Mayday and Caravan Storage

Stato replied on 16/01/2019 14:57

Stato

Posted on 16/01/2019 14:57

Hi,

This is just a heads up for people who have Mayday breakdown cover and store their caravan at a storage site.

In my naivety, I always assumed that in the event of any issues with my car Mayday would pick me up, drop off my caravan at our storage site, which is about six miles from my home, and then take my car back to my home address, or a local garage. It turns out that this is not the case. Apparently they will take my car and van to my caravan storage site and then leave me there to my own devices. Alternatively, they will take me to my home address and then leave both my car and van there (not an option for me as the van won't fit on my drive}. The choice is yours, it's either one or the other.

This only came to light last year when one of our centre members had to use Mayday, and both their broken down car and caravan where deposited at their storage site. They then had to arrange for a garage to recover the car to their home address. On contacting the Caravan Club after the event they were given sympathy but told sorry, those are the conditions of Mayday membership.

I have to say I am a little disappointed with the Caravan Club and Mayday. I pay over £100 a year for their breakdown cover and it does seem a bit poor that onward recovery, especially where it is fairly local, is not provided. Does anybody know how Arrival or Britannia Rescue would deal with this situation?

Anyway, the main point of this post is just to highlight this issue for Club members who store their caravans at a storage site. Fortunately I've never had to use Mayday's services, and yes, I have been naive in not reading the small print. Apparently it's on page 6 of the policy document!

Happy caravanning.

228 replies

Wildwood replied on 02/02/2019 11:51

Member

Wildwood

Caravanner

Posted on 02/02/2019 11:51

Despite the extra cost it looks like the RAC for us next renewal.

Wherenext replied on 02/02/2019 20:43

Member

Wherenext

Caravanner

Posted on 02/02/2019 20:43

I've following this thread with interest. Up front, the cover doesn't concern me as I have cover for breakdown through my bank, also the car is covered under a Pan European policy for another 2 years and lastly my caravan is stored at home.

What does concern me though is that the CMC have negotiated a really poor deal for its members, bearing in mind that its main rival, C&CC, have managed to include better cover with RAC. Didn't some members also express the same sentiments vis-a-vis European Travel Insurance? In addition this club has now dispensed with an insurer for Caravan Insurance and intend to self insure this risk.

Too many wrong choices made, or so it would it seem.

Surfer replied on 03/02/2019 09:19

Member

Surfer

Caravanner

Posted on 03/02/2019 09:19

No one has mentioned the insurance implications? If you normally store the caravan at a storage compound, but due to Mayday you have to take it home, it may not be covered.

If you have to leave your vehicle at the caravan storage compound again it may not be covered by the insurance company as it is not at its normal location. If it is a weekend and the car has to left outside the garage as the garage is closed again we have an insurance issue.

SteveL replied on 03/02/2019 10:29

Member

SteveL

Motorhomer

Posted on 03/02/2019 09:19 by Surfer

No one has mentioned the insurance implications? If you normally store the caravan at a storage compound, but due to Mayday you have to take it home, it may not be covered.

If you have to leave your vehicle at the caravan storage compound again it may not be covered by the insurance company as it is not at its normal location. If it is a weekend and the car has to left outside the garage as the garage is closed again we have an insurance issue.

Posted on 03/02/2019 10:29

Our caravan insurance covers ours for a few ( can't remember how many ) days at home, for loading cleaning etc. I think many policies do. Wouldn't fit however.😂

Not sure about the car. Recently we parked ours in a multi-storey car park in London overnight. The hotel was some distance away. It never crossed my mind that it wouldn't be covered. There does not seem to be a lot of difference, other than the car was not broken down and hence stolen more easily.

GTP replied on 03/02/2019 11:04

Member

GTP

Caravanner

Posted on 02/02/2019 20:43 by Wherenext

I've following this thread with interest. Up front, the cover doesn't concern me as I have cover for breakdown through my bank, also the car is covered under a Pan European policy for another 2 years and lastly my caravan is stored at home.

What does concern me though is that the CMC have negotiated a really poor deal for its members, bearing in mind that its main rival, C&CC, have managed to include better cover with RAC. Didn't some members also express the same sentiments vis-a-vis European Travel Insurance? In addition this club has now dispensed with an insurer for Caravan Insurance and intend to self insure this risk.

Too many wrong choices made, or so it would it seem.

Posted on 03/02/2019 11:04

In addition this club has now dispensed with an insurer for Caravan Insurance and intend to self insure this risk.

perhaps another thread should be started entitled 'club insurance products'...having just seen the above post by wherenext..and that my caravan insurance is due for renewal in a couple of months...I decided to get a quote from this club...like for like with my existing policy from the C&CC.

The CaMC Insurance Web page states :

Caravan Cover is protection for your caravan against theft, loss or damage, and operates in a similar way to caravan insurance. However, with Caravan Cover, you're protected directly by the Club, which means we deal with your claims from start to finish. We pay out on valid claims without you having to deal with the fuss of an insurer.

Cover starts as little as £49*...really !!!

Not really surprised by the result...nearly £45 dearer that C&CC and a similar result using Caravan Guard...

