Breakdown Recovery on a French Peage (Toll) Road

[moandick]

To all motorhomers who are thinking of driving on a French Toll Road in the future - are you aware that your UK breakdown service is NOT ALLOWED to recover you from a French Toll Road.

I had a telephone call from one of my members in an RV who had had a 'blow-out' on a front tyre on the A26 just outside Reims in France. He phoned his breakdown insurance only to be told they were not allowed to recover him from a 'private' motorway.

I checked with Bob Banks from Parc Verger who has verified the story by saying that the Private Motorways are 'franchisees' and the only breakdown services allowed to operate on the private motorways are the breakdown companies employed by those Franchisees!

And not only that BUT if you do breakdown on a Toll Road and have to use the services of the franchise breakdown company - they expect to be paid in CASH - which in my members case happened to be somewhere in the region of €1500

Check, check, check before you go! :shout::shout::shout:

 

[scotjimland]

To all motorhomers who are thinking of driving on a French Toll Road in the future - are you aware that your UK breakdown service is NOT ALLOWED to recover you from a French Toll Road.

Well, that is very interesting, thanks Dick ..

another good reason for not using the French toll roads.....

 

[Kon tiki]

Only ever used one toll road in France but we were in a hurry, as we have plenty of time I can't see us ever using them.

 

[WillH]

There are statutory charges for repair and recovery on French Autoroutes, Around 138 euro for repair and or recovery, and a bit more at weekends. Your member has been scammed.

 

[Reveuse]

my breakdown policy says I have to pay any charges incurred in being towed off autoroutes and get a receipt, and they will refund them

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[zaskar]

There are statutory charges for repair and recovery on French Autoroutes, Around 138 euro for repair and or recovery, and a bit more at weekends. Your member has been scammed.

Could I ask where you got this information please?

 

[Road Runner]

Well that would be all the cash I could lay my hands on now so would be knackered.

I don't like the toll roads for many reasons.

 

[scotjimland]

France: French Roads, Motorways, tolls and other roads, France has a good road system that includes everything

Breakdown Services

If you break down on a motorway, you must park your car on the hard shoulder ( bande d’arrêt d’urgence) and place an emergency triangle 30m (100ft) behind it. Free emergency telephones ( poste d’urgence) are mounted on orange posts every 2km (1.25mi) on motorways and you may walk along the hard shoulder to the nearest phone, indicated by arrows. Each telephone is numbered and directly connected to the motorway security centre (Centre de Sécurité). Say whether you’ve broken down ( tombé en panne) or have had an accident ( accidenté), and give the number of your telephone and the location of your car, i.e. before ( avant) or after ( après) the emergency telephone.

A breakdown truck ( dépanneur) or first-aid help ( service de secours) will be sent, as required. The standard charge for the recovery of a broken-down vehicle from a motorway is around €97 (€119.50 if it weighs over 1.8 tonnes), which applies whether the vehicle can be towed to a rest area for repair or needs to be taken to a garage or any other location designated by you (within reason!). A multi-language service is provided in English, German, Italian and Spanish on some motorways, e.g. the A7 between Lyon and Marseille.

Minor repairs of up to around half an hour are usually done on the spot. For anything more serious you will need to be towed to a garage. There are fixed charges for emergency repairs and towing, e.g. €65 for requesting a breakdown service and around €100 for repairing a vehicle on the spot (up to 30 minutes’ work) or towing it up to 5km (3mi) beyond the next motorway exit. Note that charges are increased by 50 per cent for breakdowns between 18.00 and 06.00 on weekdays and throughout the weekend and public holidays. If you’re unable to continue your journey, breakdown companies must provide free transport to take you and your passengers off the motorway and provide assistance in finding accommodation and alternative transport.

 

[WillH]

Could I ask where you got this information please?

I got it from the following website for french Autoroutes:-

Link Removed

The information there is what I have always understood to be the case.

Rgds
Bill

 

[PhilandMena]

I find this very odd! When I took out my insurance last year I was informed I was covered for both UK and Europe. I would like to think if i had to pay cash up front to be towed off a Toll road this would have been explained to me and included in my policy documents!
I'm going to contact my insurance company and check this out! It does not quite stack up in my opinion.
Saying that, I’ve been wrong before!

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[Braunston]

Hi, Who is you breakdown policy with,

Thanks

my breakdown policy says I have to pay any charges incurred in being towed off autoroutes and get a receipt, and they will refund them

 

[moandick]

The people who contacted me were on their way to Spain for the Winter - now, whether you agree with them or not - they did not carry a spare wheel or tyre and they were not towing a car.

