Going on a road trip this summer? Make sure you buy the right insurance and bone up on foreign road regulations before you set off, or your dream trip could turn into a nightmare.
Are you one of the millions of Britons taking your car overseas this summer? If so, buy the right insurance and bone up on foreign road regulations before you set off, or your dream trip could turn into a nightmare.
Insurance
Your may be comprehensively covered for accidents and mishaps in the UK, but overseas it's a different matter.
Under EU law, all insurers must offer third-party cover for policyholders driving abroad, which pays for any damage you inflict on another vehicle or driver.
But they aren't obliged to grant the same level of cover as you get at home. So even if you have comprehensive cover in the UK you may not get it abroad, leaving you unprotected against theft, accidental damage or personal injury.
Admiral, Barclays, Diamond, Endsleigh or Norwich Union Direct all charge extra for comparable cover, typically £15 and £20 for two weeks in Europe, according to uSwitch.com.
That's hardly extortion, and with the average car accident costing £1,445 in France and more than £5,000 in Sweden and Denmark, according to Norwich Union, it is a price well worth paying.
Esure, Direct Line, Privilege & Tesco throw in three days of comparable overseas cover, handy if you're popping across the Channel for a quick break, but useless for longer trips. Again, you can buy more.
Churchill, Marks & Spencer and Zurich and are rare in automatically offering generous 90 days comparable overseas cover.
Call your insurer to check what cover you have - and pay extra to play it safe.
Breakdown cover
Unless your breakdown policy specifically includes continental recovery, you'll need to buy this as an extra.
A good policy should put you through to English-speaking staff, 24 hours a day, who will arrange for your car to be fixed at the roadside or towed to the nearest garage. As a last resort, it should take your car and passengers back to the UK. Costs vary, but expect to pay from £50 for a fortnight in France.
If you plan to motor regularly abroad, it might be cheaper to buy European cover when you set up your motor breakdown policy.
Rules of the road
We all know foreigners drive on the wrong side of the road, but their quirky behaviour doesn't end there.
One in three British motorists think the rules are exactly the same as in the UK, but they're not, according to insurer Esure.
Motorway speed limits differ from country to country, and in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and elsewhere, it's compulsory to carry a warning triangle and headlamp converters - a pair of beam reflective stickers from Halfords should do the job. Some countries also recommend you carry a set of replacement bulbs, first-aid kit and fire extinguisher.
Drink-driving limits are often a lot stricter. In the UK, you're allowed 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood - but just 50mg in Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy and Spain, and a mere 20mg in Sweden and Norway. Penalties can also be stiff - if you exceed 20mg in Sweden you face six months in jail - and two years if you exceed 100mg. Some countries even have sobriety checkpoints, giving random breath tests to entire lines of traffic. Don't chance it.
And be prepared to give way cars coming in from the right - unless you want a series of near misses with some very shouty French drivers (as happened to me).
Finally, in Greece and Italy, unnecessary use of the car horn is illegal - not that anybody has told the locals.
The AA website allows you to compare different rules by country.
Costs
Petrol is expensive everywhere, but some countries are more expensive than others. If crossing several European borders, you can save cash by filling up in the cheapest country. The AA website runs monthly "fuel price reports" allowing you to compare fuel costs. In June, a litre of unleaded fuel cost £1.17 in France but 94p in neighbouring Spain. That's 23p a litre cheaper, saving you £9.20 on a 40L tank.
Before you go
Everybody feels uneasy when they set off on holiday - have you left the oven on, is the kitchen tap still running?
Well, here's a few more things for motorists to fret about. Have you got your driving licence, (plus the paper counterpart if you have a photocard licence)? Have you packed your original vehicle registration document and motor insurance certificate? What about your insurer's contact details and the European Accident Statement supplied by your insurer? Don't leave it to the last minute, start assembling this info several weeks before you leave.
Car hire overseas
If you're hiring a car instead, there are plenty of pitfalls to avoid. When comparing deals, don't forget to tot up extras such as additional driver fees, driver under-25 surcharges, child seats, mileage and insurance.
On arrival, staff at the rental desk will try to spook you by pointing out that you are responsible for the first £500 or so of losses if your vehicle is damaged or stolen, even if you weren't at fault. They will then try and flog you "collision damage waiver" costing £10 to £15 a day. That could add up to more than £200 over a fortnight - a lot to protect yourself from a £500 loss.
So instead of paying this waiver, you might want to consider taking out excess reimbursement insurance before you go.
This will cover your £500 excess if you damage the hire car, and it should work out a lot cheaper than the typical excess waiver. Insurance4carhire.com offers an annual European policy for £49, while Worldwideinsure.com offers a daily rate of £1.90 to EU drivers (so £26.60 for a fortnight).
Remember to check the car for any scratches or marks that haven't been documented, and ask whether you should return the car with a full or empty tank.
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