Breakdown Assistance

Not everyone completely understands his/her insurance coverage.  All the complicated insurance terms can be confusing and hard to interpret.  Breakdown assistance is one item that can be fashioned in different ways depending on the particular carrier.

In the broadest terms, breakdown assistance is the security of knowing you can have someone to tow your vehicle to a place of your choosing should you have a problem.  Some policies only provide for towing under these conditions.  This might be the only assistance you feel you need.

What happens to you when your vehicle quits performing?  If you don't have another means of transportation, you will need to rent or borrow a car from someone until yours can be repaired.  Depending on the length of time this will take, rental costs can be substantial.

Usually repairs don't take a long time to complete, but some parts may be difficult to find and an automobile might sit for days awaiting their arrival. 
Having this option included in your assistance coverage eases the burden of paying for a rental until your repairs are completed.

Some roadside assistance policies cover flat tires by sending a mechanic to change the tire for you.  It doesn't matter how the flat occurs, either.  You might wake up one morning to find a flat while your car is in your garage or in the yard.  These types of policies don't haggle over where the tire got damaged.

Breakdown assistance might also cover a mechanic coming to your vehicle to attempt repair at the spot of the breakdown.  This is usually a commercial policy suited for truck drivers, but some insurance companies offer it to all their customers.

You should study your policy to see exactly what is covered and what is not.  You might be surprised at some of the inclusions and exclusions.  There are many variables from one insurance company to another because there are not many hard and fast rules on what a policy must include or exclude.

Once you are clear on the structure of your insurance, you may find it necessary to make some changes to your policy or even change your provider.  Whatever you decide, make sure you feel confident that you are covering yourself in the best ways.

The time to get insurance wrinkles worked out is now, while you have time and can think things through carefully.  You don't want to worry about details when you are in desperate need of breakdown assistance.  You are already inconvenienced when your car stalls; don't be more so because you have to payout large sums of money for towing and repairs.

Betty Grable was called the "Girl with the Million Dollar Legs" back in the 1930's.  Many people take this to mean that her legs were so beautiful that they were worth that much.  However, the truth is that Ms. Grable had her legs insured for that amount of money to protect what she considered her most valuable assets.
           
Fortunately for Betty and the insurance company, nothing serious ever happened to her legs, but at least she was prepared.  While your legs might not go out from under you, your car might go on the fritz at the most inopportune time, and breakdown assistance will come in very handy if that occurs.

Wrecker service is expensive for the uninsured, especially if a breakdown occurs far from a service station or garage.  Even a short haul can be costly if it is inconvenient or late at night.  The man who drives the wrecker truck works for a living the same as you, and he wants to be paid for his trouble.

Some occupations allow people more exposure to a possible vehicle failure than average.  A tractor-trailer driver might need breakdown assistance when on the Great Plains or crossing a desert.  He/she could be a several miles from civilization or a repair shop.

Traveling salesmen, construction contractors, and many other professionals spend a great amount of time on the highways, much of it in out-of-the-way areas that aren't frequented by people who might lend a helping hand.  Even if a malfunction never has happened to one of these people, they still realize that there is always a chance that it could.

If you never go more than a few miles from your home, it may not seem worth spending money on insurance coverage for breakdown assistance. However, if your car totally breaks down, it still has to get to the garage, and that means a tow no matter where you are. 

There is no way to determine how many times you will need roadside assistance, if at all.  All insurance policies are to protect in case something unexpected happens.  Betty Grable didn't cash in on her policy, but you can rest assured she felt protected because she had the coverage.