With the high crime rate, South African drivers are increasingly signing up for breakdown cover, reports Jacqui Pile
It’s a South African nightmare – being stranded on the side of the road with a flat tyre, or even worse, being involved in an accident far from home. Breakdown and emergency cover is increasingly being considered a necessity rather than a luxury.
The good news is that with two established breakdown services already operating in the industry and a newcomer set to join them, the choices for drivers are becoming wider. Roadside assistance services are also being incorporated into other deals such as general motor insurance, motor purchasing agreement and even cellphone contracts.
International SOS and the Automobile Association (AA) are the two best-known products available on offer, and now Care Assist is offering a complete roadside assistance package as well. The policies on the market are similar in many ways, but differ in cost. A basic AA membership costs R358 a year compared with R430 for SOS and R228 for CareAssist.
All three companies offer similar services – like repairing of tyres and flat batteries, towing, emergency medical evacuation and locksmith services. All three offer legal advice about cars, accidents and related topics and all will pay the first R2 000 to a hospital if a member is injured in an accident and doesn’t have the money for a deposit. This can then be paid back to the company.
But there are significant differences. SOS and Care Assist differ from the AA, because they are telephonic hubs or relay centers. Rather than send out their own vehicles they compile a list of approved operators across the country and dispatch them in an emergency. Operating with a single tollfree emergency number, SOS dispatches emergency vehicles. An SOS member pays the cost of the call-out and the cost of labour. Members of the AA and Care Assist do not face service charges and call-outs are covered by the basic membership fee.
There can also be hidden costs, for example arising from needing to have your car towed. If you breakdown in a metropolitan area, the AA basic membership will cover the cost of towing a vehicle if the distance is less than 40km. Over that and a rate of R1,50 is charged per kilometre. Even on the AA Plus Plan, which covers vehicles under 10 years old and long- distance trips, if the car breaks down over 100km away, you will be charged per extra kilometre over that limit.
Care Assist would do the tow-in for free: it does not charge the per kilometre rate and will cover the full cost of repatriation – the cost of getting your car back to where you want it.
In event of a minor accident which a member does not want to report to an insurance company to avoid losing a no- claim bonus, tow-ins cost a fixed fee of R150 plus VAT for Care Assist members and R450 plus VAT for AA members.
If a member breaks down on a long- distance trip, all three companies offer to pay for hotel accommodation while the car is repaired or for car hire to continue the journey. Care Assist pays R500 towards expenses or for the hire of a Class B vehicle for 2 days. SOS will pay R400, to be used either on accommodation or car hire. The AA Plus plan will pay R200 a person for up to four people or R500 for vehicle hire.
People often indirectly purchase roadside assistance when buying a car. A customer purchasing an Audi, for example, will automatically become a member of SOS for the first year. After that they have the choice of staying with the programme.
SOS also runs Vodacom’s 147 and 122 emergency call centres and Vodacom subscribers automatically become members of SOS when they sign a cellphone contract with one of their service providers.
Contact numbers: AA: 0800 01 01 01 SOS Breakdown: 0800 127 616 Care Assist: 0800 247 366