Trailering 101
Are You Covered?
A word about insurance.
DISCLAIMER: Please check with your individual insurance company
regarding their policies and coverage on trailers and towing. Also you may
wish to check with your states Motor Vehicle Administration for insurance minimums
required for trailers.
How many times have you called your insurance company
informing them you are about to take delivery of a new vehicle and heard the words
"You're Covered." Assuming everything is okay you go pick up your trailer
and head merrily down the road. Or are you? We'll venture to say you haven't heard
the whole story.
From a trailer dealer perspective 99% of the time you are covered to
the extent that the State Law cares. (Please refer to
individual state laws to be sure.) Meaning, if you do damage to someone and
it is caused by the trailer that damage is "usually" covered by the
insurance of the tow vehicle. Well that's fine for the person you hit, but what
about you? Unfortunately, that's the part the insurance company seems to forget to
tell you. And now that XX.XX dollar horse trailer is about to be alot more expensive with
the addition of the money you will be shelling out of your own pocket to fix it.
"But you said I was covered."
So why don't they tell you this? We would like to think that it's
because they just do not realize how expensive horse trailers are since they don't deal
with them on an every day basis. We find that horse trailers, with the bulk ranging
between $7,000 - $15,000, cost less than $100 dollars PER YEAR to fully cover the trailer
(liability, collision, theft, etc...). With
rates like this who wouldn't want to insure their brand new trailer? And yes we did
say $100 PER YEAR. We stress this because many times insurance companies who are not
familiar with horse trailers will quote rates as high as cars. We have urged several
of our customers to question their quotes, in every case the resulting quote was $100 or
less per year. Keep in mind the $100 or less per year rate is pretty typical, but
where you live and your driving record may effect that rate slightly.
So when do you know if your getting the whole story. It has been
our experience that if the insurance company is "fully" covering the trailer
they will ask you for the same type of information as if it were a car, vehicle
identification #, year, make, model, selling price etc... Then based on that information
and the deductibles you agree upon they will give you a quote.
The bottom line, check with your
insurance company and find out what type of insurance and coverage you actually have.
You may be surprised at what you don't have..
Two Side Notes: 1) Don't forget to check with your home owners insurance, or if you have an
all encompassing "umbrella policy." Sometimes these types of policies will
automatically apply some coverage to new additions. BUT CALL THE INSURANCE COMPANY
TO BE SURE, it still may not be enough. 2) We get
asked quite often about "cargo insurance", that seems to be a industry all unto
itself. We did not address it in this article and many times it does not seem to be an
option offered by typical "auto" insurance companies. If you would like it and
can't get it thru your normal insurance you may wish to check with a livestock mortality
insurance company.
Happy Trailering... See you Next Month.
If you have any comments, suggestions or topics for
a "Trailering 101" article we'd be happy to take them. Trailering
education is our goal.
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