AA 5Star European cover- Is it a rip-off ?
Discussion
For some strange reason back in February,i rejoined the AA Recovery service after being with Green Flag.
Im taking the Chim to France for 4 days and with the AA scheme that im on at the moment iam allowed to be away, fully covered for up to 72 hours (no longer available to new members).
Sadly, through my own fault ....im away for 76 hours and obviously my cover doesnt cover me.
I called them today and they wanted £150 for European cover for 12 months. That puts the policy cost up to £265 which i think is scandelous.
Green Flags top policy costs a mere £135 all in with unlimited European cover and the same benefits as the AA.
The AA said that they would cover me for 4 days abroad for the sum of £35, which i reluctantly paid.
I had however, threatened to cancel my policy but was told that if i did that then i would get no refund whatsoever. I found myself 'over a barrel' as they say.
If anyone is thinking of taking their car abroad, shop around, but i for one will be rejoining Green Flag when my policy is up for renewal in February.
>>> Edited by tonyrec on Monday 21st July 19:41
Im taking the Chim to France for 4 days and with the AA scheme that im on at the moment iam allowed to be away, fully covered for up to 72 hours (no longer available to new members).
Sadly, through my own fault ....im away for 76 hours and obviously my cover doesnt cover me.
I called them today and they wanted £150 for European cover for 12 months. That puts the policy cost up to £265 which i think is scandelous.
Green Flags top policy costs a mere £135 all in with unlimited European cover and the same benefits as the AA.
The AA said that they would cover me for 4 days abroad for the sum of £35, which i reluctantly paid.
I had however, threatened to cancel my policy but was told that if i did that then i would get no refund whatsoever. I found myself 'over a barrel' as they say.
If anyone is thinking of taking their car abroad, shop around, but i for one will be rejoining Green Flag when my policy is up for renewal in February.
>>> Edited by tonyrec on Monday 21st July 19:41
i originally joined the AA as they has free 72 hr european breakdown service. as i am off on a 5-7 jaunt this august i shudder to think how much extra this is going to cost me in terms of breakdown cover...
just remembered that my insurer, classicline has pan european cover, better read up on the small print but i think it covered me for however long I am abroad...
just remembered that my insurer, classicline has pan european cover, better read up on the small print but i think it covered me for however long I am abroad...
Sounds like the AA is a total rip off to me... I pay about £50 for home start and breakdown cover including 30 days of European cover through Adrian Flux insurance. I had a similar policy through my last insurer (Herts Insurance Consultants).
The cover works to. I have had a few call outs - not tested in Europe though.
Suggest ditching the AA and calling one of the above to see if they can cover you without you holding a policy with them.
Roger
>> Edited by dj_rog on Tuesday 22 July 07:34
The cover works to. I have had a few call outs - not tested in Europe though.
Suggest ditching the AA and calling one of the above to see if they can cover you without you holding a policy with them.
Roger
>> Edited by dj_rog on Tuesday 22 July 07:34
I have just taken out 5 star coper for 8 days next week at a cost of £41.85. I don't think that is too much money for 'peace of mind', however, I'm sure you can get cheaper cover with Green Flag etc. The only thing to remember is make sure they have the same terms if you do breakdown?
Well I've just booked on AA website to take my J-reg Griff to the continent for a fortnight. They quoted me a price of around £53, then established it was over 11 years old - which increased it to £90. They didn't ask what sort of car it was, so it's not biased against TVRs.
For a fortnight's cover, including getting the Griff back to Blighty and a replacement car for the holiday, I'm not complaining.
For a fortnight's cover, including getting the Griff back to Blighty and a replacement car for the holiday, I'm not complaining.
Skip said:
They quoted me a price of around £53, then established it was over 11 years old - which increased it to £90. They didn't ask what sort of car it was, so it's not biased against TVRs.
I took out cover for my trip to Zolder on the recent TVR Continental meeting as I felt the extra £26.40 quoted was good value if the worst happened and I needed recovering back to England. I have my car covered on our company's fleet policy but I have it listed as a 1995 Griffith, not a 1978 3000S, this saves a lot of hassle and a little money; this is where a cherished registraion comes in handy
On the way down to Le Mans this year my car had a big end bearing failure - luckily I had 5 star and I have to say the service I got from the AA was excellent.
The AA phone operator sorted everything out for me including the tow from the autoroute to a local garage (which the recovery companies apparently can't do because the roads have been privatised), then a taxi to Europcar and a replacement car for nearly two weeks.
They didn't want to do unassisted vehicle recovery though, so I had to meet up with my dead car at the ferry port on the way home, got a tow onto the ferry and then a tow off - where the AA man collected me from just outside the boat.
I'm definitely getting 5 star cover again on my next trip to France..
The AA phone operator sorted everything out for me including the tow from the autoroute to a local garage (which the recovery companies apparently can't do because the roads have been privatised), then a taxi to Europcar and a replacement car for nearly two weeks.
They didn't want to do unassisted vehicle recovery though, so I had to meet up with my dead car at the ferry port on the way home, got a tow onto the ferry and then a tow off - where the AA man collected me from just outside the boat.
I'm definitely getting 5 star cover again on my next trip to France..
I've done a number of trips just over 3 days, but told the AA my depart time (i.e. landing in France) was 10/12/24 hours later than it really was. I figured that if I break down it's going to be later in the trip and I need to be covered until the return hour.
(Also, I usually travel on 2 day returns, booked on separate credit cards in different names with different registrations to get cheap chunnel tickets)
I've also used the 5 Star cover for a number of 7-10 day trips. For 40-50 pounds I thought it was worth the peace of mind. I have never called them out, but sods law dictates that if I don't take out some kind of cover I'll break down!
