RAC collect from MSA event crash / breakdown

[BMWChris]

Someone once told me that the RAC will collect members from off the highway MSA activities in the event of a breakdown / accident. I.e. If I drive to a hillclimb, my engine fails or I crash, while competing in a car I had driven to the venue, they would take me home.

This can't be true can it? It would cost them a fortune.

[Burp]

"Assistance is not available for Vehicles that have
broken down as a result of participation in motorsport
or off road activities taking place off road and/or not
subject to normal rules of the road, nor Vehicles used
for hire or reward. See page 17 of the terms and
conditions for further details of this exclusion."


Page 8 in this PDF

http://media.rac.co.uk/pdf/uk-breakdown-terms-and-...

[BMWChris]

Thanks - I thought it was too good to be true!

[davenorman555]

so you get towed off site & then call them?

[Birdthom]

davenorman555 said:

so you get towed off site & then call them?

a) fraud

b) you really think they wouldn't spot it?

[BMWChris]

Birdthom said:

davenorman555 said:

so you get towed off site & then call them?

a) fraud

b) you really think they wouldn't spot it?

It might work if the car broke down but is, as you say, fraudulent. Very difficult to stage crashing into a tree in a realistic way too.

[Birdthom]

The stickers, roll cage and 4cm ground clearance might give the game away too!

ETA - just seen you're talking hillclimbing. Not quite so obvious then I guess. I can see you might get away with it, but there's still the fraud point. I guess that doesn't bother most people though.

Edited by Birdthom on Wednesday 12th May 22:46

[deviant]

I wonder why it really matters to them? If the only coverage you are buying is something to get the car home without it being fixed then surely it shouldnt matter what the car is? I can understand them not wanting to head in to a rally stage or anything but if the car is in the car park / paddock then it would be no different to if a spectator had broken down.

I have always just made sure I have got the details of a few local towing companies to hand, they are likely to not care what the car is and it might cost a bit to do but the chances of needing them are slim.

[Shaun_E]

The AA will pick you up from a trackday but not from a competitive event. Neither organisation will pick up a crashed car.

[spdpug98]

The RAC used to collect broken/accident damaged cars from events when they had a link with the MSA, the then RACMSA.

In one of the Championships I used to race in (Janspeed Road Saloons) we had to drive our cars to the circuit as trailers were not allowed, on one really hot day at Mallory Park about 8 cars suffered overheating problems and a couple had accident damage. At the end of the meeting when they opened the circuit to allow the competitors out around 10 RAC trucks pulled in to collect the cars

You can imagine the RAC call desk when the guys where calling in to arrange collection, all you could hear from around the paddock where drivers saying ‘I know a recovery truck is coming to the circuit but this is a different car’

[BMWChris]

spdpug98 said:

The RAC used to collect broken/accident damaged cars from events when they had a link with the MSA, the then RACMSA.

In one of the Championships I used to race in (Janspeed Road Saloons) we had to drive our cars to the circuit as trailers were not allowed, on one really hot day at Mallory Park about 8 cars suffered overheating problems and a couple had accident damage. At the end of the meeting when they opened the circuit to allow the competitors out around 10 RAC trucks pulled in to collect the cars

You can imagine the RAC call desk when the guys where calling in to arrange collection, all you could hear from around the paddock where drivers saying ‘I know a recovery truck is coming to the circuit but this is a different car’

This must be what the person who told me about it all those years ago was talking about. As I said at the start, it was only for RAC/MSA events. Probably from the days when the RAC was a mutual type of club rather than a bussiness.

[Al Weyman]

When the RAC and MSA were one and the same they did indeed offer this cover and I know because I used it and all the way from Oulton Park back to London and the driver was belly aching about it for ages till I gave him a tenner and told him to shut it! I was competing in the Road Saloons in a Sunbeam Talbot Ti.

BTW I didnt just brake down I rolled it in to a ball and it was a total wreck!

Edited by Al Weyman on Thursday 13th May 13:24

Edited by Al Weyman on Thursday 13th May 13:25

[deviant]

Lol.....bellyaching about driving all that way...well don't be a flipping recovery driver then!

[Redlake27]

Al Weyman said:

When the RAC and MSA were one and the same they did indeed offer this cover and I know because I used it and all the way from Oulton Park back to London and the driver was belly aching about it for ages till I gave him a tenner and told him to shut it! I was competing in the Road Saloons in a Sunbeam Talbot Ti.

BTW I didnt just brake down I rolled it in to a ball and it was a total wreck!

Edited by Al Weyman on Thursday 13th May 13:24

Edited by Al Weyman on Thursday 13th May 13:25

Likewise, we once had three road going Fiat 127GTs racing, and designed a baffled sump working really well on right handers. However, the long left hander at Pembrey was another matter, and all three cars ruined their bearings in just four laps of qualifying.

The RAC sent a truck a trailer to carry three cars 230 miles!

But that was in 1989, in the days before the RAC was a business....