same apply? Do you phone Red Pennant for recovery or use the Sanef phone on the French autoroute and who pays if the driver asks for payment? Thanks.
Comments
-
Only time I needed assistance, phoned Red Pennant & was told to use Autoroute phone. Had to pay driver cash. Cleared us out of cash to the extent that we couldn't buy a baguette on campsite next morning
0 -
Only time I needed assistance, phoned Red Pennant & was told to use Autoroute phone. Had to pay driver cash. Cleared us out of cash to the extent that we couldn't buy a baguette on campsite next morning
That is very worrying as we carry very little cash with us and we have paid for breakdown cover with RP.
0 -
Our experience was a bit different.
On an autoroute you have to use the roadside phone - and you are generally asked if you have breakdown insurance and if so, who with. In the one instance we broke down years ago we used the roadside phone, and were told a truck would be on the way, but they also then transferred us to the AA Call Centre in Lyon (we had AA cover) and the arrangement to pay the driver was made by the AA so we had no cash to find.
On another forum there is a long thread about ADAC and paying for recovery from the autoroute, but on that occasion the fee (paid in cash) was refunded by ADAC after the event.
Perhaps one of the Caravan Club staff can comment as to how payment/refund of payment is handled by Red Pennant.
0 -
The autoroute breakdown service will tow you off the motorway. Then in a safe place they will take your Red Pennant details and bill the charges to them. Been there, done it!
0 -
I would add that having paid driver (it was to change caravan wheel after a blowout) I was refunded in full on return to UK
0 -
I would add that having paid driver (it was to change caravan wheel after a blowout) I was refunded in full on return to UK
If you have breakdown insurance you should nto have to pay any one at any time even if you are refunded on your return otherwise what is the point of insurance. If you have personal cover and suffer an issue, does that mean you have to pay and then reclaim
on your return to the UK.Either way you lose financially on your holiday! BTW nothing in the RP brochure regarding this issue.
0 -
Yes, I can think of all sorts of emergency situations where you may well have to pay up front and reclaim later - so take good credit cards with enough headroom to cover those events which may arise.
0 -
Morning everyone
On page 10 of the Red Pennant Assistance booklet, there is information on what you need to do if you break-down on the Autoroutes in France.
Once you have called the police to arrange recovery, you need to call Red Pennant and they will contact the company that is recovering you to ask them if they will accept payment from Red Pennant. In 85% of cases the break-down company will accept payment from Red Pennant. If the break-down company refuses to accept the payment from Red Pennant, then you will need to pay, and claim the cost back.
0 -
Morning everyone
On page 10 of the Red Pennant Assistance booklet, there is information on what you need to do if you break-down on the Autoroutes in France.
Once you have called the police to arrange recovery, you need to call Red Pennant and they will contact the company that is recovering you to ask them if they will accept payment from Red Pennant. In 85% of cases the break-down company will accept payment
from Red Pennant. If the break-down company refuses to accept the payment from Red Pennant, then you will need to pay, and claim the cost back.Thanks Hazel. Any idea of approximately how long it takes to get the refund?
0 -
Hi Surfer
The time it takes to be paid for a claim depends on how busy the claims department is. At the moment (low season) it takes approximately 5-10 working days to pay the claim once the claim form has been received.
In high season, it can take 5-15 working days.
0 -
Trying to access the info I get the following message;
Page not found
No umbraco document matches the url 'http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/insurance/overseas-holiday-insurance'
umbraco tried this to match it using this xpath query'/root/*/* [@urlName = "insurance"]/* [@urlName = "overseas-holiday-insurance"] | /root/* [@urlName = "overseas-holiday-insurance"]')
This page can be replaced with a custom 404 page by adding the id of the umbraco document to show as 404 page in the /config/umbracoSettings.config file. Just add the id to the '/settings/content/errors/error404' element.
For more information, visit information about custom 404 on the umbraco website.
