Mayday - Non Towing Accident?

[JCCD]

Anyone been in this position...

 

I was reading of someone who was holidaying in their caravan and whilst driving (not towing) were involved in an accident, with their car written off.

Mayday wouldn't recover them because it was an accident, not a breakdown.

Their CMC insurance didn't cover their caravan getting home.

Their car insurance did recover their car, but wouldn't recover their caravan from the site as it wasn't hitched to the car at the time of the accident.

They had to rely on a taxi to take them back to their caravan, and then a friend travelling a few hundred miles to come and tow their caravan home. Otherwise they would have had to pay a recovery company for it to be transported home.

 

It sounds logical to me, an accident isn't a breakdown so nothing to do with Mayday, it's nothing to do with their car insurance, and nothing to do with CMC caravan insurance either. Seems there isn't really a way of insuring against this eventuality?

 

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by JCCD

[ericfield]

26 minutes ago, JCCD said:

Anyone been in this position...

 

I was reading of someone who was holidaying in their caravan and whilst driving (not towing) were involved in an accident, with their car written off.

Mayday wouldn't recover them because it was an accident, not a breakdown.

Their CMC insurance didn't cover their caravan getting home.

Their car insurance did recover their car, but wouldn't recover their caravan from the site as it wasn't hitched to the car at the time of the accident.

They had to rely on a taxi to take them back to their caravan, and then a friend travelling a few hundred miles to come and tow their caravan home. Otherwise they would have had to pay a recovery company for it to be transported home.

 

It sounds logical to me, an accident isn't a breakdown so nothing to do with Mayday, it's nothing to do with their car insurance, and nothing to do with CMC caravan insurance either. Seems there isn't really a way of insuring against this eventuality?

 

 

Maybe CMC should look at extending/merging their Red Pennant service with Green Flag Mayday?

 

When we had a none towing right off in Italy, they offered to repatriate car and caravan.
After I pointed out the car was totally trashed and my car insurers were happy to “leave it in Antonio’s scrap heap”, RP sent a replacement car to tow the caravan home ….and then allowed me to keep that recovery car for a further week while I sourced a replacement car (we only have one car).  
RP is an excellent service when abroad….maybe they could do a paired down version for UK breakdown and accident recovery?

 

 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by ericfield

[Lost in the wilderness]

I think this sort of thing is covered by the CCC arriva scheme 

[Wildwood]

I do understand, as we had an accident in 2017 and discovered this lack of cover. Fortunately the car was just driveable and we got home. It was not my fault and the other insurer did say they would try and locate a car to get me home if I could not drive the car.  It did make me realise the potential problem if I could not claim off the other driver. 

There are hire companies that have tow cars although mainly 4x4's and expensive if it comes to the crunch. 

Overseas you need to check the repatriation point though as it would be far more expensive to get the caravan back.  Sometimes the insurer may find it cheaper to repatriate the car even though it is a write off as leaving it there can incur taxes that make leaving it very expensive.

[JCCD]

12 minutes ago, Lost in the wilderness said:

I think this sort of thing is covered by the CCC arriva scheme 

 

If that's the RAC Arriva, then I believe they have the same stance as Mayday.

 

[OWOMW]

I'd not really considered this gap in my insurance cover before.

Like others, we normally explore the local area by car when staying on a caravan site, and given the nature of some of the roads and lanes in for instance Devon and Cornwall it would be so easy to have a prang that renders the car undriveable.

I don't know what the solution is either.

 

[Twisterpaul1]

Just checked my Mayday policy because I thought it was covered. There is a specific section on RTA which states they will recover you and your vehicle within the level of cover provided by your policy. I read that to mean they would treat it the same as a breakdown. When renewing I checked RAC Arrival and they specifically excluded RTA.

[MoonLoon]

RAC includes Accident Care only with collision with another vehicle .......you are not covered if you crash into a tree or a wall.  You will need top level of cover eg RAC Arrival Return & Re-Unite to get car (still broken)  Re-United with caravan if breakdown or accident happens when not actually towing and caravan is on a campsite. After they re-unite if car is not deemed fixable within reasonable period then they will recover both to your home or another agreed location. If car is fixable in garage they will take car to garage and occupants to caravan then re-unite.

 

Not sure with MayDay but for UK you will need Premium UK cover and if breakdown while towing you need to be going to a pre-booked camp site at the time and you will need Dual Recovery to be recovered if not fixable.  If caravan is on a campsite and you breakdown not actually towing you need Premium UK and Dual Recovery to get both car and Caravan recovered.     Not sure if Any Mayday options give accident cover.????? 

[moorgate]

JCCD,  we learned that you can’t insure for every possibility. There are times when you have to work out a solution for your own situation. We had a problem slightly different to the one you described but falling into an insurance gap. For us it meant leaving the caravan on the site where it was 600 miles away,  going home using other transport, and going back ourselves to collect the caravan two weeks later when we were able. Luckily we weren’t injured.

