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. (Or whenever
we feel like something needs to be said.)
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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