According to data of BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS (hereinafter - BTA), the Roadside Assistance service of BTA has been provided to a total of 2224 drivers within the first six months of this year, who for some reason have experienced unexpected problems during their trip. Most often help is required by cars, which experience a sudden deterioration of the vehicle’s technical condition, and, the unexpected problems on the road differ, as seasons change.

The Roadside Assistance service of MTPL and CASCO insurance policies issued by BTA includes also providing informative assistance over the telephone to drivers occurring in a problem situation. This service has been used 103 times within the first six months of this year.

According to information, summarized by BTA, quite often drivers have mixed up petrol pumps, when in filling station, either due to lack of experience or simple human error, as a result of which have filled a wrong type of fuel in their car. 25 such calls for help were registered with BTA during the first half of the year. There were also seven cases, when fuel has been dispatched for a driver at the point on the road, where the car had stopped due to running out of fuel.

BTA Insurance Claims Handling Department Director Kārlis Liepiņš explains that, apart from car towing required after road traffic accidents, the major part of Roadside Assistance calls are of seasonal nature. “For instance, in winter months the help is usually requested to start a car, when engine would not start due to cold weather. Sometimes people are unable to get into their own car because of cold and frost, as the door has been frozen, as well as alarm malfunction. Meanwhile for summer months a more common problem is a punctured tyre. The Roadside Assistance option is more often preferred by CASCO policy holders, although this option to get assistance on the road is available at an extra charge also to vehicle owners obtaining an MTPL insurance policy. Our mission is to help drivers in trouble on the road. And the number of drivers, complementing their MTPL insurance policy by the Roadside Assistance service option, keeps growing. It makes drivers feel a lot more secure in moments, in case a trouble happens – the driver is not alone facing a problem situation, as its insurer is ready to come to help upon a call," emphasizes K.Liepiņš.

About BTA

BTA Baltic Insurance Company is one of the leading insurance companies in the Baltics, offering the broadest range of non-life insurance services in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. BTA employs more than 1 000 employees in the Baltics. The largest shareholder of BTA is Vienna Insurance Group AG with 200 years of experience in the insurance industry. More than 50 companies in 25 countries constitute the group, which employs 25,000 employees. Vienna Insurance Group AG is a clear leader in its core markets in Europe maintaining high rating of financial stability – Standard & Poor’s A+ (stable outlook), with a listing on the Vienna and the Prague Stock Exchange.

Additional information:
Elīna Rasmane
Marketing and Public Relations Department Director
BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS
e-mail: elina.rasmane@bta.lv