[Sonar]

My insurance experience was.

when the towed trailer broke down attached to the car.  breakdown cover did not apply.

 

But the the tow car broke down with a trailer attached. both could be recovered under the break down policy.

 

having said that it was 6 years ago now.

[JCCD]

1 hour ago, Sonar said:

My insurance experience was.

when the towed trailer broke down attached to the car.  breakdown cover did not apply.

 

But the the tow car broke down with a trailer attached. both could be recovered under the break down policy.

 

having said that it was 6 years ago now.

 

I think that is the attraction with policies like Mayday as they cover you when towing your caravan and the caravan then develops a fault where it can no longer be towed (they shredding and smashing the wheel arch etc). Normal breakdown policies like those provided with bank accounts probably wont cover you for this.

 

I think the situation referred to in my original post will perhaps depend on the cars insurance policy as to whether they cover the repatriation of the caravan in the eventuality of an accident, but I doubt any of them will.

Edited August 1, 2021 by JCCD

[DougS]

All insurance is a minefield for policyholders?

I'm giving details of my understanding of our policy for my own confirmation and as  an example - sorry for being long winded.

 

The breakdown of either caravan OR car is covered under our Safeguard caravan breakdown policy which is a bolt on to the caravan insurance policy, is caravan based and covers both.

The breakdown cover does not include recovery after an accident although they may (I don't like this word in an insurance document?) do this on request but we (or the car insurance company or the third party) would have to pay.

This would (unless you were prepared to pay anyway) only be an option if you were sure the accident were not your fault.

The issue of recovering the van from a site away from the location of the car accident puts more doubt on this - although if you agreeing to payment then, one way or another, they would get their money.

The situation above where the owner was able to return to the caravan later (presumably an agreement was made with the site for storage costs)  could be another useful option.

These costs could possibly be reclaimed from the third party if the accident were their fault - you'd need to be pretty sure before committing?

 

The caravan is covered for accidental damage whilst towing providing it is attached or has not been deliberately unoccupied! (I think it should be uncoupled so will have to confirm that with them! - I think it's a Towergate policy)

The caravan policy only states that the caravan will be recovered from the scene of an RTA while "in use" (using or visiting for holiday purposes or attached to car and with the 24hr periods as mentioned in a previous post)

They also cover repatriation from outside the UK if the caravan  (only mentioned, not car) is involved in an accident. I believe the car would be covered under it's own policy. So the accident would have to be whilst towing to ensure repatriation of both is covered?

 

The specific situation of car involved in accident whilst away for an outing and separated from the caravan does appear to be a significant gap which I will need to check on renewal this month.

 

 

 

[Scankguy]

I just saw a chat in this forum from RogerL back in 2007. He was in this exact position and mayday recovered both his car and caravan. Wonder if the policy had changed since then? 

 

[Wildwood]

On 01/08/2021 at 15:46, Sonar said:

My insurance experience was.

when the towed trailer broke down attached to the car.  breakdown cover did not apply.

 

But the the tow car broke down with a trailer attached. both could be recovered under the break down policy.

 

having said that it was 6 years ago now.

This is why you need to check any breakdown cover not provided by either of the two club. Many do not cover the caravan breaking down or have length or weight restrictions and none I know of have double recovery cover.  The clubs policies do this and it is needed.

[moorgate]

Try breaking an arm or a leg or being ill and being unable to drive and see if your insurance policy will take you or your car and caravan home from elsewhere in the UK. As I said earlier you cannot insure for every possibility.

[DougS]

On 08/08/2021 at 15:50, moorgate said:

Try breaking an arm or a leg or being ill and being unable to drive and see if your insurance policy will take you or your car and caravan home from elsewhere in the UK. As I said earlier you cannot insure for every possibility.

There is specific mention of "compassionate recovery" where they will provide a driver but this is at their discretion in our policy. I don't like may or at our discretion in policies, I want to know which risks I am taking on.

The issue of being away for the day does appear to be an omission of most other policies but with single trip EU cover for that event at £175 for us from CMC, there is a definite opportunity for other providers to cover it.

The breakdown providers may agree to do that but at cost?

Edited August 9, 2021 by DougS

[OWOMW]

Well I decided to check the wording in both the Mayday and the Red Pennant policies:

 

MAYDAY

Insured Incident: means immobilisation
of the Insured Vehicle as a result of breakdown,
road accident, theft or attempted theft, malicious
damage, accidental damage, fire, flat tyre, lack of
fuel, flat battery, loss or breakage of car keys or as a
result of being parked on soft ground, within the
United Kingdom.

 

RED PENNANT

An event which renders you unable to commence, continue or
complete a journey as a result of your vehicle being unsafe to drive
or being immobilised or not being able to use the vehicle
because of:
– a mechanical or electrical fault;
– a flat battery;
– a flat tyre;
– vandalism;
– a fire;
– a theft or an attempted theft;
– an accident;
– having misfuelled; or
– unable to access your vehicle due to your keys being faulty,
broken in the lock, or locked in the vehicle.