So they called their breakdown service who said "Sorry, we can't help" -

so they contacted the French breakdown service who tried to get them a spare tyre but in any case fitted an 'oversize' tyre just so they could get off the motorway into a service station 200 yards away and at that time were sitting there waiting for another French Engineer to come out and 'suus' out the situation.

Whatever else - they now intend turning back and high-tailing it for home - much wiser but much out-of-pocket.

 

[WillH]

I've been travelling to France for over 20 years, using autoroutes, and have always understood what I psoted previously to be the correct information.

"Breakdown call-out and tow-in fees are set by the French government."

The above statement is all over my CC Club European Brochure, my french autoroute Michelin Map, the websites etc. If you breakdown, use the roadside emergancy phone, this is direct to the Police, they will send an authorised breakdown truck to you. If you have full breakdown cover you can claim the costs back, remember to get a receipt!

This guy got ripped!

Rgds
Bill

 

[moandick]

Hi Bill

I cannot confirm or deny what my member told me - BUT maybe you are talking about normal sized vehicles - maybe you are not talking about a 10 ton RV with very special tyre sizes which are NOT available in France etc., etc., etc. Maybe you are not talking about a low-loader to transport their automatic gearbox RV etc., etc., etc.

Maybe they have been ripped off BUT maybe they haven't - and we should wait to get the full story as soon as they get home.

In the meantime many more people are now aware that their breakdown cover MAY NOT cover them when they are on a private French Road such as the Peage.

That is why I said in my original post "Check, Check, Check before you go"

 

[Reveuse]

Hi Braunston

Motorhome cover is with Britannia Rescue (good service, they once repatriated my Hymer back to Yorkshire from Normandy) and their policy says:

"F 3.3.3 In some countries if you break down on a motorway or other major route, your call may be answered by the police and they may arrange for a recovery without our authorisation. If this is the case, you may be asked to pay for the service and you should keep the receipt and claim it back from us when you get back to the UK."

Car is with Vehicle Rescue Direct, I don't have that policy document here with me but I THINK it says roughly the same thing.

Hope this helps

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[WillH]

Didn't realise it was a big RV, still seems an awful lot more than shown on the website.

Rgds
Bill

 

[ruffingitsmoothly]

The people who contacted me were on their way to Spain for the Winter - now, whether you agree with them or not - they did not carry a spare wheel or tyre and they were not towing a car.

So they called their breakdown service who said "Sorry, we can't help" -

so they contacted the French breakdown service who tried to get them a spare tyre but in any case fitted an 'oversize' tyre just so they could get off the motorway into a service station 200 yards away and at that time were sitting there waiting for another French Engineer to come out and 'suus' out the situation.
Whatever else - they now intend turning back and high-tailing it for home - much wiser but much out-of-pocket.

If fitting this oversize tyre was only a temporary measure why did they not just take one of the twin rear wheels off one side fit it on the front then creep to the service area to have the problem resolved? I know when I had a blow out on a Spanish Motorway on a rear lefthand side tyre rather than risk danger from trying to fit my spare at the busy side of the road I crept along the narrow hard shoulder for over 2 miles at about 10 mph till I reached a service area!
I know it is a problem to carry a spare wheel on some of the larger RV's like my Monaco however I carry a spare tyre in the slideout lockerand so as not to waste space I store lots of stuff in the tyre itself. thus:

And cut off redundant water butt that fit's snugly into it for more storage

Regards Pat

 

[Reallyretired]

Neither my van (Mercedes) or the toad (Smart) have a spare wheel, being supplied just with an electric pump and a tin of crud which you squirt into the tyre. The Smarts front and rear tyres are different sizes and both vehicles have alloys, however I can't believe the crud would work for a large puncture.
My previous Dethleffs (Fiat) had a proper spare wheel, admittedly in a pretty inaccessible place underneath.
I suspect the absence of a spare wheel is a cost saving to the manufacturer, not passed on to the customer of course. I suppose I could get a spare wheel and mount it on the bike rack

 

[Geo]

If fitting this oversize tyre was only a temporary measure why did they not just take one of the twin rear wheels off one side fit it on the front then creep to the service area to have the problem resolved? I know when I had a blow out on a Spanish Motorway on a rear lefthand side tyre rather than risk danger from trying to fit my spare at the busy side of the road I crept along the narrow hard shoulder for over 2 miles at about 10 mph till I reached a service area!
I know it is a problem to carry a spare wheel on some of the larger RV's like my Monaco however I carry a spare tyre in the slideout lockerand so as not to waste space I store lots of stuff in the tyre itself. thus:

And cut off redundant water butt that fit's snugly into it for more storage

Regards Pat

Pat your lockers are far to organised,you should be thoroughly ashamed of your self
Geo

 

[ruffingitsmoothly]

Pat your lockers are far to organised,you should be thoroughly ashamed of your self
Geo

Geo

That's not what SWMBO says always moaning why do we need all that junk with us!!!

