Breakdown insurance issue - Motorcycle stuck in Belgium

[Knobby]

Hi Folks,

On Saturday 4/6/22 at arounf 10:30am my motorbike broke down in Adinkerke, Belgium. We (my wife and I) were on our way home from our holiday in Austria & Italy and had a booking with Eurotunnel at 12:50pm that same day.
I have European Breakdown Cover provided to my with my motorbike insurance, which I took out with Swinton. In my portal on the Swinton website, which holds all the documentation relating to my insurance, there is a summary document for the breakdown cover. Under the "What's Included" section it states:

"If your motorcycle cannot be fixed before you are due to travel home, transport costs for you and your passengers, your motorcycle and luggage will be provided (up to £150 in theUK and £100 for storage charges)."

So I called the breakdown recovery number and we were recovered to a compound a mile or so away. It was a bank holiday in Belgium & France and most things were closed, so there would be no chance of repairing my bike before we were due to travel home - I believe the cylinder head gasket has gone and it will be quite a long repair job.

When we arrived at the compound I phoned the recovery people again and was told that they would repatriate me, my wife and our luggage but not the motorcycle. They explained that their procedure for the motorcycle required them to get an estimate of the repair costs (even though they do not pay for this). Once they have an estimated repair cost they add it to the cost of repatriating my bike, and if the total comes to more than their estimate of the market value of the bike they will not repatriate it. This is clearly different to what is stated in the Swinto summary of cover. There was no point arguing at the time and, due to recent travel issues and their incompentance, we finally arrived home late on Monday evening.

I've since had many phone calls with the recovery company and Swinton insurance. I was told that Swinton do not have any policy document relating to the breakdown insurance and that I should contact the recovery handling it all (which ia AXA). I eventually received a copy of the policy wording directly from AXA (both documents are Swinton branded). Reading through the European section (D6) it states:

"What is covered:

If following a breakdown your motorcycle/vehicle is still not repaired or roadworthy when it is time for you to return home, we will pay for suitable transport to get you, your passengers and your luggage home, and up to £150 towards alternative travel costs in the UK while you wait for your own motorcycle/vehicle. We will also pay for:
a) Transporting your motorcycle/vehicle to your home or your chosen repairer in the UK
b) OR the cost of a single rail/sea ticket (or an air ticket if the rail/sea trip would take more than 12 hours) for you to go and fetch your motorcycle/ vehicle once it has been repaired or found.
c) AND any storage charges (up to a total of £100) while it is waiting for repair, collection or transportation home.

What is not covered:

a) Any costs and expenses you would have incurred anyway for travelling home.
b) Loss or damage to personal possessions left in, on or near the motorcycle/vehicle.
c) The return of your vehicle to the UK if we believe that the cost of doing so would be greater than the market value in the UK after the breakdown.
d) The return of the motorcycle/vehicle to the UK if repairs can be completed locally and you are either unable or unwilling to allow this to happen.
e) Anything mentioned in the general exclusions or conditions. (Please see section E & F)."



Note particularly item c) under "What is not covered". I was told by AXA that if this was the case they would not repatriate my bike. This actually goes against another part of the summary of cover under the section "Are there any restrictions on cover?" which states:
"The additional costs of getting your motorcycle back to the United Kingdom if the cost is more than the market value of your motorcycle"

The above would lead me to believe that I would only have to pay the difference if the repatriation cost was more than the market value of the bike.

Phoning both Swinton and AXA sees me being passed backwards and forwards between the two with AXA sticking to their guns.

I'm still waiting for the estimated repair costs, although the garage who currently have my bike say they cannot do the job, so don't know for sure if AXA will refuse the repatriation request. But as my bike is quite old I fear the worst and would like to know where I stand legally. I've attached the 2 documents so you can have a look in case I may have missed something, and any advice would be appreciated.

[DE DOGS]

This is what I would do in your place, Dover port. Adinkerke, Belgium. is not that far from the port,( Calais) (Rent a van) or get a quote from a courier, there are recovery vans who run over there, I charged £100 to Brussels Airport, mind you a time back so that should give you a starting point, Grandson had a dog brought from Holland with lots of paperwork he had to get cost £300 nine mts ago. Sort out the insurance once sorted.

[echat11]

You need to communicate in writing with AXA, Swinton and all other parties.

Write a formal complaint to Swinton, explain the issue, why it's ridiculous and what you want them to do about it. When you get a response, if you still aren't happy, lodge a complaint with the FOS. It will cost Swinton money for the FOS to look into your complaint.

Even if there are Terms and Conditions, it doesn't make the Terms and Conditions fair.

You can send your complaint to the CEO:

Ian Donaldson
CEO
Swinton Insurance
ian.donaldson@atlantagroup.co.uk

[Knobby]

Well I lodged complaints with both Swinton & AXA. AXA are still investigating but a had a telephone conversation with Swinton this morning and disagreed on quite a few things. They have offered a small amount of compensation, but only for the fact that the policy wording was not available to me. Here's the complaint response from them:

"I am writing further to the concerns you have raised with my colleagues and via our online feedback form following the breakdown of your motorcycle whilst abroad. I would also like to thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. I’m sorry that you’ve had an experience that has not met your expectations of us.

My understanding of your concerns was that you had arranged breakdown cover alongside your motorcycle insurance with us on the basis that this would cover the breakdown of your motorcycle whilst abroad, including the repatriation of you, your passenger, luggage and motorcycle if it could not be fixed before you were due to travel home. However, following a breakdown occurring during your return journey you found that the breakdown provider, Inter Partner Assistance, and the claims service managed by AXA Assistance, would not repatriate your motorcycle due to a cover exclusion written into the breakdown policy.

