Third Party Cover on Caravan Insurance Policies

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 7:34 am

Caravan Insurance intermediaries are often asked why the policies that they arrange exclude third party insurance when the caravan is being towed. The short answer to this is because as there is a legal requirement for a minimum level of third party motor insurance to be in place on the towing vehicle and any trailer that it is towing in a public place. Therefore third party cover must already be provided by your motor insurance policy. Caravan policies typically specifically exclude third party cover while the caravan is attached to a towing vehicle to remove any possibility of misunderstanding or possible dispute.

A longer explanation may help caravan owners to understand the law and why insurers exclude third party insurance from a caravan when it is attached to a towing vehicle.

accident Third Party Cover on Caravan Insurance Policies There is an important a legal requirement in the UK for a minimum level of motor insurance and if you are towing a caravan or trailer then your towing vehicle must have third party motor insurance and that insurance must cover you for towing the caravan in a public place. This does not mean that all motor policies must offer this type of cover for towing, what it means is that you must ensure that cover is in place for towing before you tow your caravan. When you attach a caravan or in fact any trailer to a motor vehicle, in legal and insurance terms, that caravan or trailer has become part of the towing vehicle. Any damage the vehicle or caravan does to a third party must be insured under your motor insurance policy. Since you absolutely must have third party motor insurance in place which covers the towing of a caravan your caravan must by definition have third party insurance provided by that policy. It is therefore to your advantage for your caravan insurers to make it absolutely plain that your motor insurance and only your motor insurance is to provide third party cover while your car is attached to the caravan.

Motor Insurance is a special type of insurance because of these minimum requirements and it has to be registered on the MID (motor insurance database) which is used by the Police to instantly check insurance details logged against a vehicle registration number.

Some people worry that all of this means that they only have third party cover for their caravan when it is being towed. If you don't have any caravan insurance then this is the case but if you have comprehensive caravan insurance, which includes accidental damage, and you are involved in an accident then you would claim against your caravan policy for damage to the caravan. If there is a third party involved the caravan insurer may decide that fault may lie with the other party and seek to recover the cost of the accidental damage claim from them. In this situation, if fault is established, it is relatively easy for you to recover any excess that you have paid from the person who is at fault. If you are at fault your caravan insurer would still deal with your accidental damage claim for the caravan but any claim for any damage your caravan did to a third party would be dealt with by your motor insurer.

Since it is a legal requirement for you to have third party insurance to tow a caravan it is essential that you check that your motor insurance does in fact provide this cover. It is unusual for a motor insurance policy to not include towing cover but some categories of insurance are more likely to exclude it. For example motor fleet policies may exclude it and if your car is provided by your employer you may have to ask them to add towing cover for your car. Whatever the case it is up to you to ensure that you have insurance to tow before you hitch up your caravan and take it into a public place.

Driving without insurance is a relatively serious motoring offence and you may be prosecuted for this offence if you are stopped while towing and your motor policy does not cover you to tow your caravan. It is easy to make sure that you are fully insured to tow your caravan. Just check with your motor insurer and make sure that you buy comprehensive caravan insurance like that provided by Caravanwise.

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