Breakdown Cover Articles

The History of Car Breakdown Insurance

The first cars that began to appear in the streets of the United Kingdom were in the early part of the twentieth century, and they were few and far between. Yet it is interesting to note that the RAC (Royal Automobile Club) today one of the Britain's leading recovery companies was formed way back in 1897. It was more than likely that in these times, the RAC was a club in all meanings of the word, and they sent our volunteers who knew something of how the internal combustion engine operated to help one of the few people who owned one of these new fangled "horseless carriages" who had gotten into some form of distress.

When car breakdown insurance became popular to the mainstream of the UK public is pretty vague. Certainly the Automobile Association followed suit a few years later and for more than seventy years, they held the monopoly on breakdown services around the country. As the family car became more commonplace the AA and the RAC enjoyed a friendly but low paced rivalry, with innovations being added every few years to keep the customer's interest. However what these associations did they do well, with friendly service being a key word?

They began to build a fleet of pick -up trucks to tow away cars that could not be repaired by the roadside, as well as a network of approved garages who had met the standards or service and honesty that either or sometimes both of these organisations demanded.

In smaller towns and villages, it was not uncommon to find a garage that had both the AA and the RAC seal of approval. Every year, these organisations would issue a year book with details of all their local service centres, approved garages and various other contact numbers. Eventually the year book expanded to provide details of hotels and restaurants all over the British Isles, with the next stage being that these organisations began to eventually grade the hotels and restaurants according to stars. This guide became a major source of revenue for both the AA and the RAC, yet never did it deter them from focusing from their core business: coming to the aid of the driver in distress.

In the early seventies, the RAC and The AA were joined on the roads of the UK by the National Breakdown Service who later changed their name to Green Flag. What set Green Flag apart from their more seasoned rivals was that they rarely employed their own service operatives, and instead they farmed out their work to local independent representatives, trained by the company and operating only by their predetermined service standards.

Other smaller and privately owned companies followed suit, and as the number of cars on UK roads continued to increase, and to keep pace with the standards demanded, both the AA and RAC were acquired by private concerns.

Recovery vehicles of today are equivalent to mobile workshops, with every facility that can make the repairman's job easier in place, in order to expedite rapid diagnosis and repair and get the car and the driver back on the road as rapidly as possible.

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