The AA has launched AA Home Response in the Bay of Plenty, providing peace-of-mind for residents and additional work for local tradespeople.

AA Home Response is a new service which takes care of the hassle of finding a tradesperson to fix common household breakdowns like burst pipes, lockouts and electrical failures 24/7, 365 days of the year.

The service aims to get a tradesperson to an emergency within 60 minutes, or at a time which suits the resident/landlord.

Laser Plumbing Tauranga is one of the local businesses contracted for AA Home Response. Owners Clyde and Linda Andrews say they're thrilled to be on board.

'We're building our maintenance team, so it's great that this will bring on more work for them,” Linda says.

'AA Home Response sets a good high standard, just as we do, so we're really pleased to be involved.”

AA Home Response is a joint venture between the AA and AA Insurance. There are two services offered: AA Home Response Plus and AA Home Response.

AA Home Response Plus is a subscription service with six free callouts a year, which is $179 per year for AA Members and AA Insurance customers, and $199 for other homeowners and landlords.

AA Home Response is a pay per callout service for which users pay for the tradesperson's time when they need them. It is $32 per year for AA Members and AA Insurance customers, with non-Members paying $49.

However, AA Home Response is gifted to AA Insurance home and landlord policy holders.
AA Membership and Brand General Manager Dougal Swift says nearly 30,000 people are already signed up since the February launch in Auckland.

'We've been there for Kiwis when they need us at the roadside through AA Roadservice for years; we're thrilled that we're now helping them out at home as well.”

Jasu Lad purchased AA Home Response Plus for her rental property in Auckland. She put it to use in August when her tenant came home after three weeks away to find the shower would only run very hot or very cold water.

'The plumber got there within an hour and fixed the problem. I really like that the service is 24/7 as problems always seem to occur after hours, on weekends or public holidays when it's difficult to get a tradie and it costs the earth if you do… I figure if I use AA Home Response Plus twice in the year, it's paid for itself.”

AA Insurance Head of Marketing and Distribution Richard Park says: 'AA Home Response has been incredibly popular with Auckland customers, with several hundred homeowners already needing call-outs like Graham, whose leaking roof was made watertight within an hour. We're pleased that Kiwis throughout other parts of the country will now benefit from this excellent level of service too.”

AA Home Response is available in the Bay of Plenty centres: Tauranga, Mt Maunganui, Rotorua, Taupo, Turangi, Te Puke, Papamoa, Welcome Bay, Whakamarama, Katikati, Aongatete, Hamurana, Oropi and Omokoroa. It has also today rolled out to Waikato, Hawke's Bay and more of the Auckland region.
The round-the-clock service is available via 0800 AA Home (0800 224 663).