Breakdown Guides

European breakdown cover - multi trip

By Garnet Roach

If you regularly take your car abroad, multi trip European breakdown cover is essential to ensure a hassle-free holiday. (17/02/10)

Because breaking down abroad can be so costly, not to mention the added difficulty that language barriers can present.

Multi trip European breakdown cover

If you regularly take your car abroad, it makes a lot more sense to go for annual, multi trip breakdown insurance, rather than buying single trip cover each time you go away.

Each multi trip policy varies from the next, with most offering cover for no longer than 90 days at a time. However, you can get long trip breakdown cover if you're going to be abroad for longer than this.

Multi trip breakdown cover will offer you 12 months protection if you break down in Europe.

• English speaking assistance
• What’s covered?
• You or your car?
• Excess
• Exclusions
• Are you already covered?
• Avoiding breakdowns

English speaking assistance

Breakdown cover means that you don’t have to worry if something goes wrong with your car while you're travelling in Europe. As well as a reliable recovery, you'll also get 24-hour, English speaking telephone assistance to help get you back on the road as soon as possible.

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What’s covered?

The breakdown assistance that you receive will vary depending on the level of cover you choose.

Even though they might all advertise multi trip breakdown cover, different providers offer different benefits, so you should always check the details of your individual policy to see exactly what you're covered for.

The policy you choose will affect whether or not you can claim for work at a garage, as well as how much you can claim for. For example, some policies allow as much as £2,000 cover per trip, while others set limits on specific types of claims, such as £150 on garage labour.

You might also get alternative transport so that you can complete your journey or get home, a replacement driver if you fall ill or even legal cover.

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You or your car?

Some policies cover the vehicle, while others cover you as a person - so you'll be covered if you're travelling in any eligible vehicle, regardless of whether you're driving or not.

Again, check the details of your policy to see what kind of cover you have.

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Excess

Excess is the amount that you have to pay towards each claim you make. For example, if you're covered for repairs, and your car breaks down, costing £400 to fix, you might have to pay £150 towards the cost, with your breakdown provider footing the rest of the bill.

Some breakdown companies offer excess-free cover, so you won’t have to pay anything towards recovery costs, so look into this if you don’t want to have to fork out cash upfront for repairs.

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Exclusions

As well as looking at what’s included in your cover, you also need to think about what’s not included. Every policy will have specific exclusions that you need to be aware of. For example, some will only provide roadside assistance or tow you to the nearest garage - where you'll have to pay for the repairs yourself.

You should also be aware that some European motorways and autoroutes, in France for example, the emergency telephone will be answered by the police who will send a local recovery agent to help you - which you will usually have to pay for yourself.

Check whether or not you will be reimbursed for this cost under your breakdown cover.

Make sure you're aware of any exclusions before you set off.

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Are you already covered?

Check your car insurance policy before you buy European breakdown cover as you might already be entitled to a certain number of days insurance abroad each year.

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Avoiding breakdowns

Even without the cost of having your car repaired abroad, breakdowns are still stressful and add frustrating delays to your journey.

Take steps to avoid a breakdown before you set off, checking tyre pressure, oil and water. Plan your route and make sure that you have a good road atlas for any countries you're visiting - even if you're using sat nav - and if you're planning on travelling through or to remote areas, make sure that you have a good stock of provisions to keep you going in case of a breakdown.

Always carry your full driving licence and vehicle registration documents when driving abroad.