Earlier this month, we launched our New Roadside Assistance product, Roadside Plus, which is an optional extra you can choose on your policy.

Since then I’ve had a number of questions on what has changed, so I thought I’d reiterate the differences for anyone that is interested in understanding.

The way I’ll do this is by detailing the key areas of Roadside Assistance and what this means:

Towing

Weight and length limits

What we’ve done here is increase our GVM on our new offering to 4.5T for vehicles (up from 3.5T previously). While this may not seem like a huge change, it covers the majority of 4X4’s on the market, with the exception of some light trucks. If you are using another Roadside provider currently, it might be worth looking into the detail when it comes to weight – I know that one well known provider limits the GVM of a vehicle for Roadside to 3.5T, and another restricts towing benefits after 3.0T or higher. It is important you look into the detail to understand what you are getting at purchase time so you don’t get surprised when you are stuck on the side of the road.

Trailers

Our new Roadside offering will include towing for a trailer up to 4T in weight if it is attached to the vehicle when the vehicle breaks down. That means we will tow a total combination of up to 8.5T including a trailer. This was not the case with our old Roadside product, so is a great addition for those that tow. The key thing to remember here is that the Roadside product is tied to the car, so it doesn’t activate if something happens that only affects the trailer. However, for those that have raised the desire to have a product that works regardless across both, we have heard you and are looking into how we might be able to meet that need.

Distances

One of the biggest improvements here is the maximum towing distance. Our new policy will now tow up to 150km to the nearest repairer free of charge, which is triple the distance of the old policy. Given that all of our customers love to explore, this is a really great increase to the towing distance if you get stuck far from anywhere.

Out of Fuel

We’ve improved the benefit here too. You’ll now get up to 10L of fuel free of charge, or we’ll tow you to the nearest fuelling station at our discretion, acting reasonably.

Locksmith

We now cover up to $250.00 of costs to help you get back into your car after losing your keys or locking them in your vehicle. This is a significant improvement on the $70.00 under our previous policy.

What about Roadside Assistance off-road?

This is the challenge with Roadside Assistance – it is designed for use on sealed roads. Some providers may say they cover you Australia wide, but there are a range of clauses that then give them reasons not too. If you ask around, some people will say they got serviced even when off-road, and others will tell you that despite being promised they would be covered they weren’t. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.

The good news at Club 4X4 is that our 4X4 insurance policies offer $1,500.00 of Off-Road Recovery cover standard, which is designed for use off sealed roads, and thanks to updates earlier this year will recover you to the nearest town up to the limit of the cover selected. So, if you have Roadside Assistance and a Club 4X4 policy, if it is determined that Roadside doesn’t apply, you can use your Off-Road Recovery Cover to get out of trouble. The important thing? That you get help!

I’d love to know how you are feeling about the new offering!

Regards,

Aiden

For more information on Roadside Assistance, visit www.club4x4.com.au/roadside