Towing a caravan - special insurance needed?

[Peter C]

I'm getting a tow bar for my W123 and I may buy a cheap caravan for pikey fun.

 

Do I need special insurance to tow a caravan?

 

I'm sure my licence covers me to drive a car towing a caravan.

[anonymous user]

You need to check whether you have cover for towing on your car, it's not automatically on your policy. You would also be wise to have a separate policy for the caravan, for third party claims, should it no longer be affixed to your car, also the usual fire/theft if you are worried about it being stolen or going up in flames.

[mercrocker]

Plus one on the seperate cover - even for a cheap caravan as the gear in it will probably be worth a bit.   In my experience across five insurance companies, none have excluded towing a caravan - even the classic policies but it is only TP cover regardless of your car level of cover.   Might be worth joining one of the caravan or camping clubs to get their insurance discounts, unpalatable though that might be.    

 

Check that licence! 

[stripped fred]

I've owned my caravan for 8 years and I've never insured it. It's not worth much and I don't keep anything expensive in it. I did have one accident while towing and it was my fault. My policy paid out in full and I repaired the caravan with some mastic and gorilla tape for an invisible* repair. If it's just a cheapo caravan I really wouldn't bother. Just make sure it has a decent lock.

[Peter C]

Cheers guys.

[taxi paul]

Tell your insurance company you are fitting a towbar. Inly because some can class I has a modification. I know stupid but.

[Guest Lord Sward]

Tell your insurance company you are fitting a towbar. Inly because some can class I has a modification. I know stupid but.

 

What he said.  

[Stroller133]

If you passed your test before 97 your licence should be fine. After 97 there is a max train weight of 3500kg which is the max weight of car and Max weight of caravan/trailer not the actual weight. I think the trailer can't weigh anymore than 100% of the unladen weight of the car too.

 

Most insurers will class towbar as Mod, but not charge extra for it. So its much better to declare it. If you don't I suspect it presence could be used to lower payout or even void the insurance?

Auto aid is good breakdown cover, they include the caravan whilst it's being towed and will recover* it along with the car. *only from T&Cs, not actually used this service!

[colnerov]

If you passed your test before 97 your licence should be fine. After 97 there is a max train weight of 3500kg which is the max weight of car and Max weight of caravan/trailer not the actual weight. I think the trailer can't weigh anymore than 100% of the unladen weight of the car too.

 

Most insurers will class towbar as Mod, but not charge extra for it. So its much better to declare it. If you don't I suspect it presence could be used to lower payout or even void the insurance?

Auto aid is good breakdown cover, they include the caravan whilst it's being towed and will recover* it along with the car. *only from T&Cs, not actually used this service!

 

 Yes and no. A pre '97 licence is OK, a post '97 licence you will need to take a separate trailer test to tow. You will be looking for 'BE' or 'B+E' on your licence. Your car should have a plate with front and rear axle weights, gross vehicle weight and gross train weight. The manufacturer will have a maximum trailer weight you can tow. Do not exceed any of these weights because if stopped by DVSA they will not let you proceed any further until corrected. Only a small number of  vehicles are legally allowed to have a GTW of 3500kgs so be careful. I don't know how old your vehicle is but if it doesn't have the GTW then it's not authorised to tow.

 

 Colin

[Peter C]

Again, thank you.

 

I will certainly tell my insurance company about the towbar although it won't be a permanent mod.

[fairkens]

You should tell them about the towbar but they won't use it as an excuse not to pay out on a claim

[doobietoo]

If your car was registered after 1st August 1998 you must have an EU approved and marked tow bar.

 

Ah W123 no problem then...

Edited May 13, 2016 by doobietoo

[Mr A Lawrence]

Remember the "85% rule".

 

Caravan mustn't exceed 85% of the cars kurb weight.

[Peter C]

No worries, a W123 Merc is a heavyweight!

[tapir]

Auto aid is good breakdown cover, they include the caravan whilst it's being towed and will recover* it along with the car. *only from T&Cs, not actually used this service!

Just a quick note, auto aid have recently been sold so no guarantee the service will continue to be as good,

[oldcars]

I use start rescue. They to will recover the van if there is issues with the car. If the faults on the van then they wont.

[colnerov]

Remember the "85% rule".

 

Caravan mustn't exceed 85% of the cars kurb weight.

 

 Hi, This is not relevant nowadays, This was a caravan club recommendation back in the day. Towing weights are a lot more precisely defined now.

 

 Colin

[Stroller133]

Yes and no. A pre '97 licence is OK, a post '97 licence you will need to take a separate trailer test to tow.

 

Colin

Sorry you only need to take the trailer test if you want to tow above 3500kg. Pre 97 can drive an outfit upto 8250kg.

 

Below is from gov.uk:

 

Licences issued from 1 January 1997

If you passed your car driving test between 1 January 1997 and 18 January 2013, you can:

 

drive a car or van up to 3,500kg MAM towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM

tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg

You have to pass the car and trailer driving test if you want to tow anything heavier.

[Stroller133]

Yes and no. A pre '97 licence is OK, a post '97 licence you will need to take a separate trailer test to tow.

 

Colin

Sorry you only need to take the trailer test if you want to tow above 3500kg. Pre 97 can drive an outfit upto 8250kg.

 

Below is from gov.uk:

 

Licences issued from 1 January 1997

If you passed your car driving test between 1 January 1997 and 18 January 2013, you can:

 

drive a car or van up to 3,500kg MAM towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM

tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg

You have to pass the car and trailer driving test if you want to tow anything heavier.

[Guest Lord Sward]

 Hi, This is not relevant nowadays, This was a caravan club recommendation back in the day. Towing weights are a lot more precisely defined now.

 

 Colin

 

 

Good luck if you exceed this rule and tow any distance or in any adverse weather. Or on any poor surface.  Unless you've something like a TDV8 Range-Rover in which case 4+ tonnes is no effort.

[Mr A Lawrence]

Hi, This is not relevant nowadays, This was a caravan club recommendation back in the day. Towing weights are a lot more precisely defined now.

 

 Colin

 

Case in point.......

 

An old next door neighbour of mine took a shine to my caravan a few years ago and, like me had a diesel freelander.

 

He informed me one day that he'd put a deposit down on a large twin axle caravan, when I asked what it was he told me and I looked it up.

 

It had a MTPLM of 1850kgs!!

 

When I told him this he said the freelander can pull 2000kg.

 

He didn't know what the 85% rule was.

 

I understand what your saying but I bet 99% of caravan accidents are down to mismatched outfits.

[warninglight]

I've found stability has much more to do with the trailer or caravan being correctly loaded and in good condition. Tyre pressures, brake condition, nose height and weight all make a huge difference.

 

The 85% rule seems to cause more confusion on the web than anything else, I've often seen it trotted out as a law in discussions.

 

I passed my test in 2008 so did the further B+E test in 2014 (Something like £420 all in for a 2 day session including the test in instructors car with suitable trailer). Now I have that, I can pull 3500kg behind my 2185kg Disco TD5.

 

There's no excuse for incorrectly loaded caravans IMO, it takes very little to stick the bathroom scales under the jockey wheel and move awnings, bikes etc. around inside to get the weight right. Bit more difficult to shuffle a dead automatic 4x4 an inch or two on my twin axle but equally important!

[Richard]

It was easier with the old caravans that told you what to do.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewqFwt1IJj4