Mayday and Caravan Storage

On Friday I contacted mayday and asked again about recovery home via a store. The employee checked and confirmed that they do not do this. I explained that many members had been misinformed, lied to. Surprisingly this was met by silence. Consequently RAC arrival will be getting my custom. When a few more members leave mayday/CAMH may revisit this subject and change their terms

I have reported your post in the hope that we may get a ‘definitive ‘ answer....

It would be easier to find hen's teeth in a desert than to get an answer regarding this abnormality which affects numerous members who do not have their caravan stored at home.

What I have been able to find out is that if the garage is closed i.e. after hours then they will drop the vehicle off at your home. 

However what I have also found out is that during working hours they are not obliged to take your home as your contract states that they will take you to a garage within 10 miles of the breakdown and then if the vehicle cannot be fixed, they will take it home. 

What do you think your chances are of being able to get the vehicle fixed the same day?  What if there is no dealership for your vehicle within 10 miles as they can then charge extra?  What if the garage does not have the specialised equipment of diagnose the fault on your vehicle and it requires the services of a franchised dealer?  It is in the contract!  We normally have to book 10 days in advance to fit our vehicle in for service.  We are also very particular who looks after our vehicles and we have our preferred garage where we know we are not going to be ripped off!

This issue with the storage has really highlighted the many shortcomings of Mayday.  RAC Arrival cover all the above and will take our vehicle to a dealership within 75 miles of where you have broken down.  Cost is £192 which covers you in any vehicle and not just the two cars nominated on our Mayday membership!  For an extra £66 we think it is worth switching!

However what I have also found out is that during working hours they are not obliged to take your home as your contract states that they will take you to a garage within 10 miles of the breakdown and then if the vehicle cannot be fixed, they will take it home. 

Nationwide recovery
If we are unable to affect a repair or temporary fix, we will arrange and pay for the recovery of the vehicle(s) and person(s) to your choice of the following, anywhere in the UK:

Your home
Your original destination
A suitable repairer within 10 miles of either: where the incident occurred; your home; or your original destination.

The "problem" that has come to light about mayday and C/vans in storage i know has been raised at EGH as i was speaking to insurance services last Thursday,and it came up in conversation when i said i was now with Arrival because of this thread

Sorry I should have been clearer and stated if returning home.  Different issue if travelling to a site and that is not in question. 

Nationwide recovery.  Initially it will be taken to a garage within 10 miles of the breakdown and then if it cannot be fixed it will be taken home.  So it seems that vehicle and caravan is off to garage initially for a repair.

Premium cover certificate states breakdown cover anywhere in the UK including your doorstep along with transport of your vehicle to the repairer of your choice within 10 miles of your recovery destination, if we cannot easily fix the problem on the spot.  Caravan and trailer will have the same level of cover as the insured vehicle when being towed by the insured vehicle. 

The "anywhere" part refers to location where you have broken down and then  transportation to your home or your original destination or a repairer within 10 miles. Notice the "or" so cannot have home and also repairer.  The wording in the policy is that its gives you a false impression of what is on offer.

I don’t think the garage or home is in question unless they are miles apart. If you travel home at weekend the garage is most probably shut, so they will take you home and then take it to a garage another day.This is just like Britannia Rescue will do. The car is not the problem, it is the caravan, and doing a drop off at the store on the way home or to a garage.By the way I got a £24 refund for cancelling the mayday cover. It would be interesting to ascertain how many mayday members have switched to RAC Arrival

Our policy expires on 18th April at which point we will switch over to RAC Arrival/  The 10 miles restriction is certainly an onerous one if you live in a rural area and the nearest franchised dealer is 65 miles away. 

We do use a garage about 12 miles away for the minor stuff like brake pads, etc however if it is something really involved they would prefer a Jeep specialist to do the work due to the amount of software and the fact the Jeep made need to be re-program again. 

This re-programming affects many other brands and can generally only be done by the dealership as it is not viable for an independent to purchase the software and then keep it up to date.

It would be interesting to ascertain how many mayday members have switched to RAC Arrival

It would be...but we won't find out.  What is interesting is the 'word of mouth' on club sites....last week, enjoying the unusual warm/sunny weather on a club site... a lengthy discussion took place between several close neighbours regarding Mayday....maybe it was the G&T's talking but all said they would not be renewing...

Still no word from the club ???

I have just spent about 20 -30 minutes on the phone discussing the various scenarios with a Mayday and there are too many get outs for Mayday which could leave you stranded one being the 10 mile of recovery destination.

The main one that concerns us that if you breakdown on a week day, they will recover the vehicle and caravan and take the caravan to the storage however that is when it goes pear shape.  You then have the choice of the vehicle to the garage or to your residence.  If you opt for the residence they will not recover the vehicle for another 28 days as per their T&Cs. 

If you opt for the garage within 10 miles of the storage that means that you will need to find a way home which may be complicated if you have luggage and pets with you.

I understand that they are not a taxi service however I would have expected them take you and the vehicle home and then to drop the vehicle off at a garage.  The other issue is of course whether the garage has the room to accept the vehicle and store it until it can be repaired!

Seems that RAC Arrival is the only option!