 

Seems like I'm covered OK.

[DACS]

On 01/08/2021 at 18:06, DougS said:

All insurance is a minefield for policyholders?

I'm giving details of my understanding of our policy for my own confirmation and as  an example - sorry for being long winded.

 

The breakdown of either caravan OR car is covered under our Safeguard caravan breakdown policy which is a bolt on to the caravan insurance policy, is caravan based and covers both.

The breakdown cover does not include recovery after an accident although they may (I don't like this word in an insurance document?) do this on request but we (or the car insurance company or the third party) would have to pay.

This would (unless you were prepared to pay anyway) only be an option if you were sure the accident were not your fault.

...

Car insurance normally covers recovering your car after an accident to a workshop for repair if it cannot be driven.

[JCCD]

57 minutes ago, OWOMW said:

Well I decided to check the wording in both the Mayday and the Red Pennant policies:

 

MAYDAY

Insured Incident: means immobilisation
of the Insured Vehicle as a result of breakdown,
road accident, theft or attempted theft, malicious
damage, accidental damage, fire, flat tyre, lack of
fuel, flat battery, loss or breakage of car keys or as a
result of being parked on soft ground, within the
United Kingdom.

 

 

But is that only if caravan is being towed at the tine of the accident?

 

[ericfield]

It was always my understanding that with Mayday, if your car was incapacitated while towing they would recover car/caravan either back to your home or take the caravan to your campsite destination and the car to a repairers*.
 

*The same applied if you were driving solo.

[OWOMW]

16 hours ago, JCCD said:

 

But is that only if caravan is being towed at the tine of the accident?

 

 I believe this is covered under Dual Recovery.

However, it would seem that my quoted version of Mayday Ts&Cs is out of date. The latest version excludes road accident.

So back to the drawing board.

[Wildwood]

The CAMH caravan policy does give you cover to get the caravan home if the car has an accident and is off the road, but I assume it would affect your no claims discount. The policy reads as follows.

 

We may pay towards costs you incur to continue your holiday or return home if you are on holiday with your caravan in the United Kingdom during the period of cover, and the towing vehicle and/or caravan suffer an accident or breakdown, or the drivers in your party become unable to drive due to illness or injury occurring during the holiday.

 

I have looked at the C&CC policy but cannot find the cover.

[ericfield]

Have to say Mayday are not my favourites at the moment.

I went to renew my annual premium only to find I had inadvertently forgotten to renew it …LAST YEAR.  I was annoyed at myself, as a I knew the renewal date, but equally surprised at not receiving a reminder. But no matter we were all in a pandemic spin.

I was told that because the policy was so far out of date ‘I couldn’t renew on the phone and would have to go online and register again’.

 

Went to caravan club site and got a quote; paid for it with c card and awaited the promised confirmation email…and waited …..and waited. Nothing.

Phoned mayday again next day.

“what’s your policy number?” ‘I don’t know because as a I just explained I didn’t get a confirmation email”

“what’s your reg no.?”  Which I gave.

”your policy has expired” 

I repeated my soliloquy of the previous days events to no avail.

 

So despite my credit card showing they have taken the money, there is no record on their system that I have bought a new policy…..yet.  After asking the Caravan Club to intercede (they have a direct line to Green Flag) I have been told that ‘if the payment has been taken I am definitely covered’  but it may take several days to register on their system before they can generate a policy number. ?

 

So until they do that and email the details (cards can take 10days by post)  I have to hope a I don’t have a breakdown as I will have to ring Mayday with no policy number and try to explain to someone who’s records show my policy has expired, that I HAVE paid for a new policy and their system should show that ‘in a few days time’. ?

 

Fortunately???? my car is in the garage for repairs tomorrow, so it can’t breakdown that day at least. ?

 

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by ericfield

[Wildwood]

I think if you need them you could e mail a copy of your bank or credit card statement showing the payment.

[ericfield]

37 minutes ago, Wildwood said:

I think if you need them you could e mail a copy of your bank or credit card statement showing the payment.

Of course but it’s all unnecessary hassle.
The concerning point for me is that their accounting system is accepting payments, for an unspecified period of time, that are not associated with a policy number.
When I take out all other insurance…car, caravan, home, health etc, the first thing that’s given is a policy/account reference. Not so it seems with Mayday….unless the errant email confirmation gave some reference? But if so why can’t they find it and resend it?

 

All seems a bit disorganised.

 

In contrast, the lady at the Caravan club was very much on the ball. She immediately asked if the email I gave to Mayday was the same as the one (my wife’s) used for caravan club….in case I was looking on the wrong computer (something I had overlooked). She then considered emailing their IT people to see if a transaction footprint would have been left on the CC website before deciding to call Greenflag direct on my behalf. Although the answers she received were still no more helpful they came from a more reassuring authority? than the working from home sales people I was struggling with.

 

Have to say the CC seem to employ a better standard of operator.

 

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by ericfield