I’m in a bit of a dilemna - we are off to Northern Spain in June with the “5” and I wonder if I should get the added insurance of breakdown cover?
The car has just had it’s second MOT, fully serviced and cherished like nothing else existed (apart form Saints Playoff push). I have every confidence I will not have an accident, and the car will not mechanically falter - however what if…it’s someone elses fault? I am really courting for opinions - cover for the 2-weeks without parts is around £100, is it worth it?
I travel to Spain/France every year. I would NEVER travel without breakdown cover. The cost of returning a car from northern France is about £1000. From Spain, it’s between £1200 and £1700. These figures are not made up, I have checked with the RAC. It’s called insurance for a reason.
I would say for peace of mind, it’s worth paying for european cover. Unless you are fluent in Spanish, I’m guessing that trying to convey your location and what might be wrong with the car from a phrase book on the side of a noisy road would be a nightmare. £100 does seems a bit steep though, might be worth shopping around. I use Auto Aid which charge less than £40 a year for full UK cover (Difference from AA/RAC etc is that you pay recovery company direct and claim the money back).
Even the most well looked after car can let you down and when it does Sod’s Law always dictates that it will be Sunday/Siesta/Dark/Raining/Snowing/Late/In the middle of nowhere/on a busy motorway, Delete as applicable.
If you insure with CIS you can get europe wide recovery for about £50/60 per year with no age limit. Handy if like me you have a 1990 Mk1, most others won’t touch anything over 15 years and for an older driver the base premium is good.
Read the small print in the policy. Most will only cover to the cost of the car. I researched this when the CoOp bank changed from Green Flag to another company. BE CAREFUL.
Don’t go on a trip abroad without some kind of breakdown cover.
Shop around and read the small print to get the best deal.
… there are enough things to worry about on a trip like this, the peace of mind of having breakdown cover will be well worth the expense even if, hopefully, you don’t need it.