This page is intentionally left ugly ;-)
0 -
Morning everyone
On page 10 of the Red Pennant Assistance booklet, there is information on what you need to do if you break-down on the Autoroutes in France.
Once you have called the police to arrange recovery, you need to call Red Pennant and they will contact the company that is recovering you to ask them if they will accept payment from Red Pennant. In 85% of cases the break-down company will accept payment from Red Pennant. If the break-down company refuses to accept the payment from Red Pennant, then you will need to pay, and claim the cost back.
Hazel I am looking at page 10 of the Red Pennant Motoring Only cover booklet right now, and there is no mention about a breakdown company and Sanef toll roads.
I can find no mention of it in the booklet anywhere?
0 -
Hi Surfer
16m is the policy booklet, which gives details about the cover that you have.
Issue 15 is the assistance booklet which gives details of what you need to do and who you need to call if you need assistance.
When you take out a policy, you should get both booklets.
One policy booklet (16M) , and one assistance booklet (issue 15).
Best regards
hazel
0 -
Hi Surfer
16m is the policy booklet, which gives details about the cover that you have.
Issue 15 is the assistance booklet which gives details of what you need to do and who you need to call if you need assistance.
When you take out a policy, you should get both booklets.
One policy booklet (16M) , and one assistance booklet (issue 15).
Best regards
hazel
Hi Hazel, I have been through all my files and drawers and cannot find the assistance booklet you mention. I cannot even find a copy of it on the CC website. I have also check all my emails regarding my cover and no Assistance booklet attached. Can you
please provide a link to this booklet or email me a copy? Thanks.0 -
Morning Surfer
Can you e-mail me: hazel.havell@caravanclub.co.,uk I can e-mail you back a PDF of the assistance booklet, or send you a copy in the post.
Please let me know in your e-mail which option you would prefer.
Many thanks
Hazel
0 -
When you do the quote Online, the only thing you see before paying is the Policy Summary and the Policy Booklet. Neither of which mention the autoroute restrictions. No Assistant booklet is available to view.
As we are travelling on a budget this could have a serious knock on effect on our holiday should be unfortunate enough to suffer a breakdown like a puncture on an autoroute. Other have advised that we should take out a credit card just in case, but as we
leave for France on Thursday, it will not arrive in time.Surely something like this should be made very obvious prior to purchasing the Red Pennant cover? At least you then know to make sure that you have sufficient funds to cover such an emergency.
0 -
Hi Surfer
I will pass your comments to the Red Pennant team.
Below is confirmation from one of the Duty officers regarding the law in France:
It is the law in France that only recovery vehicles sent by the police can enter motorways in France and unfortunately there is nothing Red Pennant can do to change this. If we tried to send someone, they would refuse as they could very likely lose their
licence. Requesting assistance is done by picking up the orange phone and the police will immediately know your location. We advise members to call us once the assistance arrives. We then speak to the recovery person and ask if he will accept our guarantee
for payment. It is up to the garage whether they will or not, but from experience, most have heard of the Caravan Club and will accept this. If the garage will not accept our payment, then members will need to pay and Red Pennant will reimburse you for
the recovery once you have submitted your claim. The vehicle/outfit is then usually towed back to the garage and we ask members to contact us once they are there, so we can then fully take over and assist in the normal way.The same rules apply to all break-down policies in France. The AA, RAC, ADAC are in exactly the same position. In 85-90 % of cases the recovery company will accept the Caravan Club guarentee.
0 -
Hi Surfer
I will pass your comments to the Red Pennant team.
