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 Topic: C&CC Arrival vs Red Pennant
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18/1/2023 at 6:19pm
Location: Wessex
Outfit: Dethleffs Trend T675
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Before choosing on the basis of cost I would want to know what level of cover is involved, would it cover my motorhome?
Some services have excluded motorhomes over a certain size, that would be an important consideration for me as ours is a bit on the longer and heavier side.
As ever, the devil is in the detail.
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19/1/2023 at 4:43pm
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Andy, you had a good account from DaveS of how things can go well - and many recovery insurance companies would aim to match that.
But things are not always in the control of those insurance companies - the man with the breakdown truck may be busy elsewhere and you may have to wait for hours, the garage may not have the spare parts to effect a repair and you may have to wait for days, delivery of a hire car may mean more even delay waiting on a campsite till it arrives, and the chances of it being one with a tow bar are slight. Those cars are rarely available even though Red Pennant has been known to bring them in from Germany. Onward transport of a caravan to a chosen site after a car breakdown sounds good on paper but may simply not be possible even for the best of recovery companies.
In short I think there’s a lot of luck in all this and I’m not sure I can praise or blame an insurance company.for what happens. There are good and bad reports tor all of them and it isn’t always their fault.
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20/1/2023 at 11:57am
Location: None Entered
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Netherton - Thank you. I appreciate you responding. I fully understand what you are saying. With any service or product you purchase there is an element of luck as to how it will turn out. But, personally, I think there is some value in finding out fellow caravanners experiences of using something like a particular breakdown service. If I had received multiple responses saying they have used Arrival in the recent past and the service was absolutely woeful it would possibly play a part in my decision making process.
I know it may seem odd, but it's quite a wrench not using Red Pennant/Mayday. I have never used any other breakdown service in all the 19 or so years I have been caravanning. I really don't want to bore people with the details but my experience with Red Pennant last year was absolutely woeful. It was nothing to do with delays with a recovery truck, or issues with a replacement car. It was the inept way Red Pennant actually processed the initial call. And that was only the start of the problems I had with them. Just to say, I have received compensation from the Club for their failings. I really was surprised how poor the service was.
Was it a one off? Possibly. But I do think it makes sense to see what other options are available. Especially as the cost of Red Pennant and Mayday combined is comparatively high.
Thanks.
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21/1/2023 at 11:39am
Location: Worcestershire
Outfit: Buccaneer Cruiser
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Quote: Originally posted by Andyorp on 20/1/2023
Netherton - Thank you. I appreciate you responding. I fully understand what you are saying. With any service or product you purchase there is an element of luck as to how it will turn out. But, personally, I think there is some value in finding out fellow caravanners experiences of using something like a particular breakdown service. If I had received multiple responses saying they have used Arrival in the recent past and the service was absolutely woeful it would possibly play a part in my decision making process.
I know it may seem odd, but it's quite a wrench not using Red Pennant/Mayday. I have never used any other breakdown service in all the 19 or so years I have been caravanning. I really don't want to bore people with the details but my experience with Red Pennant last year was absolutely woeful. It was nothing to do with delays with a recovery truck, or issues with a replacement car. It was the inept way Red Pennant actually processed the initial call. And that was only the start of the problems I had with them. Just to say, I have received compensation from the Club for their failings. I really was surprised how poor the service was.
Was it a one off? Possibly. But I do think it makes sense to see what other options are available. Especially as the cost of Red Pennant and Mayday combined is comparatively high.
Thanks.
Maybe not a one off as I think this is the third time I have read something similar in the past year. The last one was the person broke down in France and the vehicle needed to be recovered and then it got "lost" for a couple of weeks.
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23/1/2023 at 12:42pm
Location: nr Derby
Outfit: Phoenix 440+
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We unfortunately had house Red Pennant last summer. First sign of trouble was the car dashboard going bananas with error messages - however this proved not to be a problem with the car as such as when we were investigating the errors with the Audi dealer in Perigueux he discovered a water leak caused by a faulty grommet fitted by the tower supplier When investigating how far the water had gone we discovered a sheared off bolt which we then discover was from the tow bar! I called Red Pennant and a case was restored with them. A chap and break down truck came to see the car at the campsite with 2 hours of the call... he declared the car unsafe to tow but ok to use. He confirmed this when Red Pennant rang whilst he was on site ( he called them to say he had arrived). Choice was tow car supplied as repairs in France would take over 3 weeks before the garage could look at it or we could leave the caravan in France and it be repatriated. New chose the latter option and arranged for the van to be left on site with the owner who made no charge for it. Red Pennant lady offered to find us accommodation for our planned next stop in Brittany - No need I did this myself. Van recovery company made immediate contact that day to confirm that Red Pennant had made contact and he said the van would be delivered on September 9th - he rang en route to say his hours would be up before he could deliver and so hit was delivered next morning at 10 am direct to our storage as the tow bar on the car had not be sorted out. So in short it all worked like clockwork with with regular calls to check that thing were happening as expected. On the only other occasion we had to use RP about 8years ago the service was just as efficient! Never thought of going elsewhere to be honest. Annual policy which we use at leas twice a year.
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Grahame
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20/3/2025 at 8:36pm
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The key to all this to plan your breakdown carefully.
Don’t do it on a Friday evening at the beginning of a public holiday weekend.
Don’t do it in the first fortnight of August when garages are closed for staff holidays.
Don’t expect them to source specialist spares quickly for makes of car they have never dealt with before.
With about 50 European trips under our belt we have tried breakdown insurance packaged with annual insurance as well as free standing policies. But with every policy from every source our best results have always been to use our own initiative to get repairs done locally - and only tell the insurance company afterwards when we send the bill in .
Post last edited on 20/03/2025 20:52:58
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23/3/2025 at 7:58am
Location: Essex
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What frustrates us is that the you have to be a member of a club to get the caravan part of the recovery service, why? This means you have to add on the cost of membership to the club that we probably won’t use.
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Claire and Colin
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via mobile 18/1/2023 at 3:49pm
