This Auto Insurance Add-On Is Absolutely Worth the Cost

Auto insurance policies have a lot of moving pieces, and there are many types of coverage available. It's a good idea to sit down and review your coverage at least once a year to make sure you have enough to cover a catastrophe and all related costs.

Most companies offer optional insurance add-ons you can opt in for at an extra cost. I recently had a car mishap that made me extremely happy that I pay for one in particular: roadside assistance and vehicle towing.

Adventures with roadside assistance

I've had roadside assistance on my auto insurance policy for the entire time I've been a driver, and it's come to the rescue on several occasions, but they've been mostly few and far between. In my grad school days, I ran over some debris on the highway and punctured my car's oil pan. More recently, my partner drove my car into a deep puddle during a rainstorm and rendered it inoperable (I was in the passenger seat). In both cases, I was able to have the cars towed to a repair shop at no cost to me. But my most recent experience with this service takes the cake.

Based on how my car was behaving on a warm day a few weeks ago after a shopping trip, I either needed a new battery or a new alternator. I had the car towed from my home to my regular mechanic for a new battery. Then, right after I picked the car up just an hour later, it acted up again -- and my regular mechanic doesn't do alternators. So I had to call roadside assistance again and have the car towed to a different shop across town.

Both times, it was the same tow truck driver who showed up at my home to take the car -- at least he already knew how to get it on the tow truck the second time. Ultimately, I had to spend $1,200 on my elderly car for the battery and alternator -- but $0 for the towing.

What's the cost of a tow versus insurance roadside assistance?

To get a rough idea of how much money I saved, I decided to check the average cost of towing a vehicle. According to J.D. Power, it's $109 -- so I would've paid $218 if this was the charge for my recent experience. The charge might have been higher if I'd needed the car towed to a repair shop farther away than just across my small city. Meanwhile, I pay just $3.10 per six-month insurance policy term for this coverage. That comes out to about $0.52 a month -- what a deal!

If you don't currently have roadside assistance on your auto insurance policy, I highly recommend adding it (and if you don't know, review your policy details or call your auto insurer). A few dollars a year can give you a lot of peace of mind out on the road.

Another potential option that comes with more perks

There is a non-insurance option for roadside assistance and towing I should mention: You can sign up for AAA. AAA's roadside assistance program might be more flexible than your auto insurer's -- for example, if you sign up for a higher membership tier, AAA can tow your vehicle farther for free than your insurer might.

AAA memberships do cost more than roadside assistance tacked onto your auto insurance policy -- I was quoted a price of $29.50 per year for the basic membership. But AAA also comes with all kinds of great perks, so give those a look and decide based on whether you'll use them and can justify the extra cost.

Having some kind of roadside assistance and towing coverage, whether it's through your insurer or AAA, is a great personal finance move. If you're lacking this, do some research and see how much it'll cost you -- it's worth it.