Green flag / mayday will not recover your pets
Just had conversations with mayday and cmc regarding the apparent rules that say the recovery vehicle will not recover your pets .
Further more reading the terms and conditions of recovery they will not recover a vehicle or caravan with either a person or pet in it.
The question is what do you do , tie them up to the motorway crash barrier with food and water!
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Your post is a bit of a "red flag" to some,, i do not think any breakdown service would recover a vehicle with a person in it,hence they would be required to travel in the recovery vehicle, and with pets it is normally down to the contractors driver if they are allowed in the recovery vehicle, but they can travel in the recovered vehicle on the transporter
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Yes new it was a colour if you read the Green flag terms they will not recover a vehicle or caravan with a person or animal in it, when this happened to us a few years ago the car was being tow nose up so would not put the dogs in on there own travelling like that, the driver did eventually agree to have them with us in his absolutely filthy vehicle as a favour!!
when I called for assistance I made it clear there were 2 adults and two dogs.
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Hi Clarinetman,
Dave Smith here, External Products Manager at the Club.
Just to clarify the two points made in your post:
1. Health and Safety laws do not allow a vehicle to be towed or recovered with human passengers in the vehicle. This is why the passengers are always asked to ride in the cab of the recovery vehicle, or other arrangements are made. You will find this is the same across all breakdown and recovery providers
2. As for dogs, Mayday (and Green Flag’s) policy on animals is that their breakdown contractors will try and accommodate animals wherever possible, but reserve the right to refuse to take animals. In reality, although recovery drivers will rarely allow an animal in the cab of the recovery vehicle, in some cases they will offer to transport the animal in the vehicle that is being recovered. If members are not happy with this arrangement (which is understandable, especially for long journeys or hot days), or if the recovery vehicle driver does not feel the animal can be accommodated at all, then the member will need to make their own alternative arrangements for the return of their animals.
We’d love to be able to accommodate dogs, and we are very aware that many of our members travel with their pets, but this is simply something that is in the terms and conditions of UK Insurance, who underwrite Green Flag and Mayday. You’ll also find this is standard across all major breakdown providers – in fact, most are even stricter, simply saying they don’t transport animals, without exception.
I hope this clarifies the situation.
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If members are not happy with this arrangement (which is understandable, especially for long journeys or hot days), or if the recovery vehicle driver does not feel the animal can be accommodated at all, then the member will need to make their own alternative arrangements for the return of their animals
It might very well be in the small print, but who ever reads that? When I pay my money i expect my dog to carried in the cab with me in the event of being recovered and I should think I speak for the majority of dog owners. Molly would be beside herself stuck in the recovered vehicle on her own on a flatbed truck. I'm sure I'd dig my heels in for a driver that would allow her with us in the cab in the event of a breakdown.
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And when you've paid your money, the recovery company are also entitled to assume that you've had the sense to read the small print and agreed to the terms and conditions. If you couldn't be bothered then you've not much of an excuse for complaining later.
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You’ll also find this is standard across all major breakdown providers – in fact, most are even stricter, simply saying they don’t transport animals, without exception.
So when an insured vehicle breaks down on the side of a motorway what do these other companies who refuse to carry pets do with the dogs? Do they turn them loose on the motorway? I very much doubt it.
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It is no ones responsibility other than the Dog owner. It isn’t for others to bend the rules or argue. ‘Leaving a Dog’ anywhere alone is not an option & only a person who knows nothing about Dogs would post that. I leave my Dogs(for longer breaks) with a trusted family member-trusted by me & my Dogs. I won’t gamble with my Dogs lives.
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Molly, we found ourselves in a very difficult situation in Norfolk. Far too dangerous to leave dogs in MH on back of flat bed recovery, two sets of suspension bouncing around.
Doesn’t matter which rescue service you are with, they all sub contract to localised relay services, and 99.9% will not allow dogs into cab, there is no bargaining, I know I tried very very hard. The rescue companies just don’t want the hassle of having to accommodate dogs, no matter how well behaved or clean they are. We had to resort to a family member coming to collect me and dogs, while OH accompanied MH home. It’s just better to be aware and forewarned rather than find out should it happen.😁
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Hi
The situation I described has not been satisfactorily answered by anyone, if you breakdown on a motorway what are you expected to do with your pet if it is not allowed to be carried in the delivery vehicle or as it says in small print in the vehicle being recovered.
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We take the dog with us because we have a caravan ..... we have a caravan so we take out dog with us ....
choose whichever version you like. Molly just does't want to be left with anyone when we go away ... trusted family member or not.
Not really sure where a dog's life is being gambled in any of the above ???
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It can’t be answered here as no one can foresee the circumstances in which you might break down. All you can do is be aware of the difficulties and keep in mind the various alternatives such as public transport, hire car, collection by a friend and so on.
There is another recent thread somewhere where this has been discussed at some length.
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That's not going to happen is it? The Highways agency, the police or the breakdown truck will always get you and your dog off the motorway to a place of safety - probably a repair garage.
At that point decision making starts. Do you wait (at a campsite or a hotel) for the repair to be done, do you get a hire car to take your dog home, do you get a bus to tne nearest station and all go home on the train, or do you phone a friend or a family member to come and collect you? It all depends where you are.
But I see that TW has just spelled all that out while I was typing!
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I am sure you will be escorted to a place of safety somehow, possibly dog in your vehicle for the short hop to nearest point motorway exit, after that the fun will start. Always have a Plan B if you have pets with you is my advice
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Interesting this, been member of the AA since time imortal, not sure what their T&c's say and thankfully never had to call them whilst with dog, but i know they do not recover pets on the continent and that is one of the reasons we switched to RP because they do.
