AA launches tradie callout service

The AA has launched a new tradie callout service which will send home help to fix burst pipes, blocked toilets or electrical failures at any hour of the day.

The service – a joint venture between the New Zealand Automobile Association and AA Insurance – will aim to get a qualified tradesperson to domestic emergencies within an hour.

An Australian-owned company, Global Home Response, will be responsible for vetting and sending the tradespeople in the new service, which is called AA Home.

AA said that Global Home Response has strict criteria, which tradespeople must meet before they become AA Home-accredited.

AA membership and brand general manager Dougal Swift said research found AA members were keen for a home service along the lines of AA Roadservice, which helps members when their vehicles breakdown.

"Almost two thirds of those we surveyed said they had needed a tradesperson in the past 12 months," Swift said.

"But unless they were connected through friends or family, getting someone to fix the problem fast was often difficult."

Customers who use AA Home pay a membership fee and then are charged for each callout or can pay a more expensive yearly fee to have six free callouts per annum.

Two services will be offered. The first, AA Home Response, will cost $32 per year for AA members and AA Insurance customers, with non-members paying $49. However, AA Insurance home and landlord customers will automatically be gifted AA Home Response with their policies.

Under this product, users pay a callout fee at the service's predetermined hourly rates prior to the tradesperson being dispatched. Those rates are based on research on market rates for callout fees throughout different trades and areas.

The second service, AA Home Response Plus, will cost $179 per year for members, with other homeowners and landlords paying $199. This subscription gives six free callouts a year, each including up to one hour of a tradesperson's time, plus unlimited additional callouts on a pay-per-use basis.

AA Insurance home and landlord policy holders will get the service complimentary with their policies.

The service has just launched in Auckland and will be rolled out to other parts of the country over time.