For you guys that tow

brettmcwhorter · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 4:48 pm

I couldnt really get a straight answer out of Progressive, so figured I'd post a n00b question and see what y'alls policies are covering. Looking to tow my track toy back and forth from the race track and am wondering if I could potentially drop the insurance on the track car. From the sound of it, it's not covered in the event of an at-fault accident, but hearing from others that the insurance should cover whatever I'm towing since it's "connected" to the truck. Is there a clear answer on this?

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 5:08 pm

that's my understanding as well. As long as it's properly attached to the tow vehicle, your car insurance will cover the contents of what's being towed. Cline would be a good source of info here as well. I think this is also why you don't need separate insurance for your trailer, unless you want the coverage.

clinehall · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 5:20 pm

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Here is the misconception. The LIABILITY of your car covers the LIABILITY of the towed trailer. So if you swing wide with the trailer and hit something or the trailer unhooks and goes in the other lane you auto policy will cover the damage done to others. There is no coverage on your auto policy for the actual trailer unless it is listed on the policy. There is no coverage at all on your trailer payload.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:04 pm

clinehall wrote:

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Here is the misconception. The LIABILITY of your car covers the LIABILITY of the towed trailer. So if you swing wide with the trailer and hit something or the trailer unhooks and goes in the other lane you auto policy will cover the damage done to others. There is no coverage on your auto policy for the actual trailer unless it is listed on the policy. There is no coverage at all on your trailer payload.

Wow, that's certainly not what I was lead to understand from my insurance carrier. Guess I need to follow up on that....

brettmcwhorter · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:16 pm

RodneyWright wrote:

clinehall wrote:

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Here is the misconception. The LIABILITY of your car covers the LIABILITY of the towed trailer. So if you swing wide with the trailer and hit something or the trailer unhooks and goes in the other lane you auto policy will cover the damage done to others. There is no coverage on your auto policy for the actual trailer unless it is listed on the policy. There is no coverage at all on your trailer payload.

Wow, that's certainly not what I was lead to understand from my insurance carrier. Guess I need to follow up on that....

Let me know how that goes...a lot of guys at work are under the same impression!

Is it also true that NC state policy doesn't allow for insurance providers to carry trailer insurance offerings? I'm gonna start digging on that now.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 7:11 pm

What if the car on the trailer has its own policy?

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:11 pm

brettmcwhorter wrote:

RodneyWright wrote:

clinehall wrote:

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Here is the misconception. The LIABILITY of your car covers the LIABILITY of the towed trailer. So if you swing wide with the trailer and hit something or the trailer unhooks and goes in the other lane you auto policy will cover the damage done to others. There is no coverage on your auto policy for the actual trailer unless it is listed on the policy. There is no coverage at all on your trailer payload.

Wow, that's certainly not what I was lead to understand from my insurance carrier. Guess I need to follow up on that....

Let me know how that goes...a lot of guys at work are under the same impression!

Is it also true that NC state policy doesn't allow for insurance providers to carry trailer insurance offerings? I'm gonna start digging on that now.

My understanding of my coverage while towing matches perfectly with what Cline says, which is good since he's right. Your towed car is covered as fully as any other contents of your car.

I carry comprehensive on my trailer for the theft coverage since it's like $6 a year. You usually have to call in and talk with a person since "non-car with a VIN" type things completely break their websites. With Geico I can't make any changes on their website, everything has to go through an agent.

I also have liability and comprehensive on my race car Miata, no idea if Geico would actually pay out if I ended up in a scenario with that car where I needed to make a claim.

brettmcwhorter · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:37 pm

Vincent Keene wrote:

What if the car on the trailer has its own policy?

You're good there as long as you have comprehensive coverage.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

From talking w/ Cline over the years, I can back this up:

- When towing my 16' open trailer I KNOW it's not covered for loss
- When towing my 26' camper I KNOW it's not covered for loss
- When towing the Chumpcar in the 24' trailer, I KNOW it's not covered for loss

This knowledge makes me drive very carefully

The exception is the boat. I covered it for liability (think injured kid at the lake) to protect my assets, and found out that agreed-value coverage of the boat itself was kind of a "gimme" with liability (correct me if I'm wrong on that Cline). I have not, however, asked whether the boat would be covered in an over-land towing incident, because I don't really care that much.

Lesson: Don't tow stuff that you can't afford to replace without impact to your life financial targets, and skip the coverage.

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:39 am

brettmcwhorter wrote:

RodneyWright wrote:

clinehall wrote:

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Here is the misconception. The LIABILITY of your car covers the LIABILITY of the towed trailer. So if you swing wide with the trailer and hit something or the trailer unhooks and goes in the other lane you auto policy will cover the damage done to others. There is no coverage on your auto policy for the actual trailer unless it is listed on the policy. There is no coverage at all on your trailer payload.

Wow, that's certainly not what I was lead to understand from my insurance carrier. Guess I need to follow up on that....

Let me know how that goes...a lot of guys at work are under the same impression!

Is it also true that NC state policy doesn't allow for insurance providers to carry trailer insurance offerings? I'm gonna start digging on that now.

There may be some companies that do not offer Physical Damage (official terminology for collision and comprehensive) by choice but it is not mandated. Most companies do offer coverage at a very nominal rate.

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:39 am

brettmcwhorter wrote:

RodneyWright wrote:

clinehall wrote:

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Here is the misconception. The LIABILITY of your car covers the LIABILITY of the towed trailer. So if you swing wide with the trailer and hit something or the trailer unhooks and goes in the other lane you auto policy will cover the damage done to others. There is no coverage on your auto policy for the actual trailer unless it is listed on the policy. There is no coverage at all on your trailer payload.

Wow, that's certainly not what I was lead to understand from my insurance carrier. Guess I need to follow up on that....

Let me know how that goes...a lot of guys at work are under the same impression!

Is it also true that NC state policy doesn't allow for insurance providers to carry trailer insurance offerings? I'm gonna start digging on that now.

There may be some companies that do not offer Physical Damage (official terminology for collision and comprehensive) by choice but it is not mandated. Most companies do offer coverage at a very nominal rate.

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:41 am

Vincent Keene wrote:

What if the car on the trailer has its own policy?

Your car that is insured is covered no matter where it is for all the coverage stated on the policy.

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:43 am

brettmcwhorter wrote:

Vincent Keene wrote:

What if the car on the trailer has its own policy?

You're good there as long as you have comprehensive coverage.

If you only have comprehensive then you would not be covered in the event of a collision. Comprehensive covers things such as contact with water, animal, theft, vandalism, glass breakage. If you wreck while towing you, that's a collision even to the towed car.

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:51 am

One more thing,

There is no coverage for "contents" in your car (well $100 in the event of a fire but I need to look that up to verify), Your contents are covered under your home policy in the event of a loss while in your motor vehicle. If you are towing your couch you are covered for the couch.

There is no coverage under your homeowners for any Motor Vehicles so not coverage for the towed vehicle.

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Tue Sep 29, 2015 9:44 am

Do you think that I could make the argument that my Miata is furniture based on the % of time it sits on jack stands?

THSCC Forums

For you guys that tow

Who is online