RAC plc (better known as
just the RAC) is a breakdown company in the
United
Kingdom
supplying products and services for
motorists.
History
The
RAC was formed in 1897 as the associate section of
the Royal Automobile
Club
to assist members with roadside assistance and to provide motoring
services.
The RAC introduced uniformed mobile patrols around the roads of
Britain during 1901 with the patrolmen wearing a uniform not unlike
the military police of the day, including tailored
jodhpur trousers. The patrolmen had an army-like
rank structure with corporals, sergeants and officers. Mounted on
Matchless motorbikes with sidecars
containing a tool kit, fanbelts, engine hoses, and metal cans of
spare petrol they were usually located on standby at laybys and
major road junctions. Until around 1930 control could only contact
the mobile patrolmen by telephone, so they waited by public
telephone boxes for the callout. From 1957 onwards they were
equipped with radio sets for two way contact with their local
headquarters.
In 1912, following the lead of the competitor organisation
The Automobile Association (AA),
the RAC installed roadside
telephones on
laybys and junctions of the main
trunk
roads in the UK for members to summon help. Although they were
never as numerous as AA boxes there was a measure of cooperation
between the two motoring clubs - keys fitted both types of box and
members' messages were passed on. The telephones were installed in
locked boxes painted in royal blue with the RAC logo badge mounted
on the top of the box. Members were provided with a key to the
boxes when they joined the club. Members' cars were identified by a
metal club badge usually affixed to the radiator grill and the
patrolmen would come to attention and salute as a member drove
past. The RAC ceased this practice in 1963.
The RAC issued an annual 'Guide and Handbook' that contained road
maps of the UK with the location of all RAC telephones marked on
it, together with lists of local RAC approved
garage and hotels. To give members an
indication of the quality of each establishment the RAC was one of
the very first organisations to provide an easily recognisable
grading system. Their inspectors assessed each hotel and garage and
awarded between one and five
stars in the case of hotels and one to
three
spanner to garages. The RAC disbanded
its hotel inspection team in 2004.
RAC roadside Telephonebox
Motorcycle patrols gave way to small vans during the 1960s and by
1970 the last motorcycle patrols had been phased out. RAC telephone
boxes were withdrawn from service when they were eclipsed by wider
telephone ownership and by the 1990s only a handful still operated
on holiday routes in the West Country. The advent of mobile phones
made the need for roadside telephones redundant and the last of the
RAC telephones were removed from service. Roadside assistance is
now provided by vans and recovery vehicles.
Until the early 1970s the RAC did not have a formal
"onward to
destination" service for members. If the patrolman was not
able to complete the repair at the roadside, arrangements were made
for an RAC approved garage to tow the vehicle and repair it at the
owner's cost, with the owner being responsible for making their own
arrangements for travel by public transport or hired vehicle. This
changed in the 1970s with the first of the low-loading vehicle
transporter fleet and the introduction of a higher membership tier
of the
Recovery service. Similarly, until the early 1980s
the roadside assistance service was limited to locations away from
home, which only changed with the addition of an
At Home
level of service.
In
September 1999, the RAC was sold by the members of the Royal Automobile
Club to another motoring service company, Lex Service
plc, who renamed themselves RAC plc in 2002. During March
2005
Aviva plc acquired RAC for around
£1.1 billion. The main competitors to the RAC are
The AA and
Green Flag.
Products and services
RAC Rescue
United Kingdom
An RAC roadside assistance van in
2004
The RAC has around 2,000 patrols that attend 2.8 million breakdowns
each year, this includes overseas breakdowns with RAC Europe. The
RAC cover 7 million roadside assistance customers with 2.2 million
individual members and 4.5 million corporate customers. Their
breakdown assistance centres operate
24/7 and
deal with approximately 4 millions calls a year. They have
introduced, for trial, two
hybrid
vehicles, to cut fuel consumption and carbon emissions. The RAC
has won the prestigious JD power award for the last three years for
the best roadside patrols in the UK.
Europe
RAC Europe
is breakdown cover for U.K.
customers
that travel to Europe. RAC Europe covers 47 European
countries and provides English-speaking Incident Managers available
24 hours a day to assist. The office is based in Lyon,
France.
AutoWindscreens
RAC Autowindescreen was sold by the RAC in 2008.
RAC Direct Insurance
RAC Direct
Insurance provides car,
motorcycle, van, home and travel insurance.
RAC Legal Services
RAC legal services provides advice and representation to customers
involved in personal injury claims.
RAC loans
When
Aviva plc teamed up with the company
it began to provide loans through the RAC brand name. On 1 January
2008, RAC ceased providing loans and are dissolving their
partnership with the Co-Operative Bank, with whom they had provided
the loans.
RAC Vehicle Checks and Examinations
RAC Vehicle Checks and Examinations conduct vehicle checks that
show if a car has been stolen, written-off, has outstanding finance
or previous plates, is at risk of being sold illegally, and that
its number plate and chassis number correspond. RAC Vehicle Checks
are conducted by HPI.
HPI provides a check on a car's status - assessing whether a car
has been stolen, written-off, clocked, has outstanding finance or
previous plates, is at risk of being sold illegally, and that its
number plate and chassis number correspond. It will also check
whether the car's documents are genuine.
RAC Examinations Inspectors make physical checks on the car to make
sure it is mechanically and structurally sound.
Travel and traffic information
RAC provides travel and traffic services including online route
planners, in-car navigation, traffic information via phone or the
internet and help with travel documents.
BSM
BSM is the UK’s largest driving school, with over 3,400 driving
instructors. It is also one of the largest driving instructor
training providers. RAC's parent company,
Aviva, sold BSM to a German company in January
2009.
Awards
J.D.Power and Associates ranked the RAC the best in satisfying
emergency roadside assistance customers in 2008, this is the third
consecutive year the RAC has held this title. They also have a
Greenfleet Breakdown/Recovery Company of the Year 2006 award for
the most environmentally friendly roadside patrols.
Team RAC
Rob Collard's MG ZS 2006 of Team
RAC
In 2006, RAC teamed up with
WSR
to form Team RAC and to race in the
British Touring Car
Championship (BTCC) with two
MG ZS cars.
The racing cars are liveried in RAC's corporate orange and have
achieved a number of wins.
See also
References
- http://www.racnews.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=13 RAC History
- http://www.rac.co.uk/about-us/
- http://www.racnews.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=20 RAC Products and
Services
-
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/city-news/2009/02/12/aviva-sell-bsm-to-german-firm-115875-21117355/
- http://www.rac.co.uk/web/awards/ RAC Awards
External links
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