Hi there,

My car has just passed its 16th birthday and is no longer allowed breakdown cover with my current provider - I rang them up:
they said, up to 15 years was fine,
I said, it's sixteen years so I'll have to cancel then
they said, in the uk it doesn't matter, it can be 40 years old, we thought you meant Europe
I said, it doesn't make any distinction in the policy doc?
They said, trust us it's true
I said, can you email me that?
They said, we're too busy today, how about next week?

Anyway, I've lost faith in them now.

I'm covering one car for 2 people and want homecover and certainty that they'll come when I call - just peace of mind really

I've looked up Europ Assistance, and they're £59 for an all-in comprehensive policy. It seems reallly good and £20 cheaper.

Has anybody here used them? Are they any good?

I know there are some cheaper ones, and ones that say reclaim the money but I've never heard of the brand names - and I think I've heard of these Europ people

Any thoughts?



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There have been a few threads concerning parking tickets lately, so when i came across this "snippet" in the AOL Money section i thought it may provide a starting point if you are thinking you have been unjustly done.

Parking tickets

So many local authorities now benefit from money raised by parking tickets that the financial incentive to issue tickets can be strong. So if you feel you have been wrongly issued a parking ticket - for any number of reasons - do something about it.

Start by writing a clear, detailed and very polite letter to the relevant authority, explaining why the ticket was wrongly issued. They may reply to say the ticket was correctly issued and valid. But there is almost always a second opportunity to state your case, so write, once again, a detailed and very polite letter. Remember to sound like a sane, civilised person.

Your second letter will usually go to an adjudicator. An adjudicator will read many, usually badly written and angry, letters. Your polite and reasoned letter - the more details the better - will be a welcome relief. They will almost always decide in your favour. I recently got out of a £100 fine and ticket this way (the ticket was indeed wrongly issued).

If a court date is offered, take it! Ninety per cent of the time the traffic warden who issued the ticket won't turn up and the ticket will be declared invalid. Usually the magistrate will tell you that much time is wasted by local authorities not contesting tickets.

For all complaints

Decide what compensation you want and stick to it.
If you ask for £200, you will usually get £100. So calculate accordingly.
Always complain politely and in great detail.
And keep complaining until your get satisfaction

Finally, remember that you have actually done a public service by complaining; regulations have been changed, bad commercial practices curtailed, and service industries redesigned by the feedback that complainers provide.

Jasmine Birtles is from moneymagpie.com - the website that gives you a richer life.

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