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Quick question regarding recovery service

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:07 pm
by T.C.
I am doing a bit of market research for a project I am working on, so your views would e greatly appreciated.

If you had the opportunity to buy a recovery/breakdown insurance which included -

Recovery after a crash as standard as well as a conventional breakdown.

Legal expenses insurance included

Recovery to aywhere in the UK

Recovered by a specialist motorcycle recovery company

Guarante to be on scene within 1 hour or you get financial compensation

1, would you be interested, and 2, how much would you be prepared to pay?

It is still eary days and as I said it is just a bit of market research to get an idea of what the interest might be.

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:20 pm
by D-Rider
I might do if I didn't have family cover for 5 family members members in and on any vehicle - covers all the family with the cars the bikes and even the van when being used for private use.

With the convenience of that, I'm not going to be looking for specialist bike cover.
With different circumstances, maybe.

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:58 pm
by BikerGran
Same as above, got personal cover whatever vehicle I'm in/on.

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 9:07 pm
by Wally
Same as above, got personal cover whatever vehicle I'm in/on.

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 2:25 pm
by T.C.
I appreciate your replies so far. As I said, I canot say much at the moment, but just trying to get an idea of peoples opinions.

Like many of you, I have breakdown cover myself and we all have different and varying opinions and experiences, and I usually advocate do not touch legal expenses with a barge pole, and to a degree I still advocate this even though insurers are no longer allowed to force you into using their legal representatives.

Thanks for the feedback so far

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:54 pm
by MartDude
As I suppose most on here do, I have cover for myself and family members, in/on any vehicle.

However, if the price were to be sufficiently attractive, I might be interested in the specialised bike recovery aspect. I'm not convinced most vehicle recovery providers/contractors really know how to care for a bike when in their charge. Perhaps we should ask Pete - he's more experience of this subject than most . . .

For the record, I've only had a bike recovered once in recent years - after an off on the first Futura - the recovery agent was a little brutal with the ratchet straps. Previous occasions were 40 years ago - early model BSA A65 with poor oil feed to the main bearing.

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 7:19 pm
by Aladinsaneuk
Avoid green flag

As and RAC cover any vehicle - and supervise any gorillas

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 7:21 pm
by flatlander
And if anyone should know about recovery services ....

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 9:10 pm
by T.C.
Aladinsaneuk wrote:Avoid green flag

As and RAC cover any vehicle - and supervise any gorillas
And avoid AA and RAC. Green Flag for me everytime so far.

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 10:54 pm
by BikerGran
I had such poor service from the RAC that I decided to change, and was told by a recovery driver that with either Green Flag or Britannia (now LV), if you told them you needed recovery that's what you got, rather than a patrol van who couldn't do anything except call recovery, entailing another long wait (on a windy day, on my own, getting dark, on a trike they were supposed to have already fixed while I waied around for three hours)

I checked out both and emailed them with a query about the cover, had an immediate and satisfactory reply from Britannia so I went with them (Green Flag took a week to reply, then wondered why I had gone with another company and kept pestering me to change to them)
Britannia have been excellent - here's hoping they be as good now they are LV.

Oh and I got personal cover for me AND Mike, plus European cover for my car, for a lot less than I'd been paying the RAC for personal cover just for myself and no European cover.

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:54 am
by squadron Nero
Yes I would be interested and probably willing to pay upto £150 per annum

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 6:14 pm
by Aladinsaneuk
Reason for my dislike of green flag...

The two occasions I called them, they dispatched a pick up truck to tow me to a garage... No attempt at a roadside repair

When Hanna's key failed at the Shropshire meet - how long did that take to get organised

I had good service from the RAC a few years ago - was a passenger when a friends car broke down... Attended and fixed in an hour

When the battery charger failed on the camper van , AA didn't just turn up and start the van, but identified and fixed the fault...

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:29 pm
by T.C.
Aladinsaneuk wrote:Reason for my dislike of green flag...

The two occasions I called them, they dispatched a pick up truck to tow me to a garage... No attempt at a roadside repair

When Hanna's key failed at the Shropshire meet - how long did that take to get organised

I had good service from the RAC a few years ago - was a passenger when a friends car broke down... Attended and fixed in an hour

When the battery charger failed on the camper van , AA didn't just turn up and start the van, but identified and fixed the fault...
But thats the thing isn't it, it is all subjective and horses for courses depending on individual experiences. It does not matter how good a service is, there will always be those that have a gripe, and possibly with good reason, so it comes down to personal choice.

I have had so many bad experiences with the AA and RAC I wuld rather push the car or the bike home myserlf then give those idiots my hard earnt money, whereas I have had nothing but terrific service from Green Flag or in the case of the Wife's car, Brittania as it was. Europ Assistance were pretty good as well.

I have seen them all at close quarters as I used to be an agent for all of them on the bike side, and even internally AA and RAC were awfull.

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:58 pm
by BikerGran
I agree with those who say they had good service from RAC 'a few years ago' - so did I. But things have changed.

Can't comment re AA as I've never used them.

Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 4:10 pm
by lazarus
I pay £40 in Tesco vouchers for RAC recovery on 3 cars and two people. No bike in that but the bike is BMW GS so it cant break down can it?