“Europ Assistance: a real scandal. I have been a customer for more than 20 years. I had a problem with my vehicle at 11 p.m. in Spain and no concrete help”, accuses Olivier via the orange Alert us button. This witness denounces the inaction of his insurance company. What about? How does Europ Assistance help its customers?
In mid-July, Olivier travels to Spain with his wife and two children. Originally from Brussels, the family chose Playa de Aro in the province of Girona. The trip was going well until this misadventure which occurred on July 9th.
“Around 11:30 p.m., my vehicle stopped in the middle of a road”, he explains. Despite his attempts, the Belgian fails to restart his car. He then immediately contacted his Belgian insurance company, Europ Assistance. “I was told that within the hour, someone was going to come and help me out. Meanwhile, I’m waiting by the side of the road”, Oliver recalls. Time passes and not the shadow of a convenience store, says the father. “I call back, another person answers me. I explain the situation again. I am told that they sent two emails to the company Europ Assistance in Spain but that no one answers”, assures Oliver. Before adding: “I tell myself that at this time, sending emails is not enough”.
A tow then a rental
The Belgian says he then made several calls to speed up the treatment. “At 1:30 a.m., still no news. I call again and I have another person on the line. I explain everything again. And they answer me: ‘I see that my colleagues have sent 4 emails. We can’t tell you how long it may take”, says Oliver. According to him, his interlocutors then gave him the numbers of the people to contact on the spot, claiming not to speak Spanish.
An hour later, while he is still there, Olivier decides to park his car in a parking space, helped by people he met there. “Around 4:30 a.m., Europ Assistance rings me, telling me that the breakdown store will be there at 9 a.m.”, explains Olivier. According to him, when he returns there, it is too late. No convenience store in sight, the latter would have come before time according to the witness. He then decides to canvass a convenience store himself. “For 120€, I found a tug to take my car. In an hour, he was there. Then I rented a car for a week. In the end, I settled everything myself”, blows the Belgian. Before exclaiming: “It’s called Europ Assistance but they don’t assist in anything.”
What does Europ Assistance say?
Europ Assistance confirms to us that a breakdown service was requested in the middle of the night. Given the late hour and the fact that Olivier had the option of going to his nearby hotel, it was agreed that a breakdown service would take place at 9am. After having missed the intervention of the convenience store for the first time, Olivier is offered a second intervention, two hours later, we are told. At that time, Olivier refused assistance from Europ Assistance and explained that he was going to manage on his own. From then on, Europ Assistance no longer intervenes. However, we are told that an analysis will be made to see if the towing costs can be covered by Europ Assistance, although it is not the initiator.
Many people are very impatient and want help within the hour.
Xavier Van Caneghem, spokesperson for Europ Assistance, sheds light on the way the company operates. In concrete terms, Europ Assistance works with service providers in many countries. “These are in particular breakdown mechanics and garages with whom we have contacts. They sign a quality charter with Europ Assistance and undertake to act quickly according to the situation”, explains the spokesperson. These exchanges take placealmost all the time” in English, “language that our service providers undertake to be able to speak”, says Xavier Van Caneghem. It happens, in some cases, that the company communicates directly to its customers the number of the convenience stores so that they arrange directly with them on their location and their availability.
Our witness mentions too many interlocutors, forcing him to repeat his situation many times. The spokesperson replies that a shift change logically took place between the evening and the morning. “But there is a transfer of files between the night shift and the morning shift. Each agent who works is able to follow files. We try to limit the number of freelancers as much as possible”assure Xavier Van Caneghem.
On site, the situation is sometimes very complicated
As for the waiting period, it is important to take into account the situation on site, insists the spokesperson. “Many people are very impatient and want to be helped within the hour. But in very touristic areas, you sometimes have to expect longer delays than usual. Especially since many tourists have left in car because of the strikes at the airports. On the spot, the situation is sometimes very complicated”, says the company’s spokesperson, who calls for the understanding of its customers.
Europ Assistance reminds that in case of need for intervention, customers must contact the company. The latter will then take care of finding a convenience store and then a garage depending on the locality. “Everything must pass through us. We then take care of the repair proposal”, summarizes Xavier Van Caneghem.