Who Insures The Toad While Towing?

[Cass Sumrall]

Which policy, my auto insurance or my RV insurance should cover my toad while being towed?

Is it a seperate rider or should it be somewhere in the policy?

 

[driftless shifter]

Good question. I'm in Mass. Have asked this question of my agent as I have had a boat trailer and a toad at same time.
  In Mass a trailer is covered by the vehicle you use as tow vehicle. There is/was no extra charge for trailer on tow vehicle insurance, trailer registration application needs to be officially stamped by ins. agency. You can tow your trailer with any vehicle capable and it is covered by your primary tow vehicle insurance. Even if you loan it to a friend. Toad insurance was another story. Everybody within earshot of my question looked up and a discussion began. Three junior agents and one of two partners. Second partner was called over, 4 to one claimed toad car was insured by it's own insurance as it is fully registered and insured to be on the road. Both partners, with decades of experience, and 2 juniors supported this opinion. There was no extra charge on the toad ins. at the time either.

It isn't really a toad either. It is a very fast VW dune buggy with the ability to grenade transmissions and cv joints. I wanted to be able to drag it home and swap tranny's in my garage instead the road side. Built it 9 years ago, 3 tranny's and a few cv's later I figured out how to stop breaking it.

I would ask this question of your ins. agent.

 

[yolo]

My MH and towed are on the same Geico policy, so hopefully it will be covered.

 

[Ned]

When we had an accident and totaled our Ford Ranger, the loss was covered by the Ranger insurance policy.  It made no difference that it was being towed at the time.

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    As driftless implies above, Insurance rules are governed by each State/Province, and your coverage/requirements would be based on where you have them registered.  However, last spring when we were "hit and runned", we had to treat the Coach and Toad as 2 separate units with 2 separate collision claims.  OTOH, I've been told that the Liability portion would be that of the Motorhome, so if the toad damages someone else, it is the MH's coverage that pays.  But that is as based in Nova Scotia.

Ed

 

[Wizard46]

With my Insurance Co. in Georgia, the towing vehicle covers whatever you are towing. Others may be different.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Damage done TO the toad while underway is covered by the toads own policy (collision and comprehensive). Damage done BY the toad while being towed is covered under the tow vehicle's liability policy, i.e. it is a considered a trailer(for insurance purposes) while being towed. But if it broke away from the tow vehicle and caused damage, it would probably revert to its own liability coverage as the primary.

 

[John From Detroit]

If the insurance companies have their way, neither policy,  A car in tow should be covered by the tow vehicle, same as if it were a trailer, However it's never that easy.

Best plan is to have both vehicles with the same carrier and thus the question is answered easily.


I used to work for a tow company (For a couple of years) When a customer claimed we had damaged his car we told him to turn it in to HIS insurance.. Fact is by law, if we damaged it, we were liable and it should have been our insurance.. But what usually happens is that if there is more than one company involved,, You turn it into the company that covers the towed and they get together with the other company and work it out without you being involved.

 

[mike and pat]

Gary has his facts straight. The toad is part of the MH for liability purposes but not for damage to the toad itself.

If you were towing a toad without comprehensive or colision and it was being towed by the motorhome and there was an incident then there would be no coverage for the damage to the toad but if the toad struck another vehicle or object while being towed by the motorhome then the motorhome liability policy would handle the damages to that vehicle or object.

 

[Pierat]

What Gary said. Our towed CR-V was hit-and-run, while hooked up, about a year ago, and the CR-V policy covered the repairs. (We don't know what happened, it was just a mess when we came out and looked at it.)