Many know road service by the name of breakdown cover, emergency roadside repair or roadside assistance. A road service is a kind of insurance policy that covers any kind of repairs that has left a vehicle stranded in the middle of no where. The vehicle may be facing mechanical failure, may need a jump start or towing to the nearest repair shop, the policy covers it all. The road service also offer many other services like helping to change a flat tire, providing a small amount of fuel when a vehicle runs out of it, pulling out a vehicle that is stuck in snow or helping people who are locked out of their cars. It all depends on the coverage the policy is offering.

The first road service started with the development of the first motoring organizations such as Automobile Association and Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, many of which were founded as membership bodies for motorists; services to assist members where often introduced later, with the creation of a fleet of patrolmen. However, in the past many of the policy holders faced problem in contacting their service providers but now with the availability of the wide network of mobile phone users the virtually impossible feast of contacting the service provider has become quite easy.