I’ve no experience of recovery as I’ve never had a breakdown,in the U.K. or Europe.
With older bikes of less value I’d guess if the recovery costs are more than the value of the bike ,you may well have issues.
I’ve always been of the mindset to pay for insurance to ensure you/ me gets sorted and home in the event of medical issues.
The bike is very much secondary.
I have had a recovery (twice) both times in / from Europe.
1. Was the puncture from hell of the rear tyre on my 1600. The bike was the new model, with a very limited number of type approved tyres. It involved taxis, a recovery truck from an obscure D road in France, a hire car, calls around France and Germany, three nights in a hotel, a fresh Chunnel crossing, all of which was arranged - and paid for - by my insurer. If no tyre had been found, then the insurer agreed to pay for a friend to pick up the spare rear tyre I had in my garage at home and to then courier it to France. Insurers will listen to and agree any sensible alternatives. Excellent service. In the end a tyre was found in Germany and sent by courier to Dijon, France, where it was fitted. All arranged and paid for by my insurer, with the exception of the standard physical cost of the tyre had I bought it from the BMW dealer in France, its fitting and balancing. Excellent service.
2. When I buckled the front wheel of my 1100 Pan European. The insurer paid for the recovery of the bike to a Honda dealership in SW France to be assessed, then recovery back to London and eight days of car hire, so I could continue my holiday and get back to home. Excellent service, again. The recovery was arranged by my Breakdown insurer (they are good at what they do) but paid for by my Motor insurer, as the cause of the ‘Breakdown’ was an accident, not a sudden and unforeseen mechanical failure. All arranged in perhaps, three or four phone calls.
Yes, if the cost of recovery is greater than the value of the vehicle, then cover will very probably not apply, for obvious reasons.
Yes, the vehicle becomes a very secondary concern if you are seriously ill, injured or, to use an extreme example, dead.
Very many of the problems we see on these pages stem from people:
A. Not reading / understanding the insurance policies they have (or haven’t) bought.
B. Being bolshy (when they really shouldn’t) or thinking that they know more than an insurer, who deals with potentially a hundred or more claims like this a day, every day. As I said, an insurer will listen to good and sensible alternatives, but get them
agreed with the insurer
before you embark on them.
