Must a tourer be insured?

[MIkeS_5091146]

is there a legal requirement to have caravan insurance before taking to the road, are you committing an offence if you are involved in an accident without it, or does your car insurance cover the caravan as well ?

 

[Tony A.]

Mike ,

To the best of my knowledge, there is no legal reqirement to insure a caravan before taking to the road, therefore there is no offence for not having caravan insurance if involved in an accident, that does not mean that the van does not have to be in good towable condition, if it is not then an offence will have been committed, I do not think that ordinary car insurance covers the trailer/caravan being towed IE against repair.but damage to a third party by the trailer/caravan may be covered, providing the insurance company has been informed that the car will be towing I will be interested to hear others oppinions on this point.

Tony A.

 

[Guest]

There are some experts in this field who can give accurate comments, however, I agree with Tony that there is no legal requirement to insure a caravan before taking it on the road, as far as I am aware. Most insurance covers damage to the van itself in the event of an accident. This may change with Europeanisation if a separate registration becomes compulsory for trailers over a cretain weight. Of course his other point that you may have problems with your car insurance if the Company for that vehicle is not informed you are towing, is also correct I suspect, and could cause serious problems for the owner.

 

[mcghee]

There is no legal requirement to insure a caravan, and as Tony says, your car insurance should cover third party damage while towing. What you wont be covered for is any damage caused when your 'van is unhitched. So say you're pushing it onto a pitch and it goes pear shaped and damages another 'van or some fencing, etc. You would have to pay for that yourself. Similarly if your 'van were to catch fire and set the 'van next to you up as well you'd have to pay for that too. Probably better to be insured.

 

[joeby]

this is just a thought , what happens if some one's caravan caught fire and then set yours onfire ,and they wasnt insured ,and then they refused to give you there details the people who run the site are under no obligation to give the offending persons name or address ,thats if they have that persons address ,and its no good taking there car registration No ,some people that i have met in the past are driving about with no documentation what so ever ,they havent even past a driving test ,i mean when you pitch up you dont know who your neighbours are ,whats to stop a person booking a site under a false name & paying cash and causing mayhem when they get there ,perhaps it might be good idea for organisations to get there members to register there insurance details when they join

 

[Andy_5062145]

Joby, you have made a few good points, but maybe you should change your name to Prophet of Doom.

 

[CliveV]

Thankfully - modern databases allow the Police to check quickly if a car has Insurance and/or is Taxed.

I do not think it is completely foolproof yet but it is getting more difficult for the uninsured driver.

It may sound a bit "Orwellian" but I think the more foolproof it becomes the better and safer the roads will be.

As for caravan insurance - remember your contents as well.

Also tell your car insurance company that you tow a caravan - it will not affect your premium but not telling them could give them an excuse to renege on a claim if you have an accident.

 

[MONKEY1]

Clive,

One of the other benefits and it is an aside, is that you can now purchase your tax disc on line - both bits of data for both our cars is correct - (not the case for the insurance co's ) who never seem to have the correct data- and allegedly get it form DVLA.

But you can now pay on line and not have to wait behind every old dear, E bayer or dyslexic sub postman to take 30 mins to do a tax disc

MH

 

[Lutz]

To the best of my knowledge, you car insurance does not cover damage caused by the caravan when it is not attached to the car, so if the caravan breaks away while towing due to a defective or incorrectly set coupling and it hits something or someone, it would not be covered. Similarly, if parked on its own and it rolls away out of control, causing an accident, this would also not be covered.

 

[whitetop]

I think that the way to look at this one is...can you afford to write off the cost of the van, can you pay all the bills that would come in. Suppose your van was to break free while towing and hit a passing car and nothing else. The cost of replacing a side on most modern cars would probably be the wrong side of

 

[Lutz]

It's not only the damage to your own van that could cost you an arm and a leg but the damage that the caravan can do to a third party.

 

[CliveV]

As we become ever more like the USA and more and more litigious, what Lutz says is absolutely correct. If you want to put at risk your assets including your home if your own it or are buying it, then do not bother to insure your caravan then let your caravan kill or main someone in an accident. The lawyers will have a field day with you. Hopefully you will still enjoy caravanning because that may be what you end up living in.

Via NFU my caravan insurance was "peanuts" compared to its value.

In my view anyone that does not insure a caravan is a liability to themselves, their family and everybody else on the road.

 

[Lutz]

If you intend to tour abroad, then you MUST have third party insurance specifically for the caravan.