Towing Coverage and/or Road Assistance are often times not necessary.

If you carry Collision or Comprehensive coverages the towing from the scene will be covered. So why do you need this?

Towing Coverage and/or Road Assistance (also know as emergency packages)main features:

- First Party Coverage

- No deductible if accident under covered loss

- Not fault based

For a fee in premium insurance carriers will give you the option of towing coverage and/or road assistance. They believe this is the best coverage you can have. I personally think this is a waste of money because of the restriction that they put on you.

To begin with, if you are involved in an accident, your towing charges will be covered under the collision and/or comprehensive (depending on what kind of loss). The towing charges arise and relate to the damages the insured incurred because of the auto accident. Therefore, you will be covered even if you do not purchase this section of the policy.

Most tow truck drivers and business know to take your insurance information and bill them directly. Most of the time the actual towing charges are reasonable, but the storage charges can pile up. Storage charges are covered under collision and comprehensive coverages. However, insurance companies are starting to put limits on how much they pay per day for storage (what are surprise!).

Towing Coverage and/or Road Assistance cover the towing and the initial labor to get your car out of the road (just like collision and comprehensive). It will also cover for REASONABLE AND NECESSARY expenses for the towing if you have mechanical breakdowns (which are always excluded). By know you probably know that reasonable and necessary means �I will nickel and dime you�.

They will use the old system. They will look at the average hourly rate for a tow truck for the services render to you, and then pay that! Therefore, if you are stuck somewhere and the tow truck that comes to get you is more expensive than the average, then you will be responsible for the difference. Reasonable and Necessary clause will also be applied to storage.

There are other coverages that can be found under Towing Coverage, but most of them have nothing to do with towing or storage! What? Yeah, some will extent some coverage to personal property damaged on your accident (like luggage and its contents), but they will limit this to up to $200 (or something like that).

Therefore, I really do not see the benefit of this Towing Coverage. You really need to read this coverage carefully to see what is exactly covered. Again, sometimes you will find coverages �hidden� in the policy (personal property in the towing coverage for example).

The other limitation that is very common under this heading. Here is a how a claim under Towing Coverage works, let us assume it is straightforward claim and that al you need is a tow. Steps:

1. You need help.

2. You need to contact a tow truck business, (your insurance company does not own tow equipment).

3. You need to pay the tow truck.

4. You need to send the paid bill to your carrier.

5. You need to wait for a decision (sometimes more than 30 days while they investigate coverage).

6. They will send a check for what they believe is reasonable and necessary.

7. They will raise your premium or not qualify for a discount for having filed a claim (depending on your carrier, and circumstances of course).

My point is that the claim process is just too long and if you have the money to pay a tow truck driver on the spot and can live without that money for 30 days, why do you need this coverage?

The next limitation on Towing Coverage the policy is �the actual towing terms�. In addition to the reasonable and necessary clauses, they will determine how the towing must occur so they can pay the claim. They will limit:

a. The amount of miles a vehicle can be towed (for example, no more than 30 miles).

b. Where you can tow the vehicle. You can only tow to the closest (measure in miles) place of repair. So your body shop or mechanic better be closest to you than any other repair facility in town!

Note that a. and b. also apply to Towing Coverage provided under Collision and Comprehensive.

I believe you are better off by declining this coverage and purchasing Emergency Road Assistance or Towing Coverage through AAA. They will send a tow truck and take you where you want. You will never have to pay anyone. Just how it should be! Note that AAA also sells car insurance.

Towing Coverage is not necessary if you carry Collision. Learn more about Collision Coverage.