Insurance

Practicalities Getting Organised Insurance Reader Report 

‘Driving north after a holiday in France, we were stopped on a Sunday for speeding by the French police. (We had been speeding but had been overtaken by a couple of French vehicles just before we were stopped . . .) We were waved into the next parking area (aire) and the driver's passport, driving licence and vehicle papers were requested. We were told there was an on the spot fine.

We offered credit cards, travellers' cheques and sterling to pay this (we were on the way to the Channel) but were told that only cash was acceptable and that we would have to go and get this from a cashpoint while our papers were held.

We had to continue to the next turn off the motorway, drive into the nearest town and look for a cashpoint (we were given no indication where we would find this), return to the motorway, drive back in the opposite direction, turn off and then return to the motorway to get ourselves back to the ‘aire'.

Unfortunately when we arrived the police had left, along with our documents. This of course made it impossible just to wash our hands of the business and leave the country.

Luckily we had booked our Channel crossing using a gold credit card, which gave us access to a concierge service. We rang to explain our problem, along with our location, ie between which of the motorway exits we were. They managed to sort out where the police had gone - unavoidably called away to an emergency - and where we would find the nearest police station to pay over the cash and recover the passport etc. It took the service around 25 minutes but with a three-year-old in tow it meant that we could still get home before 8pm and didn't have to waste hours on a Sunday chasing round Picardy by phone or car.

We have now ensured that we have an insurance policy (from MRL) which allows us to call on the service even when travelling independently, though so far we haven't yet needed to.
Anne Elliott
Cheltenham