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Check it out Rufs. RP is no different than any other provider. Ambiguous wording. The very most they might do will be stick mutt into vehicle being recovered, drive carefully off a motorway, and then ask you what you want to do before proceeding further. We watched our MH bouncing around even though secure on back of loader. If it isn’t safe for a human, it’s less safe for something that has no concept of what is going on.
Caravan isn’t so bad, possible to wait for rescue on a site, get another tow vehicle organised. MH, that won’t happen, it is the vehicle and the home. Always have a Plan B.🙂
Edit: our caution comes from our equine days. Nightmare scenario was a motorway breakdown, having to unload, keep safe and reload half a ton of frightened, misbehaving horse. Thankfully, it never happened to us, but we seldom used motorways, stuck the quieter routes. But we do know of others who had very very frightening experiences. It would require nerves of steel and a good few police nowadays.
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thanks , you are probably right, with RP, but the AA was a def no go and also they did not accept caravans over 7m, another reason to move to RP, but as we will not be going to Spain any time soon, or anywhere else for the matter no problems....stay safe
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My experience is that, although there is no absolute guarantee, many recovery vehicles will accept a small dog. We have a Cavalier King Charles, and on the rare occasions we have needed to be recovered, we haven't had a problem - she just sits on Carol's lap. We have found it is up to the discretion of the recovery driver.
David
P.S. For clarity, I have changed the title of the thread from Red flag to Green flag....
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There is another discussion on this over on the pet thread. The quote below is from the AA. Because they advise to have a pet restraint that can be used on ANY vehicle I am confident that the AA will get me and my dog to my destination without it travelling in the car on the back of a truck. This happened to my daughters dog being recovered by Green Flag on the M1.
“Is my pet covered if my car breaks down?
We do our best to welcome pets wherever possible. If we can't take your pet, we'll do what we can to help get them home.
We recommend you use suitable travel carriers for your pet or restraints that you can use on any vehicle – so we can take your pet where they need to go safely”
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I am sure you don't see a problem with your dog being in the cab. Unfortunately the Green Flag driver may have a different opinion - and he is the one calling the shots.
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Well, all I can say is in our experience, dogs are not welcome in recovery vehicle cabs. The fact that they mention harnesses and crates probably means that the poor little things will be in the owner’s vehicle being tossed around like a sack of spuds. It’s open to interpretation, much like the Governments advice on staying at home, and that’s going really well.......I don’t think. Personally, we always have a Plan B.
This is just one forum regarding travelling with dogs, but it mentions different Recovery companies. It’s from a while ago, but I can assure you things have not improved.
https://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/topic/290256-best-car-breakdown-cover-for-transporting-dogs/
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Harnesses for dogs that use the car's seat belt implies the dog is going to be sat on a seat. Molly travels in the back of our ML, behind a cargo/dog guard, which doesn't have a seat belt buckle to plug a harness into, consequently she doesn't have a harness.
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Interesting informative thread making dog owning breakdown users aware of the issue with recovery.
Last year, our motorhome developed a problem with an injector on the way to C&CC Hayfield. Diesel was leaking everywhere in the engine bay, the stink of it in the cab alerted us to the problem. Managed to get to the site and called the breakdown/recovery service linked to the Caravan Guard insurance we have for the MH
Initially they sent out a mechanic to the site who tried to remove the offending injector but the clamp bolt sheared (Fiat Ducato, Iveco 2.3 engine) A common problem as rain water pools on the head corroding the clamp bolts making them impossible to remove in one piece.Anyway, the mechanic arranged recovery on our departure day so we could at least stay and try to enjoy the rest of our break.
On the Monday, the low loader turned up and we were informed then, that our two dogs were not allowed to travel with us in the cab due to ‘the risk of the next persons being rescued, possibly being allergic to dogs’
We secured the dogs in the MH and set off for home. That in itself is a nerve wracking experience, our 7.4m motorhome perched on top of this low loader, the winding roads back to the M1 at Chesterfield making things very uneasy for us. Credit to the driver though, he avoided all low hanging branches and our motorhome was transported without a single scratch to it.
We were relayed on to another awaiting low loader at Tibshelf services so an opportunity to let the dogs out to toilet. Bless them, they were asleep when we opened up the MH to let them out.
Back on the road, all motorway back to the Midlands so we felt a little easier. Motorhome dropped off at an injector specialist in Coventry (Carwoods) I got a taxi home to fetch my car, returned to the garage and collected the wife, dogs and our stuff. Motorhome repaired with a new injector within two days and has been fine since.
I can understand why the recovery driver didn’t want the dogs in his cab, but it was very worrying the dogs might have become extremely stressed whilst being transported without us being in the MH with them. Thankfully, they were fine and the journey didn’t bother them.
Can’t say all dogs would be so chilled about it though, I’d imagine some would have a real problem with it.
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Hi Clarinetman,
In the event of a Motorway emergency, Mayday’s first priority is to the safety of all road users, so in that scenario, all vehicles and passengers (two-legged and four-legged) would, at the very least, be moved to a place of safety, which would be off the Motorway.
Obviously, this may be performed by the Police or Highways Agency vehicles, who take precedence over vehicle breakdown providers if they feel the safety aspect is pressing.
I should also advise that assistance animals (guide dogs, hearing dogs etc) would be transported with their owners in the recovery vehicle, although in these cases we would always recommend you make this requirement clear on your initial call, if only to increase the likelihood of getting the correct resource out first time.
Regards,
Dave
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