When taking out insurance for the vehicle, you must take into account the roadside assistance cover. Roadside assistance is the service that helps people and vehicles when they suffer a mishap during their journeys. This is an essential cover, as no one is exempt from suffering a breakdown or a puncture.
For this reason, assistance is basic and fundamental for any driver, but more so for professionals who need their vehicle for their activity, since suffering an incident on the road affects not only them but also their business.
● 57% of vehicles have roadside assistance included in their Car insurance.
● Roadside assistance is the assistance service to people and vehicles when they suffer an accident during their journeys.
If you read the small print (and not so small) of an insurance policy, you can check the amount of coverage you can have included. One of the most useful and that have contracted 16.2 of the 28.7 million cars that circulate on USA roads is the roadside assistance coverage, according to data extracted from the Report on the car insurance claims issued by Unespa.
Every year about 3.6 million drivers make use of this coverage, and it is the motorcycles and mopeds that most require roadside assistance when they travel. In fact, 2 out of every 3 accidents suffered by those riding on 2 wheels are requests for roadside assistance.
In the USA every 8 seconds a vehicle is thrown on the road. Among the main incidents suffered by drivers are problems with the battery, with the tyres, traffic accidents, breakdowns related to the engine, with the diesel injection pump, and with the alternator, among others. There are problems that can be repaired at the spot, such as punctures, breaks in sleeves and ducts, glass, etc. But others do not, which is why there are insurance companies that offer a 24-hour travel assistance service that includes the choice of a replacement vehicle.
For example, 24-hours-towing.com, in addition to the above, promises that the crane will be there in less than 60 minutes. This is important because, for professionals who make intensive use of the vehicle, time is money and they need to continue working as soon as possible so as not to lose, perhaps, a customer waiting for a delivery.
But there can be many differences between the different insurances covered by roadside assistance. It’s good to select the right one. In fact, personalization is essential to avoid the possible uncoverage or partial coverage of a claim: experts say that not only do you have to check that the car insurance has the necessary coverages but also that these guarantees are complete.
It is also worth mentioning that digitalization is an issue that affects insurance companies, which are betting on improving customer service through the web and mobile applications. Thus, new technologies allow us to offer solutions to users and to carry out more and more formalities. Now insurance companies offer real-time monitoring. In other words, when they request a crane, they send a message with a link from which it is possible to see where it is and how long it will take to get there.
In addition, in summer, road assistance increases by almost 10%. For this reason, in addition to taking the basic safety measures, it is necessary to have good assistance contracted to continue carrying out the activity.
Roadside and travel assistance is one of the coverages, together with that of driver’s insurance, which is not included in all insurance but should be added if you do not have it. In addition, it has the advantage that the parties that are related to it do not usually compute when setting the premium, that is, they are outside the penalty system known as Bonus-Malus.
Nicola Holder 