You explained that the document provided by us in relation to the breakdown cover did not explain the cover exclusion referred to by AXA Assistance.

Having reviewed your records, and as explained, I can see that following the purchase of your motorcycle policy you were provided with access to your policy documentation via your online document portal. However, in respect of the breakdown cover we did not include the full breakdown policy wording. Therefore, you only had the Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) to rely on in relation to the terms and conditions of the cover provided.

The IPID explained that the breakdown cover would not include.

The additional costs of getting your motorcycle back to the United Kingdom if the cost is more than the market value of your motorcycle.


However, the policy wording explains that cover is not supplied for.
c) The return of your vehicle to the UK if we believe that the cost of doing so would be greater than the market value in the UK after the breakdown.

I understand that you believe that the IPID is misleading as it does not accurately reflect the full extent of the breakdown cover provided.

As I explained, the IPID and policy wording are issued by us on behalf of the insurer, therefore any changes to the IPID wording would have to be implemented by the insurer. However, the IPID also explains that.

The information provided in this document is a summary of the key features and exclusions of the policy and does not form part of the contract between us. Complete pre contract and contractual information about the product is provided in your policy documents.

As Swinton is an insurance broker, we have no direct involvement with the service provided by Inter Partner Assistance, and so we are unable to respond to this element of your complaint. However, we do take the behaviours of our partners very seriously and expect high standards of service for our customers. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, as this helps us engage most effectively with our partners, to ensure that the service they provide meets our customers’ expectations.
In order that this element of your complaint can be fully investigated, we forwarded details of your concerns to Inter Partner Assistance on 8 June 2022. They have an obligation to investigate this further and provide a response, if they have not done so already. They have eight weeks to respond to you, but should you not receive a response within this time, or wish to discuss your complaint further, their contact details are:

Inter Partner Assistance (SBI)

Axa Assistance
The Quadrangle
106-118 Station Road
Redhill
Surrey
RH1 1PX
Tel: 01737 815 215

I have upheld your complaint that we failed to provide the full breakdown policy wording and I appreciate the inconvenience that this caused. We understand the importance of providing the full terms and conditions of a policy and we are now taking steps to ensure this document is available in future."

I still think this is a cop-out on behalf of Swinton - what does anyone else think?

[des8]

Your problem is that all breakdown policies will include a similar limitation on recovery of costs which are more than the insured vehicle's market value in the United Kingdom.

So even if the IPID had mentioned this limitation, you would not (afaik) have been able to purchase alternative cover which did not include it.
Problem is that the IPID is only a summary and cannot by nature include everything.
Detail required in an IPID can be found here: https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/hand...nex3.html#D184

Will you collect the bike yourself, or repair it there yourself and then bring it back?
If not are the insurers paying the cost of the import duty?

[Knobby]

Your problem is that all breakdown policies will include a similar limitation on recovery of costs which are more than the insured vehicle's market value in the United Kingdom.

Yes, indeed they do. But they mention this fact in the IPID under the "What's not covered" section. Swinton/AXA do not; they say:
"The additional costs of getting your motorcycle back to the United Kingdom if the cost is more than the market value of your motorcycle"
That is completely different! To me (and everyone else I've spoken to about this) this means that. for example, if my bike is worth £1000 and the repatriation costs are £1200 then the additional cost is £200 for which I would not be covered and would have to pay myself.

Other companies state in their IPID's the length of time you need to wait before they will consider repatriation of your bike, such as "your return home date of 72 hours, whichever is the later". Again, Swinton/AXA don't do this. Instead it states that:
"If your motorcycle cannot be fixed before you are due to travel home, transport costs for you and your passengers, your motorcycle and luggage will be provided (up to £150 in theUK and £100 for storage charges)."
So, to me, their IPID is not a summary of the policy document

So even if the IPID had mentioned this limitation, you would not (afaik) have been able to purchase alternative cover which did not include it.

No, maybe not, but at least I would've known exactly what to expect.

Problem is that the IPID is only a summary and cannot by nature include everything.

It is, but in this case it doesn't summarise the actual policy - the terms are completely different and this is my issue with Swinton/AXA. The statements made in the summary are completely different to conditions and cover provided by the policy.
I purchased this insurance because of the breakdown cover that was included (or so I thought) as it appeared better than the others I could find based upon the IPID. The actual policy document was/is not available via the customer portal on the Swinton website, which is what they are looking into.

Will you collect the bike yourself, or repair it there yourself and then bring it back?
If not are the insurers paying the cost of the import duty?

After doing most of the arranging myself, (getting quotes, valuations, etc.) my bike was repatriated by AXA two and a half weeks after the incident, and is currently waiting to have the engine refitted after the repairs. The repatriation company had to phone me to find out where the bike was, as all AXA had given them was the name of an area and a postcode, which was no surprise given the level of incompetence shown throughout this fiasco.

I don't think I'm asking too much for Swinton/AXA to provide an honest summary of cover in their IPID, and to this end I will be taking this as far as I can in an effort to make them do this.

[des8]

sorry, but I do not read that restriction in the way you do.

If it was meant to be read as you suggest the wording would be more like:
"Costs of repatriation of your vehicle in excess of the value of the vehicle will not be met"
In that case as per your example the insurers would pay £1000, and you £200

When in a summary they refer to additional costs, these are additional to eg your travel costs to return home.

However I am not a fan of AXA, having crossed swords with them on a number of occasions for family and friends, and Swintons as an online insurance intermadiary should IMO be avoided.
Find a good high street broker for decent sevice!

Anyway, pleased to hear the bike has been returned and is soon to be back on the road.