Having said that i do appreciate that EG has high overheads....as I have said often before, relocate to Yorkshire, 'we'll do you proud'

Wildwood replied on 03/02/2019 12:41

Member

Wildwood

Caravanner

Posted on 03/02/2019 09:19 by Surfer

No one has mentioned the insurance implications? If you normally store the caravan at a storage compound, but due to Mayday you have to take it home, it may not be covered.

If you have to leave your vehicle at the caravan storage compound again it may not be covered by the insurance company as it is not at its normal location. If it is a weekend and the car has to left outside the garage as the garage is closed again we have an insurance issue.

Posted on 03/02/2019 12:41

The caravan policy will normally allow some period away from the storage but if you have no towcar it might not be possible to move it there in time.

If the car is left at the garage awaiting repair there will be no insurance issue provided it is locked and any alarm set.

DSB replied on 03/02/2019 21:40

Moderator

DSB

Caravanner

Posted on 29/01/2019 15:03 by DavidSmithCandMClub

Hi all,

First of all, please accept my apologies for the long time in posting a response to this thread. Obviously this is quite a complicated subject, and as it refers to a set of policy terms supplied by a third party partner business - in this case Green Flag - I had to ensure that they were happy with the response.

To that end, my second apology is for the length of the following response - but again, I wanted to be as clear as possible and get my response as thorough as I could.

To that end, having discussed the situation with Green Flag at length, hopefully the information below will clarify what is and is not currently covered:

Firstly, we must clarify the difference between ‘Nationwide Recovery’ (which is the ‘normal’ recovery element of the policy); and ‘Dual Recovery’ (which is the policy feature that tries to facilitate a Member being able to continue a holiday or break in the event of a breakdown).

So, for Dual Recovery, if you are on your way to a pre-booked camp or caravan site and suffer a breakdown, your caravan will be taken to the site and then your car will be taken to a local repairer and every attempt will be made to repair it during the length of your stay. After this, reunification of car and caravan depends on the scenario in question, but can be summed up as follows: if the broken down car has been repaired during the trip duration, it would be the customer’s responsibility to collect it and reunite it with the caravan before driving home; if a repair has not been achieved during the length of the stay, Mayday would work with the customer to recover all the vehicles to one single destination under the terms of ‘Nationwide Recovery’, as detailed below. Therefore, the only ‘double drop’ scenario would be the initial drop of the caravan to the site and the car to the local repairer on the way to a camp or caravan site.

For Nationwide Recovery, which includes recovering broken-down vehicles after a trip or on a journey that is not to a pre-booked site etc, recovering car and caravan to two different locations does not currently apply. In this situation, Mayday’s terms and conditions do not include cover for a caravan to be taken to a different destination to your car. You can choose whether to be taken to a garage to repair your car; or taken to the storage facility where your caravan needs to be left; or taken to your home – at which point you are then responsible for collecting and transporting any vehicle to any further destination.

However, there are occasions where cover may be provided ‘outside’ the terms and conditions. For example, if the storage facility for the caravan is on the way to the final destination where the car is being taken, and there is little or no impact in cost, a double drop might be provided as a gesture of goodwill, but would be entirely at the discretion of the Mayday recovery operator.

Finally, if a Member also has the ‘Super Cover’ level of the Club’s Caravan Cover, Section 4 of the cover wording (Miscellaneous Expenses) includes reimbursement of up to £3,500 for “Removing the vehicle and/or caravan to the nearest repairer” OR “The cost of returning the vehicle and/or caravan to your home address”. In effect, this means that whichever Mayday breakdown option you choose, your Caravan Cover will ‘plug the gap’ in the double drop issue. I should stress that, at this time, the Member would need to arrange the second drop, pay the cost and claim it back, and that this is only available for the ‘Super Cover’ option of our caravan cover, and not the ‘Standard Cover’.

Meanwhile, we are in continuous discussion with the Mayday team at Green Flag about product enhancements, including improving these areas of cover, and are working to assess the impacts of a double-drop service on the Mayday contractor networks, to assess the service provision and price impacts of any changes.

Posted on 03/02/2019 21:40

If I have understood your explanation correctly David, I have to express my disappointment at this response, especially as I rang up the Club to check the particular scenario. On this occasion (last September), I was assured that if my car broke down on the way home from holiday while towing, my caravan would be recovered to my storeage facility and my car would be delivered either to my home or to my repairer. Furthermore, I was assured that the Club would use common sense in these matters and would not leave the member stranded. As far as I'm concerned, this falls short of what is required and I will certainly be looking at levels of cover and comparing them with what others have to offer at renewal time.

After having the stress of having to be recovered in case of breakdown, the last thing I would want to be doing is to get a different company to recover my caravan from my repairers to my storeage, let alone having to pay for it and claim it back through another insurance route.

David

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GTP replied on 04/02/2019 12:10

Member

GTP

Caravanner

Posted on 04/02/2019 12:10

Meanwhile, we are in continuous discussion with the Mayday team at Green Flag about product enhancements, including improving these areas of cover, and are working to assess the impacts of a double-drop service on the Mayday contractor networks, to assess the service provision and price impacts of any changes.

All very well intended but.....A friend of mine (non caravaner) has just had his Green Flag cover renewed...and received a discount for not making any call outs in the previous year.....checking their web site, they do in fact offer a discount on renewal if you have not made a claim...

So where is my renewal discount CaMC ??.