• 4,870,704 breakdowns took place in the UK last year
• Brits spend on average 47 minutes waiting for roadside rescue
• Green Flag Alert Me is set to save drivers time – and money – by monitoring a car's behaviour and alerting the driver of battery and engine management faults
• The Green Flag Alert Me announcement comes ahead of the August bank holiday weekend, when Green Flag expect almost 40,000 breakdowns will take place
• The most common cause of car breakdown is flat or faulty batteries – these will cause around 8,771 breakdowns this weekend alone
   

National breakdown cover provider Green Flag has announced the launch of Green Flag Alert Me – a state of the art telematics unit that reduces the chance of breakdown by monitoring a car's battery and engine management systems; notifying the driver of any problems before breakdown occurs.

Over the bank holiday weekend, Green Flag is expecting 39,548 breakdowns on Britain's roads – the biggest cause being flat and faulty batteries (8,771), followed by 5,283 caused by punctures, 3,397 engine faults and 1,295 caused by clutch failures.

Green Flag Alert Me, which costs just £35 a year, is available now. It functions via a matchbox-sized device that is plugged easily into a user's car and continuously monitors engine data. If there are any faults, the unit notifies Green Flag over the mobile network, and Green Flag then forwards the driver the information by SMS or through our Green Flag app.

The easy-to-use Green Flag Alert Me app is free to download and could save Brits over 38 thousand hours waiting at roadside every year – the equivalent of over 1,500 days.

Not only could Green Flag Alert Me save drivers time at the roadside, but also money at the garage, as when an issue arises Green Flag Alert Me sends one of 16 codes specifying the problem for the driver, reducing the diagnosis time by the garage to understand the cause of the fault. Brits currently spend an estimated £21 billion on servicing cars.

Green Flag Alert Me is set to expand its function to monitor more  of a cars systems, and currently focuses exclusively on battery health – the most common cause of car fault, and engine management systems – one of the most complicated parts of the car.

Neil Wilson, head of rescue at Green Flag, said: "We created Green Flag Alert Me with our customers' needs at the core. A breakdown is never pleasant for anybody and, if it can be prevented, it should be.

"Although breakdowns can't be avoided every time, with Green Flag Alert Me drivers will be saved from unnecessary breakdowns caused by faults they weren't aware of. Now, we'll be with them on the whole journey - letting them know about potential issues before they turn into problems.
 

 For more information, visit https://www.greenflag.com/apps/alert-me
 

Ends
 

Notes to Editors

Customers of Green Flag breakdown cover can purchase Green Flag Alert Me over the phone.

A matchbox sized plug in device will be delivered to the customer's home, will monitor a car's battery and engine management systems once plugged in.

Based on Green Flag internal data weighted to market share

Based on Green Flag internal data

Based on Green Flag internal data (average wait time x number of breakdowns each year)

Based on 2016 report by Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)

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