Breaking down is hard to do

Breaking down on a sunday in St jean de Luz was not an enjoyable experience.
What assistance have any of you received when you broke down 3 hrs from home?
The process has not run smoothly so far for us.

Not that far from home, probably a good hour but years ago now my OH was working late at an isolated property on a sunday night in November. He was supposed to be home by 6pm for roast dinner but still had not arrived at 8pm. I then got a knock at the door and it was our village garagiste and his wife to say OH had had an accident. Obviously I thought the worst but he was uninjured and his big Trafic was on it’s side in a deep ditch on a slope in the middle of nowhere. Apparently a passing farmer stopped to help, my OH gave him the card for the garagiste andhe phoned him. Anyway we all went over there, the farmer pulled the van out of the ditch and our garage friend drove it back to the workshop for us and to wait for the insurance people to come. That is how we coped and a couple more times when OH had accidents, locals helped and I contacted either the main dealer to come and take the vehicle or our garagiste yet again. I too, have helped people who broke down outside my house or needed a lift home.

We are with Pacifica and all is not organised. Not good.

Rang my insurance company who sent a recovery van for my vehicle and arranged a replacement car, which cost me nothing.

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yes got that far but we have to organise the rest.

The bank have been trying to get me to insure my car with them but after a horror tale that happened to the mother of my son’s friend years back concerning that insurer, I don’t think I will bother and stay with my current trusted and tested insurer.

What’s the rest? My van was taken to its usual garage, where they fixed it, and I returned my replacement car.

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A friend of mine makes a point of always buying the cheapest insurance he can find and then complains when, after an accident, he gets really poor service.

Look for the cheapest by all means, but do some research as to the support you can expect before making a decision.

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the difference between the price and the cost of insurance :wink:

we broke down in St Jean de Luz and the tow truck took the car away but we had to find out where it was taken to. Then we have to find a garage there and arrange to get the car looked at and repaiedf.
This is 3 hrs from our home.
So we do not know the garages etc

We are with Allianz and they’ve been excellent.

We broke down on Xmas Eve in Angoulême on the way to Limoges. A warning message appeared saying “Engine fault. Stop immediately!”. I figured it wasn’t worth risking it so we pulled over on the hard shoulder.

First of all, the roadside assistance people were there within minutes and put cones out to filter the traffic. Secondly we called Allianz and they dispatched a truck that was with us within 15 minutes. They took us to the local Peugeot garage, and then arranged and paid for a taxi to Limoges. After Xmas, Allianz then paid for another taxi from Limoges back to Angoulême to pick up the repaired car. The only thing we had to pay for was the actual repair (accessory timing belt which hadn’t ever been replaced).

We were so impressed we decided we are sticking with Allianz from now on, even if they may not be the cheapest around.

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Oh no. That sounds a nightmare :frowning: Did the tow truck not take you with them?

Strikes me that NOW might be the moment for each of us to check our own Motor Insurance policies re Breakdowns…
and ensure we fully understand what we should be doing… … and what sort of support/help we can expect to receive… should Breadown occur…

I’m almost certain that @fabien has outlined elsewhere what is generally the procedure for breakdowns with almost every car insurance policy.
Sadly, I think it is the case that many have not understood the ramifications of French insurance and still think in terms of UK and the AA/RAC breakdown cover.

I’m not at all sure that some folk have even got Breakdown Insurance… or, if they have… they’re not aware of its possible limitations/small print…
each contract can be so different… worth looking at, since breaking-down is not something most of us have experience of… well, not much…

every policy we’ve had in France has included breakdown cover by default - the only difference by choices being whether the car is covered less than a certain distance from home or at home.

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all well and good… it’s what sort of help one will get, which is important to understand and, if necessary, extra cover can be considered…“before” the unexpected happens…

poor @barbara_deane1 … hope all turns out ok…

There has been no guidence from Pacifica.
I would prefer to have the car towed back here and use the garage we know.
We still have to return the car from the hire co to st jean de luz.

Thank you Stella.

I hope it all gets sorted soon. It would be worth considering a different insurer if these reviews of Pacifica are typical.

Note that the comments are on Pacifica in general rather that specifically car insurance.