Use Cherished Insurance and taking your bus abroad? Read on...

Right, I'm normally the first to recommend Cherished but this time they've got it wrong:
I renewed my insurance last week, and whilst doing so checked the usual things; excess, mileage etc. I also asked for confirmation that their European breakdown cover includes re-patriation costs in the event of a breakdown abroad that cannot be fixed by a local mechanic. They confirmed this was the case, so I paid up and thought no more about it. I had the normal great service throughout the call.
The paperwork came through on Monday, and as as I'm a bit cynical when it comes to insurance companies, I duly checked all the details.
To say the wording regarding European breakdown is wooly is an understatement, so I phoned for clarification. Again it was confirmed to me that re-patriation WAS included. Not convinced they were right I read the relevant section of the policy to them, at which point they said they'd need to do some research. This morning they phoned back and stated that the breakdown cover provider (DAS who use AA) would not guarantee re-patriation but that they had followed this course of action in the past.... They won't put this in writing though, so basically I need to trust an insurance company. Really?

Basically, if you rely on Cherished to recover your bus to the UK in the event of a breakdown abroad, they may, OR MAY NOT, cover the costs. (If they do it will be contrary to their own policy document wording). Something worth bearing in mind if you go abroad.

The most disappointing thing about this is that Cherished are (mis?) selling an add-on that they don't fully understand.

 

The clear answer is that we have to "trust them".
A bit like being asked to trust a second hand car salesman or an estate agent.

 

Ill email their top person so it can be answered

 

Unless there has been a mistake and re-patriation is included (officially) I'm guessing they've mis?-sold hundreds if not thousands of policies...

 

I told them I was going to post this thread. It'd be a nightmare if someone breaks down next summer and gets landed with a huge bill to get their bus home due to Cherished' mis?-selling.
Hopefully they'll come on here and explain themselves.

 

It includes European breakdown cover but you only get re-patriation if you're lucky it seems.

 

I'm not querying the price. I fully appreciate that it would be an extremely good price if it was as sold. The issue is they told me its included (twice) and have since confirmed that it isn't actually included but that they would probably repatriate. All I have to do is trust them.
They will have sold these policies to Marmite loads of people who will be driving around Europe with a big surprise (possibly) waiting for them if they break down.

 

They told me they record all calls and I've asked them not to delete them. They're not denying its what they sold, just saying they were possibly wrong. I'm by no means alone, at least 1 other person up there ^^^ confirmed they thought repatriation was covered.