Family of 3

A friend of mine had a bill of several thousands when her huge 4WD and caravan needed to be towed from Margaret River back to Perth. We have RAC cover, but it's due for renewal and I've noticed that it only covers you for towing max 200km, depending on level of cover.

Is there a provider that covers long distances? Or travel insurance that covers towing if you go up to, say, Coral Bay?

TIA

EvannTel

Not sure but I doubt they'd tow you to Perth anyway. A friend of mine (also RAC) broke down 400km our of Broome - was towed back to Broome and had to stay put for 5 days until repaired.
Coral Bay they probably take you to Carnarvon

KJCherokee

RACQ Ultra Care cover transported us and our car back from Mt Isa to Brisbane (1,825km) but unfortunately the camper wasn't covered! That cost us an extra $800 as a car transporter backload. We now have Ultimate cover which will bring the trailer back as well.

Our transport would have been by bus, but they allowed us to put the cost of the bus fare against air tickets. I expect that the WA equivalent of RACQ offers the same sort of cover. Around $250 a year.

ABCD......

Distances here are too big for them to offer that type of cover, without very high premiums.

They prefer to offer accommodation costs, up to 12 days on some covers, while your car is repaired locally, than transport the vehicle too far.

There is often some room for negotiation though.
eg: RACQ Ultra Care only gives towing entitlement of up to 50km in any direction or up to 120km to the attending RACQ contractor's premises.
Yet it can be different in practice, but not always...

The RACQ Ultimate is their most comprehensive level of roadside assistance, and provides towing cover of 100km in any direction or up to 200km to the attending RACQ Contractor’s premises.
http://www.racq.com.au/membership/racq_ultimate

Family of 3

Hmmn, thanks.

Unfortunately I bought the old man a (old) SAAB convertible for his birthday, and he likes to drive it places. Looks like we may need to leave it at home since the chances of getting a SAAB fixed away from Perth is pretty small.

KJCherokee

RACQ Ultra Care and Ultimate both include:

Accommodation, or
Vehicle rental, or
Alternative transport, or
Vehicle recovery

The choice is yours. The difference between the two is that Ultra Care is for 7 days for each of the first 3 whilst Ultimate is for 12 days - and for recovery, Ultimate will bring the camper back as well.
These benefits apply if you are more than 100km from home and repairs will take more than 24hrs to complete.

cresta57

That's the bummer about the 50 k thing I've broken down twice in the last three years first time I was 60 k from home [bottom hose] second time 74k from home [blown head gasket]. No level of RACQ cover covers the distances between 50 k from home & 100 k from home so both times I had to pay the extra. The driver simply sets the trip & bills for any k's after the 50 free.
I upped to the top level a few years ago after being abandoned on the highway when there were three of us in the Ute. Driver said sorry maximum of two in the cab. We were miles from anywhere raining & dark & he just left me standing there. I thought it was a joke for the first 10 mins. I had my wife & my 15 yr old son along so I just had to start walking along the Bruce 9.30 at night pitch black. I've since found out that you have to inform them if there are multiple passengers.

KJCherokee

RACQ Ultimate covers a tow up to 100km (200km if going to the tow truck's depot) - after that the 'repair takes over 24hr' rule kicks in.

cresta57

I just checked that & the buggers ripped me off last time I paid for 24 k's of towing when I was 74 k from home. I have Ultimate cover. I'll be phoning them tomorrow
On a different note I wanted holiday insurance for a weekend away. They wanted 89 bucks for a weekend in Sydney, similar company less than half that price.

Red_V_Roger

If they had good full comp cover on their caravan, it probably would have covered the tow back to the address on their policy for both caravan and car. Our motorhome policy does and the caravan policy is the same wording.

jackieh23

Family of 3 have a read through the glove box guide PDF on the RACWA site. You will see under extended coverage that if a vehicle cannot be repaired within 24 hours they will have the vehicle/van towed home, original destination or registered repairer. A friend of my parents vehicle broke down over East and they trucked his vehicle and van back to Perth at no cost to him under Ultimate Cover. I can't remember the details, I think he had an unusual imported car but I know everyone was amazed that RACWA paid for the lot.

Similarly, a friend has a '66 Jag that breaks down regularly, even though he maintains it faithfully. As the car is his daily drive car and he loves to drive all over the State, he has Ultimate RACWA cover and raves about it. The car has been trucked back from Broome, Esperance and all points in between at some stage!