The Trailer Is Not Automatically Covered

Hitch a trailer to your car and you have created two insurance questions: what happens if the trailer causes harm, and what happens if the trailer is damaged or stolen. The answers are usually different, and the second one surprises people.

Liability generally extends

Most personal auto policies extend your liability coverage to a trailer while it is attached to a covered vehicle. If the trailer swings into another car, that is generally handled as part of your auto liability.

What "trailer" means in the policy definition matters — utility trailers and small boat trailers are commonly contemplated; large travel trailers and fifth wheels frequently are not, or are handled by a different form. Read the definition or ask.

The trailer itself usually is not covered

Physical damage coverage attaches to listed vehicles. A trailer you did not list is not a listed vehicle, so comprehensive and collision on your truck do nothing for the trailer if it is stolen off the driveway or destroyed on the road.

The fix is to schedule the trailer on the policy, or to insure it separately. Ask specifically:

• Can this trailer be listed on my auto policy, and at what value?
• Does the coverage apply while it is detached and parked?
• Is a separate policy the better route for this type?

What is inside it is a third question

Contents are generally not auto coverage. Tools, equipment, camping gear or goods in a trailer usually fall under homeowners, renters or a commercial policy, each with its own limits and deductible. For work tools in particular, the personal-lines limits are often much lower than the value being carried — a genuinely common gap.

Rented and borrowed trailers

A rented trailer from a moving company introduces a rental agreement with its own damage terms and its own coverage offer at the counter. Do not assume your auto policy covers damage to their trailer; ask before you sign, and read what the rental agreement makes you responsible for.

Borrowing a friend's trailer sits between the two: your liability generally extends while towing, and damage to their trailer is a matter for their coverage and your conversation with them.

Towing something that carries people or earns money

Two situations change the analysis entirely. Trailers used in a business or trade point toward commercial coverage rather than a personal auto endorsement. And travel trailers used as accommodation have their own product, because the exposure is closer to a dwelling than to a box on wheels.

Before the trip

One call to your carrier: describe the trailer, its value, what it carries and how often you tow. Ten minutes now beats discovering the shape of the coverage from a claims adjuster in a lay-by.

Tell us what you tow and we will check how your policy handles it.