Roadside Assistance – No good over 2 tonne.

DE

In November last year My 3.2t Troopy that was Towing my 2.8t caravan suffered a catastrophic engine failure between Ballarat and Beaufort, Victoria.

RACV Totalcare sent two flat top recovery trucks without blinking, and transported both vehicles to our residence in Melbourne.

This was on a Friday night and the following Monday, A RACV Flattop collected the Troopy and conveyed it my nominated repairer in Dandenong.

All for free (ie no cost what so ever) Even transported myself, wife and dog home on the Friday night.

Tottally recommend RACV Totalcare to all and sundry.

DD

We are with RACWA and our 7.5 tonne motor has been covered. Need to be towed last year, actually on drop deck semi, and all was paid by RACWA. Apparently up to $3,000 is covered and we needed $2,200 for 405 Kilometres. All good for me. You need to go for a higher cover level I think.

Neil

All of my dealings with RACQ have been way less than satisfactory

Did you notice any reference to the hight with the Troopy Dennis. I did with the RAA in SA.Must be something to do with the Semi car carriers.
Dave.

You should recheck your policy, RACQ is up to four tonne, and if you got cover from interstate club, would still revert to RACQ policy as all these club will contact RACQ to do the job.
You will find that a caravan will have a size restriction to it if it has to put on the back of a truck, and most trailer recovery is at the discretion of the attending depot.

Hope this helps.

Hi all, not entirely related but adding to this post- some years ago, we had a prang+roll onto side some 80k out of albany at a bad time of year( n.y eve!) were helped initially by nearby farmers to put the squashed 30' van and old toyo back on its legs. not members of anything at time, but trucky/police/farmers ( never got to know who..) organised transport and the one and only HEAVY DUTY tow avail to get us back in to albany( normal towie not enough) . I would say there would be limits to tow/flatback etc.. because of size and weights involved. you can put a 4by, van or motorhome on the back of a tray truck if set up for it. some states have liscence restrictions and rules for usage with accident/breakdown 'recovery' vehicles-thereby limiting who can do it for you..
must admit, "roadside assistance" varies, reading terms etc..important. gets vague when your 200 k out of coober pedy or involves engine light reset on a dealer laptop!
...am re-reading my roadside paperwork now. check if CIL covers breakdown retrieval.
MG

You must always read the policies and cross reference everything in that policy.

Some tow operators will help you out but in the end what is stated in that policy goes.
For instance, it may state they will tow vans up to 4 tonne but later on page xx it may state they only tow vans that are say 21 foot including the drawbar and overhang and width/height limits will apply. That will not be a very big van at say 21' including the drawbar more like a camper trailer.

Sending the vehicle/van back to your home if required will have some big limitations as the van and vehicle will take up a whole flat bed trailer. Say the guy doing the load and haul to destination has a single trailer, good gear and makes a profit he will have to charge around $2000 to $2200 for a 1000K job as the whole trailer is used. This is if he is contracted direct and he is not carting to or from a remote location. Real rates will be higher. Also there will be an amount of time getting that load on and off depending on the damage.


In time it may come that insurance will be available for medium and large combined rigs to be returned to base in the event of a huge failure but that will be factored into insurance premium. 5th wheels are a huge problem and this may have to be factored into future insurance thinking as their numbers grow.

There are two diferent issues being talked about here one is insurance recoveries the other as the original post said is roadside assist towing limits
Steve

With the RACV total care you need to read page 19 which give details and limitations of the policy
Ken