Vehicle Recovery and Roadside Assistance in the UK By Ed Terran At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

When encountered with vehicle trouble, it can be a very stressful situation. This can especially be true if your vehicle breaks down in an unfamiliar location. Thankfully, there are specific organizations that have been founded for this particular reason. We are going to take a look at the different roadside assistance programmes in the UK.

The AA has been a helpful organization for drivers all over the UK and other European locations. The earliest employees of AA were very similar to the employees of the company today. They were readily available to give members advice for all things auto-related, and they gave verbal directions. In response to a lack of signage for roads, the AA designed ‘paper routes’ in 1912. These routes contained detailed directions for all different types of individuals ranging in types of ‘day excursions’.

As the AA membership list grew in numbers, the demand for road routes did as well. After the 1920s, the organization handed out printed cards to their members that gave specific details for routes varying between two different points. By the late 1920s, there were a total of 7,000 different cards and other informative sheets being printed. There were also over a million road routes being formulated each year.

Over the years, the AA road routes and assistance programme changed dramatically. By 1999, for the first time in history, the AA route could be calculated from the AA website. The routes were available for free to not only members but also non-members. As of 2007, there were reportedly more than 171 million routes generated on the AA website.

These ‘routes’ are what help the member specify to the AA employee exactly where they are located along the route in case of a breakdown. On average, an AA employee is said to report to the breakdown site within 40 minutes of receiving the member’s call. In addition, if the AA is unable to repair your vehicle when they arrive, they will provide a tow service that will relocate your vehicle to the closest repair station.

The RAC has been in existence since 1897, and has been at the top of motoring services since the beginning. They first introduced patrol officers for driver assistance in 1901, and then shortly after installed roadside telephone boxes that still exist today. The company of RAC was purchased by Aviva plc in 2005 for around £1.1 billion. This merge brought together RAC’s customer database and the skills of motor insurance of Aviva, also known as Norwich Union Insurance.

With RAC, you can choose from several types of breakdown insurance coverage. In addition, you will receive a discount of up to 28%, and you will be covered as the driver or passenger in any car or motorbike that you ride in. The roadside assistance coverage insures that as long as you are within ¼ mile of your house, then RAC will repair your car right on the spot. If they are unable to fix the vehicle, then they will cover the tow costs to relocate your car to a repair station that is within 10 miles of the breakdown location. For the more advanced coverage plans, you can even be guaranteed a replacement vehicle for up to 3 days while your vehicle is being repaired. In some cases, you can even be guaranteed overnight lodging.

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=327072&ca=Automotive

Important Notice DISCLAIMER: All information, content, and data in this article are sole opinions and/or findings of the individual user or organization that registered and submitted this article at Isnare.com without any fee. The article is strictly for educational or entertainment purposes only and should not be used in any way, implemented or applied without consultation from a professional. We at Isnare.com do not, in anyway, contribute or include our own findings, facts and opinions in any articles presented in this site. Publishing this article does not constitute Isnare.com's support or sponsorship for this article. Isnare.com is an article publishing service. Please read our Terms of Service for more information.