The TRUTH about Progressive Roadside Assistance: Review

updated Mar 7, 2022

You never know when your car may become disabled because of an electrical or mechanical breakdown. A service like Progressive Roadside Assistance is an affordable way to help you get back on the road.

Let’s take an objective look at how Progressive Roadside Assistance works and what they have to offer.

How to Get Progressive Roadside Assistance?

In order to take advantage of Progressive’s Roadside Assistance program, your car needs to be insured by Progressive. The good news is, we consider Progressive Insurance to be one of the best auto insurance options when it comes to quality service for a low price.

Before you buy, you can read our full company review and rating of Progressive here: Progressive Review.

What Does Progressive’s Roadside Program Cover?

Similar to other emergency roadside programs, Progressive’s roadside services provide assistance for a number of situations including:

• Towing within a 15 mile radius or nearest qualified repair facility
• Fuel delivery
• Changing a flat tire
• Battery jump start
• Locksmith assistance when car keys or lost, stolen, or locked inside the vehicle
• Winching of vehicle from water, snow, sand, or mud within 100 feet of the road
• Onsite labor to assist in repairing vehicle (up to one hour)

You’ll notice Progressive’s program includes one hour of onsite labor. This means if the technician isn’t able to get your car running on the spot, the technician will tow the car to a qualified repair shop.

And if you only need a gasoline delivery, then you’ll simply pay for the fuel. You are never charged for a service call.

How Does Progressive’s Roadside Program Work?

You will receive a toll-free phone number to reach a customer service attendant, day or night.

Progressive claims their average response time is 34 minutes. This may be because they use advanced software to pinpoint your location via your cell phone.

Let’s not forget this Roadside Assistance program has over 45,000 service providers throughout the United States, as well as 10 Canadian provinces.

Progressive is able to offer such a wide network of coverage because of their Agero partnership. As you may know, Agero has over 40 years of experience as a leading roadside assistance company.

What Vehicles Will the Roadside Program Cover?

Progressive will come to the rescue for other motor vehicles besides your family minivan or your 4×4 pick-up truck.

In fact, you may include any of the following on your roadside plan:

• Motorcycle
• Boat
• Motorhome
• Travel Trailer
• Toy Hauler
• 4-wheeler
• ATV
• UTV

Of course, the price to cover an ATV may be a bit different than the price you pay for a Lexus sedan. This is because any off-road vehicle is considered more dangerous and, therefore, subject to a higher chance of breakdown.

How Much Does Progressive Roadside Assistance Cost?

The specific pricing for Progressive roadside depends on various factors including the insured vehicle, your home state, and the location of your designated repair shop.

Adding Progressive Roadside Assistance to your present policy typically costs less than $2 per month for passenger cars and trucks. For motorcycles the price may be as low as $1 per month.

The price for this protection is pretty low when you consider other auto clubs like AAA charge their members anywhere from $79 to $169 annually.

If you are unfortunate enough not to have any roadside assistance then you might owe as much as $200 for one tow.

How to Request Progressive Roadside Assistance

For peace of mind, a service like Progressive’s Roadside Assistance program provides 24/7 coverage every day of the week, every holiday – whenever you are on the road. All it takes is a call to their toll free number 1-800-776-2778.

How Many Times Can I Use the Progressive Roadside Assistance?

This depends on your policy limits. Progressive states that they will only cover events in any 6 month period that don’t exceed your policy limit.

Does it Cover Towing after an Accident?

Unfortunately, the fine print for this motor club indicates they do NOT tow vehicles from accident scenes.

In this case, you would need to work with the local police department in removing your car from the road.

Are There Any Exclusions to Progressive’s Roadside Assistance?

Overall the Progressive program is very robust. However, like everything in life, there are a couple exclusions you may want to keep in mind.

• Vehicle Exclusions: You can call for roadside assistance only when driving the vehicle insured on the policy.

You are not able to use the roadside service for rental cars either.

Other auto clubs do allow a member to use their roadside benefits while driving or riding in any passenger vehicle.

• Policy Exclusions: In some states, you must have full coverage (liability, collision, and comprehensive) in order to add-on an auto club membership.

To find out how things work in your state, you’ll want to contact your insurance agent or a Progressive representative.

How does Progressive Compare to Other Roadside Assistance Providers?

To be honest, Progressive Roadside Assistance is administered in a similar manner as all those other auto clubs.

However, it is worth noting, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) awarded Progressive’s roadside program an A+ rating.

Plus, the price for the insurance giant’s roadside benefits are fairly minimal. As you can see in the chart below, Progressive’s cost is competitive when compared to many providers.

	Progressive	Farmers	AllState	State Farm
Cost Per Year	$23	$23	$25	$48
Incidents Covered Per Year	varies	3	3	3
Towing	15 miles	$150	$100	Nearest, no limit
Winching/ Extrication	100 ft	10 ft	$100	Free if reachable from road
Car Locksmith	1 hr	$150	$100	1 hr
On-Site Mechanical Adjustment	1 hr	$150	$100	1 hr
Fuel Delivery	√	√	√	√
Jump Start	√	√	√	√
Flat Tire Service	√	√	√	√

The best way to decide if Progressive’s Roadside Assistance program will meet your needs is to talk with an agent or Progressive representative. Ask as many questions as possible and review your existing auto policy for any exclusions.

As always, remember to compare quotes to make sure you are getting a fair price from the company you are interested in.