Many of you have been travelling abroad for years so this isn’t a complete guide. It just focuses on a few odd things that have been raised over recent months, a few of which have been coloured by personal experience.
Vehicle Insurance:
Despite Green Cards not being required some Insurance Companies are asking that you tell them when you are going abroad. It seems to be becoming a widespread requirement. My Insurers won’t give me a reason, but they are quite insistent. You might just want to check with your insurance company whether they also require you to do this. It’s not a problem if they do require it. They don’t charge, it only takes a simple e-mail and I’d rather tell them than risk having a post drama discussion as to why it is they might not want to honour the policy.
Pre-Paid Fuel Charges at Fuel Stations
This is a growing practice at fuel stations in Europe, particularly on the Autoroutes and Peages. You put your card into the pump, and it will authorise, say, up to €200. You fill up, say €40 and go on your way. Unfortunately, your car holder has debited your card account by €200, and it can take up to 48 hours, sometimes more, for it to adjust to the true debit of €40. Issues and managing:
- If you are going a long way and fill-up, say, 3 times in a day your account may be (temporarily) debited €600 for the €120 worth of fuel you’ve actually purchased.
- If, like me, you use a pre-paid card loaded with Euros your balance can ‘run out’ and the card will be declined even though you haven’t actually spent all the money in the account.
- If you use a credit card and have a decent limit this is less of an issue albeit you have to then pay the card issuers foreign exchange fee and your account is debited at the bank exchange rate. (Usually less attractive than a pre-paid card rate)
- Some banks are now issuing credit and debit cards with preferential terms on exchange rates – might be worth exploring with your bank.
- You can pre-pay in cash but that involves two trips to the kiosk, one to pay and one to get your change (unless you know exactly how much fuel you will need).
- You can fill up at many ‘local’ fuel stations and pay for the amount of fuel you’ve purchased after filling up in the more traditional way.
Breakdown Cover.
A friend had a mishap last year on the way home through Belgium. This damaged his dash and knocked out the electrics. The Insurance company were very professional and organised prompt recovery of the bike.
His breakdown cover, from the RAC, was provided as an add-on to the policy. In the case of a major breakdown, it provided for repatriation of the rider.
In this case the RAC refused to help him. Their reason was that the vehicle had been incapacitated by an accident, not a breakdown, so he wasn’t covered. We couldn’t believe it. They offered him no support at all. Poor chap found himself with a choice of being stranded in Belgium or having to come home as my pillion!
On a positive note, there are ‘rescue’ policies that do cover all eventualities and will get you and/or your bike home whatever the cause of the problem. You might want to look at your cover and, if appropriate, ask some ‘what-if’ questions of the provider to make sure your cover will provide what you expect of it.
Medical Cover.
- We all know we need to make sure we’ve got a EHIC or GHIC card valid for the length of any trip abroad. Well worth having but it may not resolve everything – especially if you need something expensive.
- So, we all get travel insurance with medical cover (don’t we?). Please make sure your policy will cover your needs whilst engaged in whatever activities you are intending to undertake. Here’s the horror story. My bike insurers (of all people) sold me a travel/medical policy a couple of years ago that would cover me whilst riding a motorbike abroad. Until I received and read the policy and discovered that it only provided cover whilst riding bikes below125cc! I’ve since discovered that this is a common restriction on many policies. Not something you would want to discover after an ‘event’. Please make sure the cover you have meets your needs and ask some what-if questions of the provider if you are in any doubt.
Put ICE Info on your Phone (In Case of Emergency)
Phones differ but these principles should work. Switch your smartphone on without going through security (i.e. do not show it your face, give it a thumb print, tap in the code, etc). The phone will come up with a front screen upon which will be the word EMERGENCY. Click EMERGENCY and the screen will change and give the options of making an emergency call or allowing you to click on *Medial ID (or similar). If you’ve been clever, you will have already loaded onto your phone such information as your blood group, medical conditions, allergies, prescription drugs, emergency contacts and so on. System Settings will tell you where to do this.
This is the way, heaven forbid, if you ever end up injured in an incoherent heap a paramedic or anyone else can refer to your phone and establish quickly if you have any particular medical needs and what they may and may not do to help you. It’s a good idea.
Passport - 10 Year Validity.
This issue receives a lot of repeat airtime. I personally don’t know of anyone who has had a problem but that’s probably because everyone I know renews their passport in good time rather than risking nonsense at a border. The possible problem? Our EU cousins insist that passports are less than 10 years old measured from the date of issue. Ignore the expiry date. You need to establish the issue date and count forward 10 years. After 10 years it’s no longer considered valid in Europe.
There is also a requirement that the passport must have at least 3 months validity left on it when entering Europe. Again, I don’t yet know anyone who has put that to the test either.
Documents
You all know this; you need to have the following documents to show to a Gendarme. Driving Licence, Passport, Logbook (the original V5C) and Vehicle Insurance. There’s also a European accident report form (available from insurance company sites) which is supposed to be carried and, in the event of a collision, both parties are supposed to complete it. (Yes, I have indeed been asked to show a blank copy to a Gendarme.)
Crit’air Sticker
This displays the pollution standard of your vehicle, has a once only cost of less than £4 and is ordered via email. It’s not really necessary at the moment unless you are going into a large town like Paris or Rouen (there’s a list of towns on the Crit’air site). The sting in the tail though is that the legislation apparently allows for the authorities to classify just about anywhere as an area of high risk, at the drop of a hat, should they consider air quality unacceptable. Watch this space…
If you have any questions, or if you have advice or comments that you wish to contribute which might be helpful, do please send them in. We will publish everything useful and try to resolve anything unanswered.