Who has not been left lying with the car at some time? An untimely breakdown, a flat tire or any mishap that prevents us from continuing our journey by car are incidents that can find a solution with the Road Assistance Insurance that many auto policies include.

The Roadside Assistance coverage is an important and highly recommended to travel with greater peace of mind by road. In fact, the data places this Insurance among the most hired but, and this is important, it is the one that deals with the most accidents among drivers.

More than 55% of vehicles have roadside assistance included in their insurance, a percentage that rises above 60% in passenger insurance , according to the latest data from Unespa. In fact, 8 out of 10 people who have contracted this coverage are car drivers.

But what is most striking is the use that drivers make of this coverage. In 2016 alone, vehicle insurers received more than 4 million notices from their policyholders demanding assistance.

It is, by far, the most frequent claim among Vehicle Insurance , doubling the incidents related to Own Damage claims (2.4 million notices) RC Material (1.9 million claims). For all these reasons, it is interesting to analyze the coverage of the Road Assistance Insurance and consider hiring it when renewing the car policy .

 

The Roadside Assistance Insurance, also called Travel Assistance , offers its insured persons an assistance service to people and vehicles that suffer a mishap during their displacements. This coverage serves to alleviate the consequences that people who travel in the vehicle may suffer when, due to breakdown or due to an accident, they cannot continue the trip.

With this coverage, which is usually included among the guarantees of Car Insurance , insurers provide assistance for both the vehicle and people. All you have to do to activate coverage is to contact the insurer or your mediator. In this post we tell you everything you need to know to call the tow truck and the Roadside Assistance telephone numbers of the main insurers .

 

The objective is to offer a quick assistance service , both in Spain and abroad. This service may consist of providing the insured with the means to carry out the necessary mechanical repairs, call a crane, or notify taxis, ambulances, etc.

If you need it, the driver of the insured vehicle only has to contact your Insurance company and the car insurer will send you, at the point where you are, roadside assistance for the vehicle and travel assistance for the people who travel inside.

 

In most cases, the assistance provided by the companies to their policyholders is called Assistance from km 0 . This means that the coverage begins to be applied from the place where the car is usually parked up to the limit established in the coverage of the policy.

It is usual that when speaking of Car Assistance Insurance, the terms of Road Assistance and Travel Assistance are used interchangeably. The truth is that there are insurers that do not make any distinction between the two, although there is an important nuance that differentiates them.

 

The Roadside Assistance coverage refers specifically to the assistance provided to vehicles that have suffered an accident or breakdown.

It is a service more focused on vehicle technical assistance , with the provision of means for the repair, rescue and transfer of the car, from the place where the accident occurred to a workshop where it can be repaired.

 

On the other hand, the Travel Assistance coverage is related to the help offered to passengers and the driver of a damaged vehicle, who due to circumstances cannot continue their trip.

In these cases, the car insurer provides them with various alternatives to solve this situation, from means of transportation to return home to replacement vehicles or coverage of hotel expenses, in some cases.

As with other coverages, the scope of an Assistance Insurance depends on the policy contracted, and can range from a very basic coverage that covers the transfer of the vehicle to a workshop and little else, to much more complete Insurance, in which also of technical assistance to the vehicle, offer various alternatives of attention to people.

 

As we have already pointed out, not all insurers provide the same service in their Roadside Assistance coverage. Furthermore, two policies from the same company can offer more or less extensive coverage, depending on the type of Car Insurance.

This is important, because it depends on what we can expect from our insurer in case of having a mishap on the road.

 

It is clear that, depending on the Assistance Insurance that we contract, we will have more or less extensive coverage. In this sense, it is important to be informed of the scope of our Insurance and the services it includes, so as not to take surprises.

These are some points that we must consult to really know what the coverage of the Roadside Assistance of the vehicle covers:

 

One of the questions that we should check is if the Travel Assistance Insurance covers 24 hours , 365 days a year. Usually this is the case, but it is worth checking it out.

Imagine that you have an accident on Christmas Day and you do not get a response from the insurer, or that the Assistance service has limited hours and calls them when their phones have been closed. In these cases, your Insurance broker may give you a cable , but it is preferable to be sure that the company will take care of the claim, when it occurs.

 

Car Assistance Insurance is not unlimited, but covers assistance up to a certain number of kilometers. There are policies that extend the Roadside Assistance coverage to the entire national territory or even to foreign countries, but may limit some of the services they provide to a radius of a few hundred kilometers.

In any case, taking into account your driving habits, you should consider whether the covered area is sufficient or not.

