veracocha Posted January 17 Posted January 17 I am about to kit out the car for a towbar and trailer to cut down on the motorway miles when going to Scotland to tour. Being me, looking at the worst that can happen I thought "what if the trailer unhinged/turned over" whatever. Would you have to claim on the car insurance or the motorcycle insurance in the event of an incident. No doubt the insurer would play ping pong over who's policy would pay out. Anyone ever been in this situation? Quote
Fiddlesticks Posted January 17 Posted January 17 Just declare the towbar to the insurance company or they'll not pay out at all. 5 Quote
Hairsy Posted January 17 Posted January 17 My immediate answer is the car insurance. But you got me thinking. Ask the car insurer and tell them that it will be a road-insured bike. I'd be interested to hear. 3 Quote
Capt Sisko Posted January 17 Posted January 17 (edited) Your car insurance policy will typically only cover third-party damage cause by the trailer or as a result of something falling off the trailer, and, only whilst the trailer is attached to the car, (or was, as you said if it became unhinged / turned over). This means if your trailer damages another vehicle or property your insurance should cover the other person's costs, but it doesn't normally cover what's in/on the trailer; in this case your motorcycle. If you want cover for theft or damage to what's in/on or for the actual trailer itself, then you need separate cover. Even then, if you have fully comp on the bike I would doubt very much that any standard road based policy will cover damage when in effect the bike is 'cargo'. Edited January 18 by Capt Sisko 2 Quote
Bender Posted January 17 Posted January 17 As above, towbar is a modification to your car so make sure you start by adding it to your insurance, some companies will simply not offer insurance for a modified car and that includes a towbar, if your with one of those they will void your insurance... There are trailer specific insurers I don't think things like that come up on comparison sites, you need to Google, as for the trailer load being covered no idea. 2 Quote
Capt Sisko Posted January 17 Posted January 17 Can be done and if this lot do it, so will others. https://www.bikesure.co.uk/motorcycle-trailer-insurance/ 1 Quote
veracocha Posted January 17 Author Posted January 17 25 minutes ago, Capt Sisko said: Can be done and if this lot do it, so will others. https://www.bikesure.co.uk/motorcycle-trailer-insurance/ Funnily enough it was Bikesure who called me today when I ran a quote through for my next bike. I'll give them a call. 2 Quote
veracocha Posted January 17 Author Posted January 17 5 hours ago, Fiddlesticks said: Just declare the towbar to the insurance company or they'll not pay out at all. Yes, but which one. Car insurer or bike? Quote
Capt Sisko Posted January 17 Posted January 17 37 minutes ago, veracocha said: Yes, but which one. Car insurer or bike? The car insurer. Once the bike is loaded onto the trailer it becomes cargo. It's the same with if it's transported in a van. This is part of the reason why some people have had problems transporting bikes to EU land. If you ride it that's fine, on a trailer or in a van it's suddenly 'goods' and that's been causing all sorts of tax & duty problems, particularly for unregistered track bike. 3 Quote
RideWithStyles Posted January 18 Posted January 18 (edited) So if your bike gets stolen or damaged while it’s on a trailer transported by you, more than likely you’ll have to claim off the bikes policy. Unless your car/van has goods or vehicle transportation cover…which can start to get expensive and restricted. similar if you run a transport/ repair/ garage/ race setup. if you intend to do it very regularly and with costly bikes it’s not so bad. Edited January 18 by RideWithStyles Autocorrect 1 Quote
JRH Posted January 18 Posted January 18 Also if you have a breakdown/recovery policy on the car check that it covers trailers. 2 Quote
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