Breakdown cover designed for use both in the United Kingdom and in Europe.
This cover combines the best of both policies, giving you full roadside assistance and recovery from your front door all the way across Europe, and back again.
Generally a combined policy will offer basic roadside assistance, where a repair mechanic will come out to the location of your broken down vehicle and spend up to one hour trying to fix the problem at the roadside. If the mechanic is unable to fix the problem, there will normally be cover to tow your vehicle, yourself and your passengers to a nearby garage where further repairs can be carried out. However, the cost of spare parts and sometimes the labour are not always covered by combined breakdown cover policies and you may have to pay for this yourself. One handy point though is that European breakdown policies can sometimes include free delivery of the spare parts if they are not available locally. So, although you may have to pay for the part itself, at least you don’t have to worry about how it gets to you.
Your breakdown cover will often cover you for onwards travel, overnight accommodation, or a hire car, if your vehicle cannot be repaired within a certain time frame. Make sure to check through the cover documentation for any restrictions to this hire vehicle clause, as you will often be using local companies there may be restrictions on driver’s ages, license types, or other limitations that may apply.
Repatriation plays an important role here, as if your vehicle is not able to be repaired by the time you are due to make the homewards trip then your breakdown recovery provider can arrange for your vehicle to be transported back to your home address for you at a later date. Sometimes, depending on the distance, you might be paid the cost of public transport back out to your vehicle once repairs are complete; so that you may drive the vehicle back yourself. Also, if your main driver is taken ill and no other passengers are eligible to drive the vehicle, a chauffeur can often be provided to help you get back home.
