Insurance for bike whilst being towed (1 Viewer)

Mar 2, 2015
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So it seems we've got insurance for our MH and for the bike trailer but the insurers (Saga) won't cover the trailer's contents. Rang our scooter insurers (Hastings Direct) and they said they couldn't cover the bike while it's being towed. So if we have an accident the bike currently isn't insured, at least not while it's being towed behind the MH - does anybody know of any way we can get it covered?
 
OP
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South_Wales_Lady
Mar 2, 2015
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To be honest so have we but that's only because we always assumed we were covered by one insurance or another. It might well come down to having to bear the risk ourselves I guess but just wondered if others had come across this and found a way round it?

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DBK

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It must be the same with a car on a trailer. I am sure cover is possible. You may need to change bike insurers perhaps?
 
Nov 3, 2013
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Hi.
For what its worth,when i rang Comfort in 09' about towing a car (No trailer),i was told by a very nice clued up lady,that it would only be covered as Third Party.
The lady knew her stuff,explaining to me everything that was covered by the m/h insurance from all angles,so at the time,she would have been giving me up to date info.
Tea Bag
 

Charlie

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Your bike should be covered under its own "comprehensive" cover. We tow a Toyota IQ and it is definitely covered for "All risks" whilst being towed.
I checked this with out insurance and they confirmed it in writing which I firmly asked for. Your bike if covered by a comprehensive policy is cover as comprehensive means just that . If they say otherwise and I would check you do not really have comprehensive cover. Trust me it will be covered and I spent much time and effort establishing the exact parameters !

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OP
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South_Wales_Lady
Mar 2, 2015
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Charlie, I totally agree with you that that's as it should be. To be honest, the guy I spoke to at Hastings Direct was very abrupt and didn't want to explore possibilities at all, he told me it wasn't covered and that was that as far as he was concerned. I'm going to ring back and try and speak to someone else and if necessary someone more senior - as was said above, the same surely applies when a car is being towed on a trailer and that can be an even more costly risk, so surely they would be covered by their policies? Watch this space.
 

Jim

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If comprehensive cover was truly comprehensive they wouldn't have pages of exclusions.
 

sallylillian

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As Charlie says the towed vehicle is covered by its own insurance. However when I was towing a car on a trailer I simply insured the car and the trailer as well as the MH all with the same insurer, NFU. On the basis that whatever happened there was only one company in the mix.

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Charlie

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Charlie, I totally agree with you that that's as it should be. To be honest, the guy I spoke to at Hastings Direct was very abrupt and didn't want to explore possibilities at all, he told me it wasn't covered and that was that as far as he was concerned. I'm going to ring back and try and speak to someone else and if necessary someone more senior - as was said above, the same surely applies when a car is being towed on a trailer and that can be an even more costly risk, so surely they would be covered by their policies? Watch this space.

Have a wee read of this thread ? It explains a little about insurance in my experience ?

As a biker since I were tut lad I can say without doubt my machines were covered while being towed or taken to race tracks all over Europe in vans. If a bike fell off a trailer it was covered. If it fell over in the van it was covered. I did literally thousands of miles with my machines in vans or on trailers and they were covered comprehensively without a shadow of a doubt.
With respect your advisor is/was taking from the rear facing orifice . Do what I do. Ask the questions and suffer no more than 2 minutes bull then ask firmly but politely to speak to a senior manager. Do not accept bull or they will baffle you with it !



 
Last edited:
Oct 1, 2013
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Have a wee read of this thread ? It explains a little about insurance in my experience ?

As a biker since I were tut lad I can say without doubt my machines were covered while being towed or taken to race tracks all over Europe in vans. If a bike fell off a trailer it was covered. If it fell over in the van it was covered. I did literally thousands of miles with my machines in vans or on trailers and they were covered comprehensively without a shadow of a doubt.
With respect your advisor is/was taking from the rear facing orifice . Do what I do. Ask the questions and suffer no more than 2 minutes bull then ask firmly but politely to speak to a senior manager. Do not accept bull or they will baffle you with it !
Did the van insurance cover them?
 

Charlie

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Did the van insurance cover them?

Bikes even though track/race bikes were insured under their own right. Comprehensive cover covering all risks with the exception of course of being ridden on tracks where there was zero cover just as you my friend would know. Parking in car parks while in B&Bs i salubrious areas like Cadwell Park or over at the Ring meant I wanted my nikes and kit insured.

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Oct 1, 2013
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Bikes even though track/race bikes were insured under their own right. Comprehensive cover covering all risks with the exception of course of being ridden on tracks where there was zero cover just as you my friend would know. Parking in car parks while in B&Bs i salubrious areas like Cadwell Park or over at the Ring meant I wanted my nikes and kit insured.
How did you insure race bikes?. Only ever had theft cover on mine.

My track bikes were (are) fully comp though.
 

GWAYGWAY

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lets face it is the car or trailer on the back of a van is damaged it has been smashed into from behind, usually If you take care loading and securing it will not come off, it the trailer breaks away then the towing system is faulty and shouldn't. There is little chance of damage unless it is a complete s***cart when the van and trailer are totalled.
 

PhilG

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How did you insure race bikes?. Only ever had theft cover on mine.

My track bikes were (are) fully comp though.

