Breakdown coverage in the US
We pretty much know that the term Breakdown Cover is used in the UK but of course Americans who normally do bigger things than anyone else also offer this insurance policy sometimes as a roadside assistance policy and often They have a general name like car club. .
But even though the paper services look like breakdown coverage operations here in the UK, in reality the service could be in a league of its own. For example, anyone with experience driving the huge interstate highways in the US will immediately see the difference in the size of the vehicles compared to the UK.
It’s not unusual to see a huge camper towing a small car behind it. In the UK, this size of vehicle would be the equivalent of a freight trailer, where a heavy goods license would be required to drive it. This size difference means having the training to assist vehicles of this size and also having the mechanical power to recover vehicles of this size in the form of a flatbed truck and possible heavy crane lifting equipment.
The difference in landscape and the distance between some towns can also be a big challenge. It’s fair to say that it’s unlikely that there are that many campers touring central New York, but as you move to other states with a great deal of distance between living and long, straight open roads, you’re more likely to see the bigger ones. . vehicles Recreational vehicles or recreational vehicles have until recently been very popular. Compared to the four by four vehicles we have here in the UK many are much larger and would struggle to be towed by the transit van that a typical breakdown cover company might send here in the UK.
In the UK we talk about a recovery service that would return your vehicle anywhere on the continent, but in the US these distances could be huge so premiums like this are not as cheap as in the UK, if you can get them. Even with many internal flights, many Americans take long road trips, so it’s not uncommon for them to need to retrieve a vehicle from one side of the country to the other.
Very often, breakdown coverage clubs only work from state to state, using garages within that specific area, which would cover most daily trips and annual mileage. Sometimes the term used is Car Warranty, which covers not only the emergency breakdown of a vehicle, but also parts of the vehicle. These functions tend to be separate in the UK, with breakdown cover companies dealing with vehicle salvage and registered car dealers arranging for mechanical replacement of any large parts.
It should also be said that cars in certain US states are expected to cover more miles than in the UK as well. With the exception of country life, most UK residents have access to public transport for shopping, taking children to school, etc. The modern city or residential area in the United States tends to need a car as a necessity rather than a luxury of convenience.