Use Cherished Insurance and take your bus abroad? Read on...

[baysearcher]

Use Cherished Insurance and take your bus / bug abroad? Read on...
Right, I'm normally the first to recommend Cherished but this time they've got it wrong:
I renewed my insurance before Christmas and whilst doing so checked the usual things; excess, mileage etc. I also asked for confirmation that their European breakdown cover includes re-patriation costs in the event of a breakdown abroad, that cannot be fixed by a local mechanic. They confirmed this was the case, so I paid up and thought no more about it. I had the normal great service throughout the call.
The paperwork came through and as as I'm a bit cynical when it comes to insurance companies, I duly checked all the details.
To say the wording regarding European breakdown is wooly is an understatement, so I phoned for clarification. Again it was confirmed to me that re-patriation WAS included. Not convinced they were right I read the relevant section of the policy to them, at which point they said they'd need to do some research. A few days later they phoned back and stated that the breakdown cover provider (DAS who use AA) would not guarantee re-patriation but that they had followed this course of action in the past.... They won't put this in writing though, so basically I need to trust an insurance company. Really?

Basically, if you rely on Cherished to recover your bus to the UK in the event of a breakdown abroad, they may, OR MAY NOT, cover the costs. (If they do it will be contrary to their own policy document wording). Something worth bearing in mind if you go abroad.

The most disappointing thing about this is that Cherished are selling an add-on that they don't fully understand.

Cherished have since contacted me and thanked me for bringing this to their attention. Under FSA regs they now have to contact every classic policy holder with clarification that re-patriation is not specifically included.

May not be the end of the world but worth knowing if you're insured by them and thought you had comprehensive European breakdown cover.

 

[Heebee_GB]

Interesting. Thanks for posting that up. I'm with Cherished and was planning a trip abroad this year.

 

[dazza1975]

thanks for the heads up on this!! Dont think there will be a company out there that would offer this as it will cost them to much!

I went on a lads carp fishing holiday to france in 2011 and as I was with the AA i got them to insure me for breakdown abroad, even took out the parts and labour policy as it sounded t good to be true! well it was!

Had a vivaro that had a broken fuel pump mount and basically they paid for a hire car from France for 4 large men which turned out to be a peugeot 206 which was a sqweeze to say the least, swapped this at calais for a ford mondeo and then dropped it of the next day in the uk.

Not bad you say but then had to wait 3 weeks for the van to come back with all the fishing gear in and then still had to get it repaired!

 

[baysearcher]

If they don't cover it that's not a problem. The problem is that they tell customers it IS covered!

 

[cotswoldiver]

All I can add is that I'm insured with Cherished and broke down in France last summer. Long story as short as I can, first remember to tell Cherished the dates of your trip as that is in the small print and may be a let out clause.

DAS European tried to arrange a local repair - they tried, but it couldn't be done. DAS then arranged for a transporter take the bus and us to a closer ferry port, luckily I had enough power to get on the ferry. They covered all the costs, nothing had to be reclaimed as an expense which other recovery companies ask you to do - which is painfully slow to get your money back. At the other end I was able to drive off and I was then picked up by the AA, again arranged via DAS UK but they treated it as two separates pieces of the breakdown - European cover and UK recovery. Twas a bit of a pain, but I did arrange this section of the recovery before I left France after they told me it was two separate issues.

So it is possible, the repat detail is they will get you back to the UK as part of the cover, but if it is separate to the bus you may end up picking up the cost of either the bus getting back or your travel back, they will not it appears guarantee both costs covered

With most of our buses 40 years + old it is hard to get cover through normal organisations such as AA or RAC, some have cut off dates of 11 and 20 years years old.

 

[baysearcher]

Good to know they sorted your recovery out mate!
They do say they may repatriate but that it will be at their discretion.... Not really filling me with confidence to be honest. It's a bit like being asked to trust an estate agent!

 

[baysearcher]

For the record, here's their response:

Following a recent issue brought to our attention with regard to the DAS European Breakdown cover, we have spoken with DAS to ascertain exactly what the situation is with regard to repatriation when in Europe. DAS have confirmed that:

“The position is that our European cover (sub-section B of EuroMap and EuroMag) does not provide vehicle recovery from within that territorial limit (i.e. European mainland) back to the UK. Our contractual obligation is only to take the vehicle to the nearest approved repairer, which will normally be in the country of breakdown. We don't say where the approved repairer is, it could be in the country of the breakdown, in another country if it is near a border, or it could be back in the UK. Therefore in practice for logistical reasons the outcome may be that the policyholder and vehicle are taken to the UK but this is not a guaranteed part of the cover.”

From the response above it is clear that repatriation is not guaranteed. However, DAS have provided recovery back to the UK from Europe in the past for a number of our customers who required it, and these customers have given us extremely positive feedback with regard to the service they have received from DAS and ourselves.

It is worth mentioning that the primary intention of the policy is to get the insured back on the road as quickly as possible, not just to provide a recovery service home. As it states in the policy wording – “At all times we decide on the best way of providing help.” DAS will evaluate each breakdown on its own merits and deal with it in the best way possible under the policy wording.

Please accept our apologies for any concern that this has caused. I hope this now clears up any queries anyone may have had with regard to the cover provided. If anyone would like to discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact me via Personal Message.

Kind Regards,

Mark Harman
Office Manager
Cherished Vehicle Insurance

Still leaves a few questions IMHO.

 

[lard]

I had issues with DAS when broken down, only in that they advised I had the minimum possible cover, and could only claim for travel back to my accommodation OR to the garage OR overnight hotel fees OR replacement vehicle - standard DAS euro cover allows you to get transported back to your digs, and a hire car whilst yours is repaired but the policy backed out to DAS was an either or thing, not everything

I spent approx £100 on taxis, arranged by DAS but didn't get a receipt of the local driver, and when I eventually chased DAS and got one emailed to me, was outside of the 30 day cut-off for claiming back any expenses.... :evil: .....next time I'll arrange my own Euro cover and not rely on the one with the insurance policy, as lets face it if they are offering it free it will be the minimum cover possible to keep their own costs down (which is fair enough and not a slight on cherished as likely the same with any company offering "free" euro cover)

 

[baysearcher]

Its not free though. I know it's cheap but its £38.

 

[lard]

Its not free though. I know it's cheap but its £38.

ahh my bad - thought it was included in the policy!