Regards Pat

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[Bulletguy]

To all motorhomers who are thinking of driving on a French Toll Road in the future - are you aware that your UK breakdown service is NOT ALLOWED to recover you from a French Toll Road.

And not only that BUT if you do breakdown on a Toll Road and have to use the services of the franchise breakdown company - they expect to be paid in CASH - which in my members case happened to be somewhere in the region of €1500

There is a simple way of solving this issue.......

DON'T USE THEM!!

 

[hereford bull]

how you doing pat
when youve got a minute could you measure the locker you keep your spare tyre in i dont think the locker on mine is as wide. when i go thru france and spain it always plays on my mind this not being able to get a tyre i have been trying to work out if theres anywhere else i can put it ,being stuck on a m/way services for 2 weeks while they try and find you a tyre when youve paid for your holiday would be a sh--.have a good xmas

 

[passionwagon]

NearlyRetired said--I suspect the absence of a spare wheel is a cost saving to the manufacturer, not passed on to the customer of course.
How do you know! Please provide the facts.

 

[PhilandMena]

Well Bugger me! I'm wrong! just come off the phone with my insurrance company who confirm this is French Law ! My insurrance cover would kick in after I had been towed off the toll road!
I just love this website, it always provides me with information i need to know!

Oh! by the way, Merry Christmas everybody.
Philip

 

[ruffingitsmoothly]

how you doing pat
when youve got a minute could you measure the locker you keep your spare tyre in i dont think the locker on mine is as wide. when i go thru france and spain it always plays on my mind this not being able to get a tyre i have been trying to work out if theres anywhere else i can put it ,being stuck on a m/way services for 2 weeks while they try and find you a tyre when youve paid for your holiday would be a sh--.have a good xmas

Hi Ron how are you?

Next time you are down stay here and we can go out for a pint (or two:beer:)

I have measured the locker it is 50" wide and the slideout tray is 39" wide, I know one couple with a Knight who actually wrap up the spare tyre and keep it at the back of their wardrobe in the RV and others have them strapped up under the floor of the car trailer they tow:thumb:

Ron have a good Christmas.

Regards Pat

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[moandick]

As a post-script to the RV couple that I told you had a blow-out on their front tyre on a French Toll Road:

Hi Dick

Just to let you know that we are now back in UK after front wheel blow-out on toll road. I would just like to inform every one of our problems. We didn't know that our recovery service is not valid on French toll roads - you have to be recovered by a (Sanif approved) breakdown service.

In our case they were unable to find the right size Tyre for our RV and if we, personally, had not found 2 new tyres to fit our wheel rims, we are sure we would still be sat in service area today!.

The size we found was 295/60/22.5 which is available all over Europe But the French charged a lot of money for these tyres - with fitting charges of two new tyres - we had to pay £2065 (for tyres that cost £200 each fitted in the UK) - so much for cheap living in France.

Please let every one know that on a private motorway - any vehicle over 3.5T - the operaters can charge whatever they want for recovery.

P.S When we go next year will stay off toll roads may take a bit longer but at least we want be robbed by French bandits!

Have a great Xmas

Ray & Suzzane

I can only re-inforce what I said before - Check, check, check your breakdown policy before you go - to see if you can recover some of these 'private' costs!

 

[Bulletguy]

The size we found was 295/60/22.5 which is available all over Europe But the French charged a lot of money for these tyres - with fitting charges of two new tyres - we had to pay £2065 (for tyres that cost £200 each fitted in the UK) - so much for cheap living in France.

If as the writer states, "the tyre is available all over Europe".....then you dont pay anyone £2000 for 400 quids worth of rubber! A few phone calls could so easily have resolved this.

If they cost £200 a piece in the UK then i wouldn't be in the least surprised that the identical tyres are sold in France for half that amount. Alternatively, contact a UK dealer and get a pair shipped out by air freight......even that wouldn't cost £2000.

I get the impression this couple were a willing party to being openly ripped off.

 

[hereford bull]

Thanks pat ill check what mine is but i think there narrower than that by a long way have a good one

 

[ruffingitsmoothly]

Thanks Ron and see you next time:thumb::thumb:

Regards Pat

 

[sennen523]

Breakdown cover on Peage Autoroutes.

Hello All,
Does anyone know what happens with Breakdown cover using FIAT ASSIST on Peage French AutoRoutes?
Thanks.
sennen523.

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