RV Roadside Assistance

RV Roadside assistance – what is it?

For the most part, people are familiar with AAA roadside assistance coverage that is available for your personal automobile. RV roadside assistance is basically the same thing but with additional services specifically for RV owners. Roadside assistance for your RV may include increased coverage for towing, including towing of your big rig, travel interruption coverage such as hotel or car rental discounts, and more. Since your RV insurance may not cover some of these things, and definitely will not cover breakdowns due to mechanical failure or lack of preventive maintenance. Roadside assistance for your RV will help cover these gaps. SEE COMPARISON OF ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE PLANS

Do you need a RV roadside assistance plan?

Absolutely! If you even use the service once it will more than pay for itself. Just coverage of the cost of towing a truck or RV to the nearest dealer / repair shop will save you money, if you have to have towing service (and if you’ll be traveling full time, you will ). I have read stories of towing costs of up to $1,000!!! Unfortunately, this happened to us, when we were almost 2,000 miles from our home base. Our truck that was towing our fifth wheel broke down in the driveway of a gas station, we were blocking the entire driveway with big trucks beeping at us to move. Lucky for us, some kind individual did hook up a strap and pull us out of the way to the side of the road so we weren’t blocking anymore.

How are RV roadside assistance helped

Next, we called our Good Sam roadside assistance, and they took care of everything including finding a place that could fix our problem, and calling a tow service to get us the 29 miles to a Ford dealership in order to get the service done. Furthermore, they towed our fifth wheel to a campground close by so that we could have electricity and water while we waited for the truck to be fixed. This was well worth just the savings in the towing cost.

What does an RV roadside assistance plan cover?

Like any other type of insurance plan for your RV, the coverage you have depends on how much you want to spend and what level of service you choose. Every plan offers some kind of towing coverage, which in my opinion is the most important as you don’t want to be stranded somewhere on the side of the road in your RV. Most plans also cover basic roadside assistance services such as flat tire service, battery jump start service, locksmith services, and fuel or fluid delivery. Some plans also cover trip interruption service, usually for accidents, which is reimbursement for hotel or car rental that you need while you wait for your RV or truck to be repaired. Some also have concierge services and hotel discounts, rental car discounts and travel and entertainment discounts.

Where can I get an RV roadside assistance plan?

Below is certainly not a complete list but these are the main plans that information is readily available on.

Comparison of RV Roadside Assistance Plans

Company:	Good Sam	Coach-Net	AAA	Better World Club	Paragon Motor Club	RV Advisor
Approx. Cost:	$65 – $240	$179 – $249	$50 – $106	$143+	$120 – $150	$99 – $129+
Vehicles Covered:	Travel trailers, autos, motorcycles, boat trailers are covered by all plans. Platinum plan covers motorized RVs, fifth wheels, sport utility trailers.	All vehicles	All RVs, trailers, autos and trucks. Premier coverage also includes ATVs, dirt bikes, snowmobiles and dune	RVs under 20,000 lbs.	All vehicles	All vehicles
People Covered:	Spouse and all dependent children	Spouse and all dependent children	Member only, additional charge for additional people	Member only. Each additional person is $51	Membership plus one	Member plus spouse. Dependents $25 addl, max of 3
Coverage of Leased, rented or borrowed vehicles:	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Towing:	Unlimited	Unlimited	(4) tows up to 100 miles each. Premier coverage includes one tow of up to 200 miles.	100 miles. (4) service calls per year.	$200 Classic Plan $400 Advantage Plan Max. of 5 calls per year.	Unlimited
RV Mechanical Dispatch	YES	YES	NO	NO	YES, for minor adjustments	YES
Tech assistance by a certified RV technician	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	YES
Winching Service	YES	YES	YES	YES	$200 – $400	YES
Tire Replacement	YES	YES	YES	YES	$200 – $400	YES
Battery Jumpstart	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Locksmith Services	YES	YES	YES, $100 – $150	YES	YES	YES
Fuel & Fluid Delivery	YES	YES	YES, fuel only	YES, 2 gallons of fuel	YES	YES
Trip Interruption Services	For accidents only. $1200 – $1500	Up to $2000 when traveling more than 100 miles from home	One day car rental plus $1000 – $1500 coverage for car travel	$750 per use, $1500 max.	$1000	$1000 per incident ($250 car rental, $1000 plane, $400 hotel, $200 meals)
Emergency Medical Evacuation	Platinum complete plan	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO
Other Emergency Travel Benefits	Platinum complete plan	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO
Hotel & Rental Car Discounts	Platinum plans	YES	YES	YES	Advantage Plan Only	YES

NOTE: Prices listed are at time of this post in January, 2021. Benefits listed are as understood after thorough review by New Life RV. To verify coverage details as they may change, contact companies listed directly.