My car is only getting older.......
Does anyone know what the options are for buying breakdown cover/roadside assistance for Switzerland and neighbouring countries. I have heard of TCS but are there any others? Are TCS anygood in your experience?
did you chk with your auto insurance provider? they might offer sumpthn.
I have been with TCS for a number of years and thankfully have not had to call them. I have friends who have. They have been very good. Wait times have been under an hour and problems such as locked out of car and tire changes have been handled professionally.
Your other option that just started this year is the competing service offered by Migros. They started this up since TCS have the almost monopoly on roadside service in CH. Have not heard any feedback on Migros yet.
For my money, go with TCS.
TCS is good. I have been a member for more than 25 years. Some serious situations, where they helped me, was worth more than all the fees I have paid.
TCS is a club like AA/RAC in England, AAA in USA, ADAC in Germany, etc. TCS have a members' newspaper, events, legal advice, etc. There may be cheaper insurance alternatives. And packages better suited to your needs. Migros maybe?
Thanks for these will look into TCS adn Migros - ever used TCS outside Switzerland?
Yes. TCS has reciprocal arrangements with "sister" automobile clubs in other European countries. If not, you phone a 24x7 call center in Switzerland, and they arrange for a local organization to come out and help you.
TCS also have travel insurance for worldwide travel emergencies, including injury, illness, cancellations, etc.
Is TCS that Patrouille car, which I think it is? I have car insurance with MACIF in France, and even though they have some paper agreement with TCS, it really amounts to nothing. I had my battery die on me, well it needed a jump a few months back; here is my story...
My grasp of the german language so far has been real minimal, And since I have been under the year to change my plates, I haven't yet, so they are still from France. Each time I tell this story it suprises no one, Swiss or foreigner. I clearly look like foreigner, not speaking German with my french plates on the car. I have my cables in hand, with the hood popped, and I spend close to 3 hours from 4 am til 7am trying to convince some one to give me a jump. Over and over again I heard how everyone was too pressed for time(I was off the highway at an Esso when this happened), and 1/3 of them then proceeded to go and have a coffee and donut for 20 to 30 minutes afterwards. I was super cold. The women inside Esso kept telling me to call my insurance. Umm, that would be in France. And she refuses to help me out. Eventually the TCS Patrouille car comes, and he gives me a jump. Price tag...270 CHF. Oh that seems fair ( ). I haggle with him for a bit past 7am. I had no idea that the rate changes by something like 100 francs (don't exactly remember). So he changed it for me for that. But come on 170 francs to jump my car? Hey but they were there in like 15 minutes. It's the same for that mandatory health insurance. After close to a year we still haven't reached our deductable, pay full price, and ALOT every month.
I have used the TCS for nearly 20 years,
I found them to be far better than the car dealer break insurance, I recently purchased a used car from Emil Frey, my car gave me warning information that it was over heating between Zurich and Bern, I contacted the Emil Frey's breakdown freephone number they sent some guy with a breakdown trukc who sat in my car for 5 minutes staring at the dash board without doing anything, the only thing he could say was " I will have to take a taxi home now" I told him where to go in not soe many words and contacted the break down number again, whilst he drove off in a huff, they asked me if I had TCS membership so they contacted TSC and I was towed back home by TCS all the way to Vaud.
Credit to TCS!
Also when I have my UK car here the TCS cover it for me for breakdown, I cna't even see the AA/RAC in the doing that
I am personally with ACS . I can't remember why I went with them instead of TCS. I think it was because I specifically wanted European cover (as my insurance company, AXA Winterthur gives me breakdown cover in Switzerland) and TCS offered much more than I needed. ACS's website also seemed more straight forward and the price was good... I've not tested them yet, but others I spoke to say they're fine.
However I guess the real test is abroad... the Swiss companies will use partners for each country and who knows who they are and how they operate.
I know what you mean, but thinking about it, they should... when I had AA in the UK, it covered me and not the vehicle.
Winterthur offered me european wide coverage for 125chf per year... i thought it was good cover. Being a newbie here im non the wiser. But Winterthur did tell me TCS only cover in Switzerland and is very expensive. The cover was for me and my wife to drive.
It might be worth looking into Zurich's 'Relax' policy. This covers what TCS does and more - including car hire while yours is off the road, repatriation from exotic holidays in case of death of a close relative and a free world-wide phone number - and they speak English...
see http://www.zurich.ch/site/en/priv/reisen/produkte.html
I've had to use Relax - and it works! The cost I pay is about CHF140/year with an extar: legal fees to CHF1million. TCS is about CHF80/year AFAIK...
If your French insurer indeed does have an arrangement with the TCS, then you should send the TCS bill to France and get the French to refund it.
I once had a breakdown in France, needed a tow and emergency repairs. I paid cash in France, came home and TCS reimbursed me in full.
TCS club membership covers breakdown services in Switzerland together with a raft of club facilities. TCS has extension insurance policies for Europe and for world-wide cover.
I had to call TCS twice this year because our SMART's brake-light switch was under water (long story - due to a leaky window seal water got in to the box in which the brake-light switch is installed) and I couldn't shift gears anymore.
Both times they arrived within 30 minutes and fixed the problem to the extent that I was able to drive to the next SMART center.
A couple of years ago I got food-poisoning on Crete and was admitted to a hospital. I have the European insurance package - so my wife called them in Switzerland. Not only did they cover my hospital bill (which was a whopping 7000 Fr. as they put me into a private hospital, where I had to stay for 3 days), they also arranged for a different return flight (I missed the one I was supposed to be on because the hospital didn't want to release me yet), looked for a hotel-room for my wife and even paid for the taxi I had to take to get to the airport. I was utterly stunned by their excellent service.
peter
I'm sorry to hear that! Glad you recovered and didn't have the stress of how everything should be paid!!
I guess my thinking behind not taking TCS (I did see the European/World-wide cover by way) was that I just wanted breakdown cover in Europe for my car. I already pay health insurance (with top ups) and have such things like SOS International through work, I didn't see the need in effectively paying premiums twice.... although having said that, we're not talking huge amounts here.
That's good to know. I paid CHF 90.00 with ACS, but will consider that if it goes higher.