policy from American Family for as little as $1 a month. Customers can access free towing and more by submitting a claim through the American Family app, online, or by calling 1-800-692-6326.

The average American Family customer pays $10 to $20 per year for roadside assistance.
American Family roadside assistance does not set a mileage limit for towing services, but your car will be towed to the nearest qualified repair facility by default.
Other roadside assistance services covered by American Family include battery jumpstarts, tire servicing, fuel delivery, locksmithing, and roadside repairs where available.

MORE: All about American Family car and home insurance

What does American Family roadside assistance cover?

American Family 24/7 Emergency Roadside Assistance provides fairly standard towing and labor coverage with the following covered services:

Towing services: American Family will cover the cost to tow your vehicle to the closest, qualified repair center. There’s no limit on mileage—which is great if you ever get stranded in the middle of nowhere—but you will be committed to whatever shop, garage, or dealership is nearest your location.

Battery jump starts: American Family will come to the rescue with some jumper cables if your battery dies and you

need a jump-start

, whether you’re cruising down the highway or parked in your garage.

Flat tire services: Need a patch or a change after a

flat tire

? American family will cover the cost of the labor for a service person to come to you, although you’ll be responsible for the cost of the actual parts.

Fuel delivery: If you don’t make it to a gas station in time, American Family will bring the fuel to you—and this service will even extend to engine oil! However, you are still responsible for the cost of all materials.

Locksmith services: American Family will send a reputable locksmith to help if you’ve

locked your keys in your car

. You’ll still be responsible for the cost of replacing locks or keys if needed, but the free labor is a much better alternative to trying to break into your car!

Roadside repairs: American Family will reimburse you for up to one hour of labor from a

mobile mechanic

to try to get your car up and running at its breakdown location if this service is available in your area.

American Family partners with the network of Dreams Repaired Program (DRP) shops to provide priority service for its customers'

car repairs

when possible. Whether or not the nearest mechanic for your tow is in the DRP network, American Family will stick with you every step of the way to handle the upfront payments and coordinate any remaining charges directly through your account—so you don’t have to deal with any reimbursement requests.

Roadside assistance is best paired with

collision

and

comprehensive insurance

, since these will often take care of the actual repair costs once your car is towed to a shop, but you don’t need them to add this coverage to your American Family policy. You may even be able to buy it on its own if it's available in your area.

Talk to an American Family insurance agent to get a quote and learn more about your coverage options.

MORE:

Will insurance cover a flat tire?

RECOMMENDED

Compare auto insurance policies

No spam or unwanted phone calls · No long forms

ZIP Code

Find insurance savings

How to use American Family’s roadside assistance program

American Family gives you three convenient options to initiate a claim for one of their 24/7 Emergency Roadside Assistance services:

By phone: Call an American Family representative at 1-800-692-6326 at any time to request assistance.

Online: Log into your

American Family account

to initiate your roadside service claim.

Via the app: Download the

MyAmFam app

to easily access roadside assistance requests and active claims from the comfort of your phone.

It may go without saying, but you can call or request service online through American Family’s 24/7 Emergency Roadside Assistance, well… 24/7!

Calling may provide a bit more comfort if you’re really in a pickle, but it’s still worth downloading the MyAmFam app, no matter what your preferences. In addition to initiating roadside assistance requests you can use this app to access all your insurance information, find trusted repair shops, manage payments, and provide

proof of insurance on your phone

MORE:

How much does it cost to tow a car?

How much does American Family roadside assistance cost?

American Family roadside assistance is a relatively affordable coverage option, with the average member paying between $10 and $20 a year to add this to their current policy. That said the costs will vary depending on your demographics and driving record.

Individual customers report paying anywhere from $1 to $6 per month, or $12 to $72 per year, for American Family 24/7 Emergency Roadside Assistance. For most drivers, this has the potential to be cheaper than similar coverage offered by

GEICO

(average $14/year),

Progressive

(average $16/year), and

Nationwide

(average $23+ per year).

Of course, you don’t want to be one of the drivers stuck paying $72 per year, which is much more than the starting cost of

a AAA membership

—and probably not as worth it. But is a $12 policy from American Family more worth it than a $59.99 annual policy from AAA? Let’s find out!

MORE:

The 5 characteristics of a reliable car insurance company

American Family roadside assistance vs. AAA

American Family includes a lot of the same basic services in its roadside assistance coverage as

AAA

, but there may be advantages to taking a policy from the latter depending on your preferences.

American Family will make sure you get to the nearest repair shop, regardless of distance, while AAA’s most basic roadside assistance policy, AAA Classic, will only cover tows for up to five miles. However, the two higher tiers of AAA coverage, Plus and Premiere, expand that towing radius to 100 miles and 200 miles, respectively.

Each AAA plan gives you a bit more leeway to choose your repair shop, whereas American Family will default to the closest one. However, these plans can cost as much as $65+ per month. AAA also offers travel reimbursement and even legal defense reimbursement with some of its plans, but you have to ask yourself if paying as much as 10 times more a month is worth it compared to a basic American Family 24/7 Emergency Roadside Assistance plan.

MORE:

How to join AAA and make sure you have roadside assistance coverage

“
Jerry
blew my mind, honestly. From start to finish, using the app took me 10 minutes and I ended up with $100 of savings a month. Best of all, customer service answered all my questions about rental car reimbursement and roadside assistance.” —Savanna R.

RECOMMENDED