Trailer Insurance - How Does It Work?

[tasng4]

I'm talking about trailers with a Carte Grise and would like to know how insurance works. I do not have a car trailer (to carry a car) but I could borrow one. I do not know any of the following:

1. Does the trailer need it's own insurance policy?

2. If no to 1. above do I need to be the owner of the trailer to be insured on my cars policy?

3. If I borrow a trailer will I need to insure it separately?

4. Can I borrow a UK trailer (i.e. no CG) and tow it with a French registered car?

5. If yes to 4. above what no. plates do I display?

I'd appreciate it if some one could clarify it all for me.

Thank in advance.

[dave21478]

If the trailer has a carte gris it needs its own insurance policy. This can be bought seperately from most insurance brokers. Or if it is your own trailer only used by you, some car insurers will extend cover to that trailer (and ONLY that trailer).

Borrowing (or hiring) a trailer means it will need its own policy. The paperwork should be handed over to the driver for the time he has the trailer.

Towing a UK trailer with a French car will not work as the trailer has no cover.

You can tow anything with a UK car as Uk insurance generally includes third party cover for any trailer you are towing at the time.

[AnOther]

[quote user="dave21478"]Borrowing (or hiring) a trailer means it will need its own policy. The paperwork should be handed over to the driver for the time he has the trailer.[/quote]That is a debatable point and the only person who can conclusively say yea or nay is your own car insurer. You cannot assume that simply because it's owner has a policy for it then that automatically covers you to tow it.

If you tow a trailer with defective insurance then in case of an accident your own car insurer may void your cover and only meet 3rd party claims.

[Chancer]

I dont see why that would be, isnt (French) trailer insurance like car insurance? i.e. the vehicle is insured not the driver, anyone can drive or in this case, tow it?

My own insuarnce covers me to tow trailers up to 750kg, a freudien slip, I should have said covers the towing of trailers up to 750kg as it does not have to be me driving.

[AnOther]

You are quite correct about 750kg trailers and it is concession applied by most if not all insurers but I don't think you can necessarily draw such a simple comparison for larger ones.

As explained to me by someone in the business whom I trust and consider to be authoritative - and which also makes perfect sense - the reason for having tow vehicle and 750kg+ trailer insured as a pair is that in case of an accident it completely negates any possibility of arguments between car and trailer insurer as to who is liable for what. On that basis then yes, towing a borrowed trailer may be perfectly OK in legal terms but at the same time it may contravene your own car insurance T&C's which is why I said to check with them.

In line with the above I think you will find a reluctance on the part of most insurers to cover just a trailer if they do not already cover the car. I discovered this personally when I bought my car trailer which was at a time when I was making significant changes to all my insurances. My new agent told me that the none of the raft of companies he dealt with would insure it separately but when it came time to renew the car insurance they would happily take it on then.

Bottom line then, if you are prepared to go through the potential grief of having two insurance companies squabble amongst themselves whilst you sit waiting with a wrecked car then by all means just hook up and drive away but why expose yourself to that risk when all it takes is a phone call to your insurer to conclusively establish the position.

Check with your insurer is all I'm saying then which is no more than the standard advice if you have any doubts about anything. If they OK it then you are bomb proof.

[PaulT]

[quote user="AnOther"]
Bottom line then, if you are prepared to go through the potential grief of having two insurance companies squabble amongst themselves whilst you sit waiting with a wrecked car then by all means just hook up and drive away but why expose yourself to that risk when all it takes is a phone call to your insurer to conclusively establish the position.

Check with your insurer is all I'm saying then which is no more than the standard advice if you have any doubts about anything. If they OK it then you are bomb proof.
[/quote]

Absolutely sterling advice - take it.

[dave21478]

So what about all the companies that hire out trailers every day and those who hire them? Ranging from one-man-band operations up to the national places like Hertz and Loxam.....they all hire trailers from 750kgs up to 3.5 tons and anyone with the right driving licence can hire them. Insurance is included on each trailer and is absolutely nothing to do with the insurance of the car doing the towing.

There are plenty of companies that cover trailers alone and it is as Chancer said - insurance for that trailer and nothing else, and anyone with permission from the owner can tow it.

[Chancer]

On the few occasions that I have towed a legit trailer (borrowed) I have been given the carte grise and the insurance certificate, the insurance has made no mention of  cover being restricted to the subscriber or being towed by a certain vehicle, it was an insurance certificate for the trailer no different to that for my car, it covers the car no matter who is driving.

Looking a bit further maybe it is next to impossible for a particulier to find a seperate insurance for une remorque

http://www.assuralia.be/index.php?id=138&L=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=794&cHash=d75ed7c95b9720d20d0752c3d99aa445

Seemingly if you want to lend out a remorque or caravane heavier than 750kg then you must subscribe to a seperate trailer insurance (so they do exist) http://assuranceremorque.com/ but possibly only for professionals, the guy who lent me his was working on the black though [8-)].

I would say as a borrower, if the lender gives you an insurance certificate for the trailer you have no worries it is insured no matter who or what vehicle is tracting it. If you borrowed one of my trailers for which my vehicle insurance covers and asked me for an insurance certificate I could not give you one, if you borrowed my car and trailer you would be covered.

[AnOther]

Are we guilty of confusing what the law states - i.e. separate insurance required - with an insurance company's policy or T&C's on the matter ?

A rental company will naturally insure their trailers both to protect their property and because the law demands it but that fact cannot absolve you from nor override any T&C's contained in your own car insurance policy so once again all I am saying is check that - don't assume.

[Chancer]

Would that a French insurance company or agent would allow me to even see such rare and valuable artifacts like a policy schedule or terms and conditions, you would think that they were going to go to the gallows for even letting you glimpse at one, taking one away is out of the question.  The muppet at La Banque Postale was the exactly same with the baréme des charges, I had to really push and push and finally a manager, the scruffiest and most uncommunicative that I have ever met led me through the warehouse to the scruffiest office I have ever seen to be priveledged to see the baréme, he went absolutely bananas when I took it with me, I think he was even going to resort to force.

Yet another reason why I only subscribe to the minimum cover legally required, it says that I am covered for a trailer up to 750kg and thats OK by me, I realise that if its one I borrowed (under 750kg gross) and it had a carte grise and its own insurance they might start arguing between themselves in the event of an accident but hey ho, my experience of asking questions of an insurer is that face to face or by the phone they tell you whatever they believe you want to hear to remain with them or for them to sell you something you probably dont need, they will never confirm it in writing or give you any paperwork to back up what they say, if you write to them they just ignore the letter, its the same with my on line insurer, you E-mail them and it juts gets ignored, almost like they dont want to incriminate themselves, in fact for close to 2 years you have not even been able to contact them via the website, that part is "temporarily" out of operation, yeah right! No such problems with the premium rate number where they can say what they want and later deny it, of course were I to do so they would quickly find the recording!!