Company car fleet firm Masterlease has warned drivers who use a company car to check out their European breakdown cover provision if they plan to drive abroad.

Masterlease pointed out that there is often no clear guidance from companies on who takes responsibility for overseas insurance and breakdown cover when driving outside of the United Kingdom.

Although it is typical for company cars to come with breakdown cover for the employee, it is very often the case that the cover only applies when the car is driven inside the UK. Over the last decade the number of Brits taking their car across to Europe has doubled from under two million to around three and a half million drivers.

Masterlease say that people should ask their employers, fleet managers, insurance companies and breakdown providers who would foot the bill for any unfortunate incidents overseas. In many cases employees are not even entitled to take their company car outside of the UK under the terms and conditions of fleet managers and insurers.

Head of operations at Masterlease, Anthony Dowdall, said that often the employee who has the company car assumes that they will be covered but that the company feels it is the employee’s responsibility to take out the right cover for accidents that happen outside of the UK.

Dowdall said that it was perhaps the fleet managers who needed to stress the importance of European breakdown cover: “Roadside assistance on the continent can cost over €100 and bringing home a stranded vehicle can cost much more.  As well as ensuring drivers have adequate insurance and breakdown cover, businesses should have a policy in place for driving overseas and make sure drivers have information about what to do if they break down or have an accident abroad.”

Make sure you have adequate European breakdown cover whether you are lucky enough to drive a company car or not. You’ll find the best deals compared on our European Breakdown Cover page.