 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all, does anyone have a recommended provider for insurance? My provider is Admiral, and they allow 30 days away, after which they will charge £20 per week. I would also like to organise European breakdown cover at the same time - any recommendations would be great. I'll need to call someone, as the comparison sites only do pretty vanilla insurance solutions from the usual suspects.
Last time I did a season, I had a Land Rover Defender and the insurance was pretty cheap and easy. This time, I will be taking a different 4x4, and it seems that the costs (unsurprisingly) will go up, although probably not for the breakdown, as I am sure that roadside assistance people put the price up by several factors as soon as they see "Defender" on there. Deservedly so, as it manifested a plethora of unexplainable and annoying faults whilst in France, most of which I fixed with a battery booster, hammer, duct tape or all three.
The quotes for insuring a Range Rover for the season (I have arranged to swap my car for one whilst away) are very high; weirdly higher than our usual family car, a big-engined petrol Mercedes of similar value. Perhaps 4x4s are stolen more?
Anyway, I digress. All help would be useful. I have everything else sorted - snow tyres, autosocks, French kit etc. Just the insurance and roadside assist to sort and I am hoping for a recommendation as making phone calls and going through all of our details over and overt is a day of dullness I'd love to avoid!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Stuart Collins offer 365 days European cover and breakdown. They were also cheaper for fully comp than my existing UK provider were for 3rd party so I'd use them in the UK anyway now.
One thing to mention is make sure your UK tax and MOT don't run out as UK insurance would then risk becoming invalid
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Harry Flashman, I don't know if you're old enough but Saga Insurance have no restrictions on use in the EU.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Meltus, Thank you. I have sent them a message.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Alastair, I'm 41. Never thought I'd be too young for something I needed!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Harry Flashman, previously I used LV, who (IIRC) allowed 180 days use overseas.
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We are with LV - 180 days foreign use, and do breakdown cover to match.
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If you are old like me (50+) Age UK allow up to 180 days in Europe.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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LV here too but breakdown was more geared at repatriation rather than fix to my reading.
Where are you heading? I saw the car swap thread elsewhere.
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Have used LV for years - 180 days in EU including breakdown cover.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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A Range rover may still count as a farm vehicle, try the Farmers Union. I have my Delica with them.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Chaps, thanks for some good leads. I shall make some calls tomorrow.
@Wi11iam, so you followed the whole saga! As I am borrowing someone else's vehicle (and they are borrowing mine) for the season, I want to make sure that the insurance is with a reputable company. My own insurers may well be the way to go. They are far cheaper on the borrowed Range Rover than on my own car, and £20 a week sounds OK for peace of mind where someone else's property is concerned. But I would like to look at options, obviously.
And to answer your question, doing another season in the Portes Du Soleil. Part of me wishes to be more adventurous (I would have liked to have gone to Austria, Canada or the US), but the PDS is where many friends live, I have already spent a season there and go every year, and we will be living with friends who are doing exactly the same as us - taking a break with their newborn. With all the unknowns of being a parent for the first time, Lady F and I decided that Morzine, a completely familiar place with lots of friends in it, was the right choice.
We're seeing the in-laws (Lady F is American) in Park City for two weeks in February, to avoid the UK half-term (and get free babysitting!!). So I'm definitely not complaining about any of this...
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That all sounds wonderful, @Harry Flashman. I am another very satisfied LV customer.
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You know it makes sense.
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Best of luck with it - banger economics being tested here.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Just a note - Stuart at Stuart Collins is a really helpful person. He cannot actually help me unless the car is registered to me on the V5 (which will not work on a swap), but his response to my e-mail was immediate, and he tried his best to find a solution, and talked through the options. Very personal and responsive. Sad I couldn't go with him!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Saga do unlimited Euro cover.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Have our campervan and X-trail with LV. They were excellent when I needed to claim just a few days after the start of my policy for a no-fault accident. Mended within a week, hire car delivered by Enterprise , my car collected and redelivered and no hassle to me.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thanks for asking the car insurance question @Harry Flashman I need the same for my own vehicle and didn't know where to start if my insurer can't help (need to call them first obviously). Seems like LV might be worth a call!
As for extended stay breakdown, we ended up taking out a long stay multi trip annual policy with the AA earlier in the summer. I was conscious when organising euro breakdown for our summer holiday that we'd need the cover in the new year too for a 3.5 month stay. AA were the only one (of the main players) to do an annual policy that allows longer stays. It wasn't a standard option on their website - had to organise it over the phone.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Harry Flashman, Just a warning re the Admiral £20 per week extra business - when we first did a season we were with Admiral with 90 days European cover so thought the £20 extra per week would be an OK deal, however we discovered that they would not allow us to just buy an extra 4 weeks in one hit in advance - the deal was that you had to contact them the week before you wanted the extra cover, and could only buy one week each go - this had all the signs of being far to much hassle, so we cancelled our policy and went to LV.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hi all - so ended up staying with Admiral as I think we will only really need two weeks on the end of that 90 day limit. I am happy to call them the week before each time. As for European breakdown, my usual provider, the AA, were hilariously expensive. Admiral did a cover for £99 (annual). It only includes EUR200 off the cost of getting you off the motorway, but as I intend to do little Autoroute driving, I was fairly relaxed about this.
One thing worth noting: my renewal premium from Admiral was extraordinarily expensive, and on an automatic renewal. I simply went to a comparison site, got the same cover (for 60% of the renewal premium), and they honoured it, but had to cancel my old policy.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Cancel my previous recommendation for Saga. Their incompetence over a recent change of car  means I would now recommend LV again.
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