Red Pennant - Am I Missing Something?
Apologies if this has been asked before. We are planning our first trip to France/Spain with our caravan. Can someone please explain why we will need Red Pennant Overseas Emergency assistance when our Caravan Guard insurance covers us up to 180 days European travel, ill driver, emergency accommodation etc, our car insurance has European breakdown recovery and we have an annual worldwide travel insurance policy. Do we really need Red Pennant or are we covered with the all the other policies? Thank you.
Comments
-
You have adequate cover with CaravanGuard and your car insurance includes European breakdown. You have travel insurance for medical issues, so there is no point in taking out Red Pennant, as there is no point in having 2 insurance policies for the same things.
0 -
If the van is on site and the car has a serious issue whilst running solo, which requires recovery to the U.K. will your current breakdown cover repatriate the caravan as well? I would read your current cover policies very carefully before making a final decision
0 -
On the face of it it looks like you are already covered. I also have annual travel insurance and European breakdown cover and don't bother with RP anymore but I would read your policies carefully to make sure it does in fact cover your needs.
peedee
0 -
Does the 180 days European cover include breakdown of the caravan, or will this be covered by your car breakdown cover?
Do you have, or need, cover should some part of your caravan equipment fail and parts cannot be sourced locally?
If such a failure results in you being unable to continue with your trip, do you have or need cover for that?
0 -
You seem to be covered subject to reading the small print of each policy to check that it will cover every eventuality. The point of Red Pennant is to cover those who just have normal UK policies. It does have the advantage that being a joined up policy it covers a wide range of circumstances with only the need for one phone call.
David
0 -
Our car auto box failed in Germany and we needed - overnight accommodation, flights back to UK for both of us, repatriation of both car and caravan to UK. Suggest you imagine a similar scenario and read through the policy(s) to see if they cover all of that. We had similar insurance to you and it was all covered.
0 -
The sort of thing I am thinking of is replacing parts on a U.K. van where these are not available abroad, or where parts are difficult to obtain.
This has happened to us 3 times in the last 10 years, and had we not been able to get assistance to find parts, or to get them sent out from U.K., then we would have had to cut short the trips.
A brand new stainless steel gas hose turned out to be faulty so the Gaslow system leaked and we lost most of the gas in the cylinder. The type of hose we needed was not available in Belgium or Germany, I managed a temporary fix so we could use the Calor bottle we also had with us, but that would not have been enough gas for a 3 month trip, so we contacted RP and they sourced the part we needed and had it couriered to a site in Austria.
We then carried on into Italy, and arriving at our site found that one of the lockable wheel bolts had sheared off. We contacted local caravan and MH dealers, but none had the correct size of bolt, plus it was the day before Easter and all of Italy was going on holiday. So another call to RP and a complete set of the correct bolts was soon on its way to us.
On a more recent trip, our Alde heating sprung a very large leak, pipes rubbing together had worn through. We were high up in the Black Forest, the temperature was below zero overnight, and no local caravan dealers kept stock of Alde spares. RP arranged for the parts needed for the repair to be delivered from the Alde distribution centre some 300km away. Luckily I had the tools to be able to repair the system myself, and we had a fan heater to keep us warm.
Finding parts even for relatively simple repairs can be very difficult abroad, especially if you do not speak the language!
0 -
When we had disasters I should have thought of phoning Red Pennant but it always seemed quicker to get the problems sorted locally.
Total brake failure on a Peugeot somewhere near Florence - I coasted into a garage and used pan European language "I freni sont kaput" .The man replaced a servo system.
I reversed into a tree after a lazy liquid lunch at the lovely but expensive Les Florets restaurant up above Gigondas and smashed the back window on a Freelander - went to show the man at the local Carglass - he had a Land Rover replacement couried down overnight from Lyon and fitted it next morning.
I locked the keys inside the car at Bregenz in Austria - the local equivalent of RAC man gave the gathered round campsite residents a master class in how to burgle a locked car. Everyone impressed.
Car radator boiling somewhere In the Alps - garage shut for bank holiday so sat on a campsite and looked at the view till they re opened on Tuesday.
Let one of the boys drive and tow at Sestri Levante - he flew a humped back bridge too fast, we bounced and the tow bar sheared away from its mountings - we limped into campsite and a man came and welded it that night.
Over the last 40+ years there have been all sorts of others while overseas - tyre failure, silencer fallen off, new battery needed, and so on - all sorted without stress.
Red Pennant had a lot of money from me over the years - it never struck me to phone them. In the end I stopped paying them.
0 -
Yes. RP is expensive but it does give me peace of mind.
I’ve had normal health insurance and when I’ll in Austria which involved considerable expense they refused to cough up.
I am aware that the same could be true with RP but I haven’t read any horror stories concerning RP on here.
0 -
I was interested in this discussion as my car was involved in an accident in France in January whilst not towing the caravan. I’ve been with RAC Arrival for 10 years and understood it was always a recovery service. As my car wasn’t repairable, I rang them to repatriate us and the ‘van back to Yorkshire. They advised me that my policy had changed in 2018 to a breakdown service and refused to repatriate us as my car hadn’t broken down (it was written-off and is still there). We had to ask our Son-in-Law to drive down to France from Nottingham and take us and the ‘van back to Yorkshire.
The Caravan Guard insurance website states that theirs is also a breakdown service so I would assume that you will get the same answer from them in the case of an accident. Also, would your car insurance repatriate your ‘van as well as your car in the event of an accident? Don’t forget, you’ll also have a ‘van full of personal belongings too.
0