Below is confirmation from one of the Duty officers regarding the law in France:
It is the law in France that only recovery vehicles sent by the police can enter motorways in France and unfortunately there is nothing Red Pennant can do to change this. If we tried to send someone, they would refuse as they could very likely lose their
licence. Requesting assistance is done by picking up the orange phone and the police will immediately know your location. We advise members to call us once the assistance arrives. We then speak to the recovery person and ask if he will accept our guarantee
for payment. It is up to the garage whether they will or not, but from experience, most have heard of the Caravan Club and will accept this. If the garage will not accept our payment, then members will need to pay and Red Pennant will reimburse you for
the recovery once you have submitted your claim. The vehicle/outfit is then usually towed back to the garage and we ask members to contact us once they are there, so we can then fully take over and assist in the normal way.The same rules apply to all break-down policies in France. The AA, RAC, ADAC are in exactly the same position. In 85-90 % of cases the recovery company will accept the Caravan Club guarentee.
This is our first time to France so we were not aware of the above rulling and assume that when we took out the Red Pennant we woudl be covered for all eventualities regarding breakdown. At no time were we informed of the above.
We are not disputing it, but feel that we should have been made aware of this restriction when taking out the policy. I am wondering how many other people have bene caught out with this?
We are now looking at alternative insurance who offer the same cover as part of our current account as we now feel that we were misled by Red Pennant. We appreciate that there will be the same restrictions mentioned above, but at at least we would not be
paying £209 upfront.0 -
.....
This is our first time to France so we were not aware of the above rulling and assume that when we took out the Red Pennant we woudl be covered for all eventualities regarding breakdown. At no time were we informed of the above.
We are not disputing it, but feel that we should have been made aware of this restriction when taking out the policy. I am wondering how many other people have bene caught out with this?
We are now looking at alternative insurance who offer the same cover as part of our current account as we now feel that we were misled by Red Pennant. We appreciate that there will be the same restrictions mentioned above, but at at least we would not be
paying £209 upfront.I'm not really sure what you have a problem with. Plenty of insurances will expect you to pay for the goods/services & then be reimbursed later .... I' think in some cases I'd prefer that eg if you were replacing a hosehold item would you expect your insurance
to pay the supplier direct?And surely all insurance is paid for up front
0 -
Surfer, do please take sufficient funds and cards to cope with emergencies. Doctors, vets, replacement tyres, batteries, silencers, broken windscreens, replacement of stolen property, will all have to be paid for up front then reclaimed.
Change your insurance company if you wish, but none of them will send a man with a money bag to follow you around France paying bills for you. But I hope your first tour of France goes well and that no problems arise. Do please let us know about it when you are back. Good luck.
0 -
What gets me with all these insurances, not just RP, is the plethora of T&C, Key Features, Policy Document, Supplementary Conditions, Guides and leaflets. It would take you a major part of a two week holiday to check through to see if the incident was covered
anyway. The KISS principle seems to have escaped them completely.0 -
I'm not really sure what you have a problem with. Plenty of insurances will expect you to pay for the goods/services & then be reimbursed later .... I' think in some cases I'd prefer that eg if you were replacing a hosehold item would you expect your insurance
to pay the supplier direct?And surely all insurance is paid for up front
Please read my email properly before commenting. The issue is not the payment, but the fact that we were never informed upfront about this abnormality with Sanef autoroute. Hazel is doing her best to resolve the issue, but I feel that members should be
made aware of this issue.0 -
Surfer, do please take sufficient funds and cards to cope with emergencies. Doctors, vets, replacement tyres, batteries, silencers, broken windscreens, replacement of stolen property, will all have to be paid for up front then reclaimed.
Change your insurance company if you wish, but none of them will send a man with a money bag to follow you around France paying bills for you. But I hope your first tour of France goes well and that no problems arise. Do please let us know about it when you are back. Good luck.
Thanks. Hopefuly we have sufficient savings to cover most eventualities without resorting to a credit card, but it means transferring the money into a current account for "just in case". The issue is that the CC Red Pennant should be clearer regardaing policies and not omit details and this what Hazel is doing.
0 -
Hi Surfer
I have just e-mailed you a PDF of the Assistance booklet. As the e-mail has an attachment it might go directly to your Spam or Junk box. Can you let me know if you have received it OK?
I hope you have a trouble free holiday, and you have a great time
Thanks
Hazel
0
