Does anyone here use ADAC for their every day rescue/recovery in the UK ?

If so what is your experience of them & do they include all the usual such as home start etc..

From what I have read on other forums I can not see the downside apart from having a lot of documentation in german. The price compared to RAC/AA is amazing 98.7 euros

I just renewed my AA membership for £86 – but this did take some threats of leaving as it was too expensive.

Having never heard of or seen an ADAC van I would have concerns about how long I would have to wait in the event of a breakdown.

I use Autoaid – seem to be well regarded but not sure they provide home start

google them – alot of issues about them taking your money fine in english but not speaking english when it comes to needing them – or some folk even being told if you want to use a german break down company learn to speak english …… then others extoll tails of great virtue about them.

if i need break down somethings gone wrong and i dont need that stress of wondering if im actually going to get help :S

+1 for auto aid
It’s about £39 now I think and yes it includes home start.

NB. It’s a pay and claim insurance policy, meaning you have to pay for the rescue and then claim it back from Autoaid.
On the rare occassion that I’ve used them in the ten years or so that I’ve been with them, they’ve always paid out before I had to pay the credit card bill.

some folk even being told if you want to use a german break down company learn to speak english ..

how’s that work?

ADAC appear to have a relationship with the AA – from what I have read if you breaksown in the UK you get a AA van.

trail-rat – I will have to look harder – not seen too many tails of woe so far

sharkbait – what do you get for the £86

Have been an ADAC member for about 8 years now. Very good IME. Got the cover to replace me AA cover when I was visiting the Nurburgring often (it covered you on the ring). Covers all western europe, ie UK as well. I’ve only used it in the UK, but several times, once in our car and twice on motorbike, AA came out twice and a local firm with flatbed truck once.

My cover is about 70euro or so, cant remember exactly. Its a little bit of a faff setting it up and renewing due to language barrier, but ring them and someone will be able to speak English and help.

If yuo’ve not heard of ADAC, then you probably dont watch much motorsport or travel abroad. They are very big in mainland Europe.

Having never heard of or seen an ADAC van I would have concerns about how long I would have to wait in the event of a breakdown.

You won’t. They use the AA in the UK.

Yes there are some reported issues with English speakers not being available (most likely during night shifts) but they share the shame call centre with the European AA so you should get there in the end.

Have a read of this:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=752904&mid=49649&nmt=ADAC+Membership+In+The+UK+-+Exclusions+%3F

The above link includes posts from someone who actually used to work for them.

Have been an ADAC member for 5 years. I really can’t fault them. I use the German call centre number now as they generally all speak English & even if they don’t they put you straight through to someone who does if you ask “sprechen sie Englisch?” as soon as they pick up. The AA European control centre number works too but you have to remember to tell them that you’re an ADAC-Plus member.

ADAC use ARC-europe’s breakdown franchise network to provide cover throughout Europe which means the AA in the UK. The plus membership provides cover throughout the world. They also recover from most race tracks and the Nurburgring should the need arise.

Response time is dependant upon the AA. But you get the added benefit of some irate German phoning them up every 20 minutes to chase them.

The magazine’s pretty cool & they test all sorts of things that the TRRL used to do in the UK. Last year’s test of roof mounted bike racks was awesome / shocking / very funny depending on whether you do or do not use one.

Membership is based on the person, not the vehicle. You also get all sorts of discounts at service stations, campsites and many hotels in mainland Europe. Plus membership also covers worldwide medical repatriation.

I had to call them recently while travelling though Switzerland on the Crumball rally. They were out in 30 minutes & had the car scrapped for us in a couple of hours.

Documents are generally in German but I do have a copy of the t&cs in English if you need one.

The process for paying for membership is a bit odd. Sometimes they take payment over the ‘phone, othertimes they cover you there and then but send you a bill in the post. This you can’t pay as its on a European debit form (the things we should have adopted to get rid of cheques). if they do take this route ask them on the phone to email you a credit card form. This you have to fill in and Fax (????) back.

Don’t know anyone in UK that uses them, except for those that do trips to the ‘ring. But as a German resident, the cover you get with ADAC-plus seemed a whole lot better than the cover provided by AA (from what I remember), such as international travel to get back home if the car is totalled or if I get injured skiing, MTBing etc. and can’t drive it (and they repatriate the car/wreck, and handle the customs etc.). So quite a handy double insurance, in effect.

Car packed in in Switzerland, so they send out the local TCS (Touring Club Switzerland), and that guy spoke with the ADAC guy directly to sort everything.

Think there’s an English sign-up page via the AA website? But all the legal stuff is in German.