does my car insurance need to know I'm towing?

[saint-spoon]

Mrs Spoon threw a fast ball earlier, one of her friends who is a caravanning type told her that the car insurer has to know that you are intending to tow a caravan. This threw me ten left as the caravan insurer asked loads of towing questions, is there a stabilizer fitted, have I done a caravan towing course, how long have I been driving and so on; but I have never been asked ever in over a quarter century of driving if I intended to tow anything. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Parksy]

It's standard procedure to inform car insurers that you have a towball fitted to your vehicle, the towball could count as a modification although this rarely affects premiums.
Car insurance companies don't usually ask for detailed replies with regard to what you tow but it's worthwhile checking the small print on your policy document (or just ask them over the phone) what level of cover you have when towing.
Some car insurance policies reduce comprehensive cover to third party fire and theft when the vehicle is towing a trailer or caravan.

 

[Sproket]

I have both the truck and the caravan insured with the NFU

 

[Raywood]

The simple answer is that it depends on what they ask you about modifications. If they just ask if the car has been modified then yes you should tell them. If like my car insurer More Than they ask if it has been modified to improve performance the answer is no.
Statistically towing a caravan does not increase the risk but some insurers do use the tow bar as an excuse to increase premiums. If they try to use this underhand route to increase the premium go elsewhere.
Oddly enough my insurers did not ask about towing until I rang to say we were going to France. The legislation abroad is different and they will need to know you are towing when abroad as there the third party risks for a towed caravan are normally covered by the caravan insurer where here it is the cars.

 

[saint-spoon]

Cheers guys, I will give them a call to check, better to be safe than sorry. And thank you to the mod who shifted the topic from say hello to the correct place

 

[Parksy]

You're welcome

 

[PaulT]

T
Oddly enough my insurers did not ask about towing until I rang to say we were going to France. The legislation abroad is different and they will need to know you are towing when abroad as there the third party risks for a towed caravan are normally covered by the caravan insurer where here it is the cars.

Not so Raywood. The third party risks here in France are covered by the car insurers and it is compulsory to have the insurance. All risks are covered by an (optional) caravan insurance..

 

[Jules_ht]

If your towball was a manufacturer or dealer fit then I'd suggest it's not a modification any more than mats and flaps are.

I emailed my insurer last year (quotemehappy) and this is what they said on the subject:

"Our standard policy will cover you to tow a trailer without any additional premium and we'll provide you with Third Party Only Insurance cover whilst towing a trailer. We don't provide you with any 'own damage' cover for the trailer being towed. If you did require comprehensive cover for your trailer - we'd suggest for you to please arrange alternative specialist cover. Please note the term trailer will refer to any trailer, caravan or vehicle on tow behind the policyholder's vehicle. "

So I was interested to observe that I've only got 3rd party cover whilst towing and not the fully comp I usually have.

I also asked them whether the 85% guideline was worth considering (because I don't want my insurer claiming that ignoring it was a contributing factor to any accident and using it to try and avoid paying out). They said:

"In regards to your Quotemehappy.com cover, we don't need to know about the weight when towing - your third party only cover is as standard as long as (as you've identified) any towing is carried out within legal and manufacturer limits."

But of course every insurer is different, and it is the specific wording of your own policy document (which includes any such written advice as they give you on any given subject) that you need to concern yourself with. So an internet forum is a bad place to get advice on insurance (because of the amount of people who will tell you that something is a solid fact when it may not be)- you should talk to your insurer only, and only listen to what they tell you.

One position I always tend to default towards personally, is that insurers don't want to know things until you come to claim, then they hunt out things you didn't tell them in order to avoid paying out. Perhaps uinfair/untrue, but if you want to avoid getting stung not a bad attitude to have.

 

[ProfJohnL]

All the insurance companies I have had dealings with in recent years have clause in their policy T&C's that has the effect of requiring the policyholder to inform the company of any material fact that might affect the company's liability in the event of claim. This includes any modifications to the the standard car and especially those that will affect its performance, handling, or value.

As far as I am aware, no current car manufacturer fits a tow bar as standard. They are all an optional extra device selected by the customer , and whether it is fitted by the manufacturer, dealer, it is modification that effectively enables the vehicle to be much bigger, heavier, slower and it requires additional skills to manage it safely. This must be reported to the insurer..

As other contributors have pointed out, its is exceptionally unusual for the fitting of a towbar to increase premiums, but at least they cannot then turn down a claim because they were unaware of the towbar.

The 85% guidance has no legal standing whatsoever. and an insurer under it third party statutory elements cannot impose a lower towing weight than the manufacturer's specification. If the insurer were unhappy about a particular policyholders proposal, they would not impose a restriction, they would refuse to issue the policy.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

So I was interested to observe that I've only got 3rd party cover whilst towing and not the fully comp I usually have.

I think you will find that your car still has comprehensive cover when towing. It is the trailer that is only covered 3rd party when it is being towed. Hence the words:

"Our standard policy will cover you to tow a trailer without any additional premium and we'll provide you with Third Party Only Insurance cover whilst towing a trailer. We don't provide you with any 'own damage' cover for the trailer being towed. If you did require comprehensive cover for your trailer - we'd suggest for you to please arrange alternative specialist cover. Please note the term trailer will refer to any trailer, caravan or vehicle on tow behind the policyholder's vehicle. "

 

[saint-spoon]

I have a good read of my policy, Axa is the provider for the record, and they cover third party damage caused by the trailer which I gather is a legal requirement (the insurance lady from CACC told me that after she was nice enough to phone me to see if I was taking up the quote they had given me). The car is still fully comp cover. The man at Axa said that like roof bars, tow bars are so common that it is impossible to class them as modifications because of the legal requirements placed on car insurers to cover third party damage caused by the item being towed.

 

[DrZhivago]

... of course every insurer is different, and it is the specific wording of your own policy document .... that you need to concern yourself with. So an internet forum is a bad place to get advice on insurance

Agreed that every insurer is different, but not that an internet forum is a bad place to get advice on insurance. For example if it were not for this present thread I would not have known that it is uncommon for insurers to charge higher premiums for having a towbar. That is a very useful piece of advice to have in mind when shopping for insurance.

 

[Dustydog]

A few years ago two Insurers. A viva and Saga said towed vehicles like caravans were NOT covered for third party liability risks.
Both ate humble pie and agreed their operatives miss advised.
The lesson then is simple. Tell the Insurer you are towing a caravan and have a tow bar.
That way there can be no doubt you have not complied with the rules if disclosure.

 

[paws]

Its always a good idea to make disclosure of all material facts to one's insurers, and if anyone is the least bit unsure what is or is not "material" then the golden rule is "disclose it"

Its one thing making the disclosure, but sometimes its necessary to be able to show that you have made the disclosure...
Be sure that if problems arise you have sufficient evidence (paperwork is good) to demonstrate that the insurers were informed...

If you rely on phoning them and they say... "that's noted or Ok or we don't need to know about that".... or words to that effect then my advice would be to get it in writing....

Insurers get taken over, IT systems get overhauled, phone and recording systems get replaced, and even the best of them, with the highest reputations for probitity and fair play, rarely win a gold medal for the accuracy of their record keeping...... so be smart... get it in writing!
and then you will all be able to enjoy the feeling that you have got the "strength of the insurance company around you"
Happy Caravanning
Regards
paws