Insurance Gap
I'm in the process of renewing my insurance cover on my caravan. I note that neither the CCC or CMC policies cover third party damage whilst the caravan is being towed. I've checked with my car insurer who confirms that I have cover from them whilst the caravan is attached to my car.
The "attached" bit bothered me so I asked what would be the situation if the caravan became detached whilst I was towing and caused damage to a third party. Their view is that the moment the caravan became detached then their liability will cease.
Does that mean my unattached but still moving caravan is uninsured or does liability then revert to my caravan's insurer?
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Yes that is spelled out as correct under the terms of my own caravan insurance and also for Caravan insurance via this Club. Best read the small print for others.
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Liverpool and Victoria who tell me that once the caravan becomes detached from the tow car then their cover ceases.
Such an event is specifically excluded from the club's policy which suggests that there is a gap in our Public Liability cover which is worrying me.
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I don't think you have a gap in third party liability. As I said earlier today, provided you have caravan insurance that takes over that liability to third parties once your caravan is detached.
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Actually this is wrong.
Your motor insurers will be held responsible for any Third Party Liability if anything becomes detached from your car and causes injury or damage to Third Party property or persons. This includes a trailer, a roof box, a caravan, or any part of your own vehicle.
Where I think LV= are confusing you is that they are assuming the caravan is detached and therefore your caravan policy will pick up the liability cover but whilst attached to your vehicle and becoming detached in transit it will be part of your motor policy.
The moment you voluntarily detach the caravan the cover under your motor policy will cease and be picked up by your caravan insurance.
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I've just checked the LV= policy and the only exclusion relates to damage to the caravan or trailer itself not to other parties, so you are covered.
I would seriously suggest you return to LV= and ask them the question again, making absolutely sure they understand that you are only talking about the caravan becoming detached whilst towing and causing damage.
I underwrote, sold, and dealt with claims for clients for decades. I even had my own car insured with LV= for a few years and believe me they wouldn't have a 5* Defacto rating by excluding this cover.
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Thanks, that is what I expected but after a long telephone conversation they were quite certain that their liability ceases the moment the caravan becomes detached even when the rig is moving.
I asked them forward a copy of the policy documents to me as I have lost the original. They said the would do so this afternoon but so far nothing has arrived so it looks like I will have to pester them tomorrow.
I would like written confirmation from them that I am covered having raised the matter.
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No, not really. LV sent me a pdf copy of the Document of Insurance yesterday.
This doesn't say that I am covered to tow a caravan, but it does tell me that I'm not covered to two tow caravans at once, so perhaps by implication that means I am covered to tow just one caravan.
The more I read the more confused I am becoming.
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Can of worms you've opened up there 😮😉. Don't tow myself but the implications are great if you're reading it properly! We've used LV for years and reckon they offer good cover possibly pricey. But insurance needs to cover you for a claim! Certainly the couple of claims we've made have been sorted quickly and with it hassle on car, home and travel.
It would appear that towing anything with any vehicle could be an issue. Where next seems to be 'our' expect from what he writes.
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I agree.
All I require from LV is a simple, clear statement - Yes, you are covered would be nice.
I shall write to them and ask again to see if I can get any sense out of them. My feeling is that I am covered but I now really would like to see it confirmed in writing by LV.
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Just as a matter of interest I telephones the LV= asking for a quote but telling them that I wanted to clarify a point. Went through the details of towing and made sure that the operative understood that I wasn't talking about damage to the caravan but merely about damage or injury to Third Party.
He initially said there was no cover as soon as it became detached. When I pointed out the relevant sections and asked him further questions it quickly became obvious that he was out of his comfort zone and referred "Upwards". He then came back and confirmed that my view on the matter was correct. Obviously the call was terminated by me soon afterwards.
They really can't expect NOT to pick up the cover. If your bike fell off your car and caused a huge pile up behind you on the motorway who do they think would pick up the bill? The household insurers? No way. It's a motoring incident. Same with a trailer, which half of the time doesn't even have separate insurance on it. It's a motoring incident if flies off the car when going down a road. Same with a caravan, and it's not actually compulsory to have insurance on the van anyway. It's a motoring incident!
Your best bet to set your mind at ease is to get them to confirm it writing but believe me your liability is covered by the policy.
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Thanks Wherenext.
When I telephoned LV I asked the same question as you and initially got the same reply of "no cover". I asked the operative to check the point with their manager while I was left on hold for a minute. He then returned and confirmed his first response of "no cover".
As I said earlier I suspect that I am covered and the problem lies with poor training of LV's call centre staff but I'm still uneasy.
I shall write to them but it would have been nice to have early clarification.
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Interestingly everyone refers to the name of the insurers. When you've found a decent insurer then we all should be in a position to refer to the name of the persons within the insurerswho you always deal with.
NFU Mutual have an office no more than 13 miles from any of us in England. Local service local person and a policy that is as good as the best and better than most. Their policy cover caravans which accidently detach themselves from the towing vehicle.
New for old on motorhomes for first two years from new and i think 4 to five years for caravans. Any problems then you just call your local office on a local number and talk to the same person each time who get to know you.
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The insurers are required to give the cover stipulated by the Road Traffic Act. Any damage caused by a trailer becoming detached has to be covered by the policy and if the caravan becomes detached while traveling on the road the cars policy covers it. I can only think the person you spoke to was not fully trained or made a mistake. As the person handling these claims before I retired I can confirm we dealt with them. To be fare to them they may have misunderstood the question but if not and they did not know they should have sought guidance. If you have any doubts write and get it in black and white.
The car policy only comes off cover if you or someone else deliberately unhitches the caravan.
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Thank you.
I share your view but since the documents do appear to disown a detached caravan I have sort clarification since I have little working knowledge of the Road Traffic Act other than it's existance.
I have now raised the question with the insurance company in writing and when I receive their reply I will copy it here.
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LV have responded to my email commendably quickly considering that it's a holiday weekend.
My questions are in italics:
A) Am I insured to tow my caravan?
The caravan/trailer you are towing will be covered third party only whilst attached to the vehicle.
In the event of the caravan becoming accidently detached from my car and causing injury to a third party am I covered against claims from the third party?We will cover the damage caused to other vehicles/third parties, arising from an accident caused by the caravan becoming detached from any towing vehicles. For any other claims, if found negligent in a court of law then we will provide cover for this.
...............
So that's sorted, I hope I never put it to the test.
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It's obvious that those on the other end of the phone are ill train to deviate very far from their script. On getting insurance quotes one year for my car I was told that I had £so much for this & £so much for that and a max of £500 for car radio/stereo. I asked what if my factory fit radio was more than £500, knowing full well that it was, & was told that £500 was the maximum, no matter whether it was standard factory fit or from Halfords/etc.
I subsequently e-mailed them &, like dmiller, received the obvious answer ...... it would be covered if it was standard factory fit and they would be having a re-training programme.
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