As a woman of a certain age I think I may be losing brain cells because I can't quite get my head round the business of insuring our folding camper. Does the liability of towing on the roads come under the car insurance or the camper insurance and is the camper itself never covered whilst being towed? Do the different companies differ on this point?
Could some knowledgeable person please explain this to me - I want to know I have it right!
Your car insurance covers any damage caused in an accident to the third party, but obviously if you write off your camper you will need insurance to cover that, or if it's stolen etc. You need to inform your car insurance that you are towing, as a towbar is counted as a modification unless it was factory fitted.
Quote: Originally posted by RosieBlue on 08/7/2011
Thanks - I would never have thought about the towbar being a modification! My hubby is finding the documents to ring the insurers now.
I will be interested to know if this is the case because when I had a towbar fitted and asked the insurance company if they needed to know I was going to tow a caravan they told me that my normal car insurance already covered me for towing and they didn't really need to be told.
I no longer have a caravan but I obviously still have the towbar but I have never seen anything in subsequent insurance applications that suggests I should tell them I have a towbar.
Same here, I've had at least one insurance company say that they cannot insure the car since it has been modified even though the towbar was fitted by kia. Also had other companies who have said that my towbar is not classed as a modification. On a similar note OH has had his brakes on his MG TF up-rated and this is also classed as a modification and has resulted in an increase in his insurance eventhough he can now stop quickly.
------------- Joanne
May - Peak District
June - MG Live Silverstone
August/Sept - Salou
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You need to inform your car insurance that you are towing, as a towbar is counted as a modification unless it was factory fitted.
Some insurers will expect you to let them know of any modification from standard build. So even if you spec a new car with tow-bar (or leather seats for example) then you should let them know.
Once bitten in my case when my car was stolen and the inside trashed. Insurance would only replace the factory fit leather seats with standard cloth as that was the standard. I had to pay a lot extra to get the seats correctly replaced.
I'm with churchill and when my husband bought a new car, I had the old one, and just mentioned I would be towing with it and I was asked if it was factory fitted, which it was, otherwise she said it comes under a modification.. Perhaps people should check their insurance, as it's so easy for them to reject a claim because you haven't told them something.
I have always "tried" to inform my insurance companies about the fitting of the tow-bar but to date none have been interested in classing this as a modification.