 

This point is important, because no insurer guarantees Assistance anywhere. They usually put as a condition that the place of the accident is passable or asphalted, and the policy identifies the roads in which the Assistance of the car does not charge .

It often happens that, if the accident has occurred on a forest road, on a farm or in the field, those affected must tow the vehicle to a conventional road so that the insurer can take over the car.

Therefore, it is important to check the places where the insurer's coverage reaches , or if, on the contrary, it only covers roadside assistance. In some cases, such as quads, this circumstance can be essential in choosing Insurance .

 

Another point to consider is precisely what type of incident is covered by the Roadside Assistance Insurance. Keep in mind that 8 out of 10 Roadside Assistance notices are breakdowns . That is why it is important to check that the policy includes assistance for any type of incident, however small it may be.

In addition, another of the things that we should look at when choosing Travel Assistance Insurance are the conditions of transfer of the car to a workshop , in case it cannot be repaired 'on site'. There are insurers that offer the possibility of moving the vehicle to the nearest workshop, while with others it is only possible to take it to the brand's official workshop .

You can also find yourself in situations where the transfer kilometers are limited, that is, you can take the car to a workshop within a certain radius of kilometers.

There are several options and it is worth evaluating them according to the use and distance that we usually travel with the car, to determine which is the roadside assistance insurance that best suits your interests and needs.

 

It is a fundamental coverage of this type of Insurance, but it depends on the policy that we have contracted. The transfer to the home, the possibility of having a replacement vehicle, the possibility of staying overnight in a hotel while the car is being repaired or the coverage of hotel expenses in the event of an accident to accompany the victims, are services that add value added to this coverage and about which we must inform ourselves before signing.

 

This service solves many of the incidents of Roadside Assistance . It consists of the car insurer sending a mechanic to the scene of the accident to repair minor breakdowns, so that the car can continue to circulate.

Among the problems that usually require roadside assistance are punctures, lack of spare tires, failure of lights or discharge of the battery, among others.

 

When it is not possible to repair the vehicle at the fault site, it must be towed to a workshop. The Roadside Assistance Insurance covers this contingency, although it may limit the choice of the workshop and the distance of the transfer. Everything will depend on what is signed in the policy.

The insurer is also responsible for the deposit and custody expenses derived from towing , repairing or recovering the insured vehicle up to a maximum limit established in the insurance contract.

Car towing is not only done in the event of breakdowns or accidents, it is also covered in less common situations, such as fuel shortage or vehicle towing due to improper refueling . In these cases, the insurance company will be in charge of towing it to the nearest gas station or to a workshop.

Of course, the expense of gasoline is left out of the coverage as well as the emptying and cleaning of the tank in the event that the failure has been caused by having refueled with the wrong fuel.

 

In an accident, the wrecked car may have overturned or fell off-road. In these cases, with the vehicle's rescue coverage, the insurer will take care of its extraction and its incorporation onto the road or its transfer to a workshop in the event that it is not possible to put it back into circulation.
 

The assistance to passengers is another important coverage Insurance Travel Assistance. This service offers the means so that people traveling inside the damaged vehicle can continue the trip, return to their home, or even receive medical assistance .

If the car cannot be repaired within a reasonable period of time, the insurer can offer passengers a means of transportation, such as a taxi or a rental vehicle, to take both them and their luggage home.

There is also the possibility that the insurer costs the insured's accommodation in the locality where the car is being repaired, for a certain time while the fault is being solved.

On the other hand, Travel Assistance provides can also offer health care to the injured as well as bear the costs of the trip and the accommodation of a family member of the injured, in case they are hospitalized or die away from their locality.

 

The Roadside Assistance coverage is not only limited to the Spanish scope but also, depending on the contracted modality, it may have an international scope.

The countries in which you can receive help in the event of an accident or breakdown will depend, once again, on the specific policy. However, the countries that usually include the majority of companies are those that make up the Inter-Bureaux agreement (Green Card) , those belonging to the European Economic Area and those named as bordering the Mediterranean.

Regarding the coverage offered, they are usually very similar to those offered in Spain, with the inclusion of some more specific ones, such as Assistance abroad or the repatriation of the wounded and deceased .

 

Roadside Assistance is one of the coverages, along with that of the Driver's Insurance , which is not always included in the car policy, but should be added if it is not available.

If so, we suggest that you complete the protection of your vehicle with this guarantee, but at a cheaper price. To get it, you just have to contract your Roadside Assistance Insurance in our comparator, and let yourself be advised by our experts.

They will compare the best offers to send you a cheaper quote with the best coverage. In this way, the price will not be a problem when it comes to protecting you and yours on the road.