My reasons for being with the AA are that they have the greatest central resource of information and probably the best arrangements with foreign breakdown companies/tow trucks etc. for repatriation. Also, in the UK how many AA vans do you see for every RAC van? Green Flag are probably great too though ...
Take out some kind of cover and enjoy your trip.
Trefor/.
(Also, I usually travel on 2 day returns, booked on separate credit cards in different names with different registrations to get cheap chunnel tickets
) I've also used the 5 Star cover for a number of 7-10 day trips. For 40-50 pounds I thought it was worth the peace of mind. I have never called them out, but sods law dictates that if I don't take out some kind of cover I'll break down!
My reasons for being with the AA are that they have the greatest central resource of information and probably the best arrangements with foreign breakdown companies/tow trucks etc. for repatriation. Also, in the UK how many AA vans do you see for every RAC van? Green Flag are probably great too though ...
Take out some kind of cover and enjoy your trip.
Trefor/.
For annual European cover look at the German equivalent of the AA - ADAC www.adac.de . You get full mainland Europe cover, can register at a UK address and it's only costs about £60 (E71.07 for the top membership + E4 joining fee). I'm not sure if it's quite as comprehensive as the AA 5* cover but it looks pretty good.
miken said:
They didn't want to do unassisted vehicle recovery though, so I had to meet up with my dead car at the ferry port on the way home, got a tow onto the ferry and then a tow off - where the AA man collected me from just outside the boat.
What the hell does that mean
They "didn't want to do it" - that's the main point, the USP - that's what I just paid for! It says in the T&C that they take the damned thing home 
. I would be very grateful if you'd explain a bit more - I'm worried now.
Skip, Haven't been online for a while, hope this catches you in time for your trip.
During my long hours waiting on the hard shoulder of the French autoroute I read through the 5* T's and C's booklet and I found it a little vague on the subject of unaccompanied recovery back to your home address in the UK.
I spoke to the AA operator about getting unaccompanied recovery and they didn't want to do it, and I couldn't find anything in the T's and C's which said they had to do it. They did however take the car unaccompanied back to Calais where I met up with it at the end of my holiday to escort it home.
I've disposed of the booklet now but I seem to remember it saying the car would be taken home, but not expressly saying it would be unaccompanied (but I might be wrong!), but my experience in using the service after a breakdown bears this out. Maybe I should have put up more of an argument...
The French recovery truck deposits your car near the loading area for the ferry, and then a ferry tow truck drags you onto the ferry. The ferry company tow you off the other end as well and leave you in a collection area for the AA man to rendezvous with you.
Anyway, hope you don't have to use the cover and have a great time.
Cheers
Mike
During my long hours waiting on the hard shoulder of the French autoroute I read through the 5* T's and C's booklet and I found it a little vague on the subject of unaccompanied recovery back to your home address in the UK.
I spoke to the AA operator about getting unaccompanied recovery and they didn't want to do it, and I couldn't find anything in the T's and C's which said they had to do it. They did however take the car unaccompanied back to Calais where I met up with it at the end of my holiday to escort it home.
I've disposed of the booklet now but I seem to remember it saying the car would be taken home, but not expressly saying it would be unaccompanied (but I might be wrong!), but my experience in using the service after a breakdown bears this out. Maybe I should have put up more of an argument...
The French recovery truck deposits your car near the loading area for the ferry, and then a ferry tow truck drags you onto the ferry. The ferry company tow you off the other end as well and leave you in a collection area for the AA man to rendezvous with you.
Anyway, hope you don't have to use the cover and have a great time.
Cheers
Mike
I believe AA stands for 'absolute a**eholes'. I called them out at Mania on Saturday and after many calls gave up after 3+ hours of waiting, and called a recovery company who charged me £200+VAT to get me home. AA have as yet refused to refund this money. I have just posted a strongly worded letter to there Customer Relations. To say that I am not happy with them is an understatement ! I certainly wouldn't trust them if I was travelling abroad.
Ian V said:
I believe AA stands for 'absolute a**eholes'. I called them out at Mania on Saturday and after many calls gave up after 3+ hours of waiting, and called a recovery company who charged me £200+VAT to get me home. AA have as yet refused to refund this money. I have just posted a strongly worded letter to there Customer Relations. To say that I am not happy with them is an understatement ! I certainly wouldn't trust them if I was travelling abroad.
The problem is too many members and not enough patrols..
tonyrec said:Plus the fact that cars aren't as reliable as people think the are
I believe AA stands for 'absolute a**eholes'. I called them out at Mania on Saturday and after many calls gave up after 3+ hours of waiting, and called a recovery company who charged me £200+VAT to get me home. AA have as yet refused to refund this money. I have just posted a strongly worded letter to there Customer Relations. To say that I am not happy with them is an understatement ! I certainly wouldn't trust them if I was travelling abroad.
The problem is too many members and not enough patrols..
Interesting reading as taking my 99 Chim over to France next month for 14 days.
Taking Motorail to Avignon (putting it on/off myself after seeing the antics of the mad garlic munching Motorail loaders
last year) and motoring back through Les Gorges du Tarn and the wine areas.
Checked breakdown cover - AA £59, RAC £57.19, Green Flag £51. Can get AA for £52.65 through RailEurope.
Will be buying cover but any views out there as to who from?
Taking Motorail to Avignon (putting it on/off myself after seeing the antics of the mad garlic munching Motorail loaders
last year) and motoring back through Les Gorges du Tarn and the wine areas. Checked breakdown cover - AA £59, RAC £57.19, Green Flag £51. Can get AA for £52.65 through RailEurope.
Will be buying cover but any views out there as to who from?
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