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I saw an article online recently stating that the insurance companies will punish you for using the roadside assistance that you pay for monthly and treat it like an actual claim and that it can affect your credit score too.
Is this actually true?
Is it better to just get a AAA membership for $60-70 per year vs paying $70 per car on your car insurance for that service?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We do a lot of road trips so we have AAA and it will tow us 200 miles. We also have free road service on both cars for 5 years as part of the warranty. We have been with AAA for over 40 years and have always been happy with them for road service but also various discounts. With our insurer, you pay for the tow then submit the bill. I don’t know if it would raise the rates but I’d rather not find out by trying it. They might want to raise the rates based on you having a poorly maintained car or lemon, therefore dangerous if it gets towed a few times.
I allowed our AAA membership expire because I have RSA with my insurance carrier - State Farm.
I ran over something in the middle of busy I-95 one afternoon, and it immediately punctured my tire. While sitting on the shoulder with cars zipping by at 70mph, I called the RSA number on the back of my insurance card - "Your hold time is 20 minutes"
I hung up and called my agent directly in hopes of getting quicker service. Nope. I had to call the 800 number and wait it out. He said I could call a tow company directly, and then "file a claim" for reimbursement.
When I finally got home that evening, I renewed our membership with AAA.
So my advice to you is to find out how RSA works with your insurance carrier, and if it's considered a "claim" and will it affect your premium before you're sitting on the side of the road like me.
I allowed our AAA membership expire because I have RSA with my insurance carrier - State Farm.
I ran over something in the middle of busy I-95 one afternoon, and it immediately punctured my tire. While sitting on the shoulder with cars zipping by at 70mph, I called the RSA number on the back of my insurance card - "Your hold time is 20 minutes"
I hung up and called my agent directly in hopes of getting quicker service. Nope. I had to call the 800 number and wait it out. He said I could call a tow company directly, and then "file a claim" for reimbursement.
When I finally got home that evening, I renewed our membership with AAA.
So my advice to you is to find out how RSA works with your insurance carrier, and if it's considered a "claim" and will it affect your premium before you're sitting on the side of the road like me.
Im statefarm as well, but I notice I pay like $6 on both cars, so I was wondering if paying $60-70 per year for AA would be better than $140 a year for both cars on StateFarm.
Im statefarm as well, but I notice I pay like $6 on both cars, so I was wondering if paying $60-70 per year for AA would be better than $140 a year for both cars on StateFarm.
Every carrier is different, but tow claims and roadside typically do not affect your rate; however, if you have too many tow claims the carrier might drop your tow coverage. I like AAA because it comes with benefits that typically pay for the membership itself such as discounted hotel rates, and discounts at a lot of retailers and restaurants. also, AAA usually offers more in roadside assistance than a typical auto policy would cover.
I've used my Auto-Owners roadside assistance (towing), twice in the last 3 years, before that I never had to use my insurance for that, even though I pay for it each year.
I have a 2004 Honda Civic, that I bought new, the first time I used the RSA I was driving from Phoenix back to Tucson, 2 years ago, when one of my sensors went out, causing the car to go into "limp mode", I was near Casa Grande and still had another hour to go to get home. I had it towed, the first $100 was taken care of and the rest of the towing cost was up to me.
The second time just happened a few months ago, when I was leaving for work in the morning, my car wouldn't start, my battery was dead, and they ended up towing me to the dealership, less than 10 miles away, which cost me nothing.
After the first time, my insurance actually went down for the next year. I don't foresee my insurance increasing at all or maybe very little next year when I renew, but like others have said, it could be insurer dependent and whether they "punish" you or not.
I recently ordered a copy of my CLUE report, just to see what if any claims were on there. The only item listed was one where I called roadside assistance for a dead battery.
I used to work for Liberty Mutual, and now I am an independent agent. I cannot speak for all carriers, but I can tell you that with LM you definitely had problems if you had towing claims. I have had other underwriters tell me that a large number of towing claims is a statistical indicator for other types of claims. The belief is that if a person turns to his/her insurance company at the first sign of trouble, then this person will also turn to the insurance company for help with a small claim whereas other insureds may well figure "It's only $700 of damage. Yes, my deductible is $500, but I'd rather just pay to fix it myself."
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