Yup, only ever had theft cover, no one will touch you for damage of any sort.

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Charlie

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How did you insure race bikes?. Only ever had theft cover on mine.

My track bikes were (are) fully comp though.

Errr Just asked mate.. They were insured exactly the same as road bikes except of course use on the track. Of course this goes against what I've said about "comprehensive) cover above but the exception is and was quite obvious. It was NU back then who we insured with
Yup, only ever had theft cover, no one will touch you for damage of any sort.

Why ?? Accidental damage other than that caused on the track was insurable as well as theft. One or two of the mikes were not even ex road bikes but bikes built from the frame up.. So no registration numbers or V5s, we had no problems insuring them from the frame numbers and documentation indicating the build costs which as you guys will know can be massive !
 

Charlie

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How did you insure race bikes?. Only ever had theft cover on mine.

My track bikes were (are) fully comp though.

People insure all sorts of things.. Teeth for example or material items of any kind. Offer the risk cover to an insurer ant they should offer a cost for the risk never had an issue getting cover with the obvious excursions which I fully understood
 
Feb 16, 2013
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To be honest so have we but that's only because we always assumed we were covered by one insurance or another. It might well come down to having to bear the risk ourselves I guess but just wondered if others had come across this and found a way round it?
It's not only the bike you have to think of though , what if it comes off and kills someone at the side of the road, who's going to pay out then.

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OP
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South_Wales_Lady
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It's not only the bike you have to think of though , what if it comes off and kills someone at the side of the road, who's going to pay out then.
Yes that's true. I tried ringing Hastings again and spoke to a very helpful person this time, unfortunately she didn't know the answer herself and there was no-one more senior available at the time. She promised to email the answer but hasn't as yet (this was three hours ago) so I've now emailed them to ask the question again. Lots of deep breaths.
 
Oct 1, 2013
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It's not only the bike you have to think of though , what if it comes off and kills someone at the side of the road, who's going to pay out then.
In 35 years track use, I've never heard of bike falling off a trailer.
 
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There's always a first time especially if you are not insured for it:(

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Geo

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I have posted on this subject many times
Despite Charlie's assurances you should get it in writing.
Most private policies do indeed exclude "Goods in Transit" and that includes motor bikes and toads.
Some like NFU have no problem with it you really do need to check and assume nothing
G

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Charlie

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In 35 years track use, I've never heard of bike falling off a trailer.
Me neither...

But in answer to the question who's going to pay it will be the insurance as they assume the risk. Providing of course the owner has insured cos it he/she hasnt he is A quite mad and B he could lose everything and quite rightly so !
 

Charlie

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I have posted on this subject many times
Despite Charlie's assurances you should get it in writing.
Most private policies do indeed exclude "Goods in Transit" and that includes motor bikes and toads.
Some like NFU have no problem with it you really do need to check and assume nothing
G

Ive said here and in the other close subject on another thread to as for the cover liability in writing. Never take an advisors word for anything !
 

Geo

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I know I read it Charlie. but you also apeared to say that becuase it was fully comp you must be covered, I want to emphasize the fact that is not always the case
Due to competion and attempting to appear competitive many
policies are being trimmed with added exclusions many folk still think with fully comp cover they can drive anothers insured car albeit 3rd party
this too is now restricted and not all fully comp policies include that benefit, as some have found out to their cost when the borrowed car was impounded
and they were proecuted for having no insurance

Polices referred to as fully comp can now be road risks only, and exclude many previously taken for granted benefits

Many have accepted statments from insurers to the effect that they firmly belive that a toad on an A frame is fully covered under their trailer section and towing is OK
And rightly so it proberbly is
BUT were they informed that the max payout for a trailer is 1K 2K ??? any one tried to get an agreed value for the toad as a trailer? say 5k or 6K maybe more
If you did you may have found out that because the now trailer is not a recognised trailer in the tick box section ie Brian James etc it cant be covered at all and is treated as a home built max ÂŁ1k payout
You have been warned and its up to you to ask the right questions not the insures to point out the pitfalls and as Charlie and I have both said get it in writing
G

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The Nomad

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I must agree with Yorick, been a biker for almost 40 years now and cannot recall ever hearing of a motorcycle falling off a trailer. Obviously there is some amount of risk but it's utterly microscopic in comparison to other things I suggest.
 

Minxy

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I must agree with Yorick, been a biker for almost 40 years now and cannot recall ever hearing of a motorcycle falling off a trailer. Obviously there is some amount of risk but it's utterly microscopic in comparison to other things I suggest.
Whilst a bike may not fall off a trailer, trailers themselves can come detached from the towing vehicle, which is a more likely scenario.
 
OP
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South_Wales_Lady
Mar 2, 2015
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Finally got it in writing - well, email - from Hastings:

"We can confirm that your bike will only be covered third party only as it is travelling. Also the trailer will not be covered by your policy."

So basically if we're in an accident and the bike is a write-off or needs expensive repairs then it's up to us. I'm not worried about the bike falling off, that's not going to happen with the way hubby has got it fixed on, and the trailer itself is covered by the motorhome insurance. Reckon I'll go with that for this year at least and then when the bike insurance renewal comes around start asking some more probing questions as to what exactly is covered.

Thanks for all the replies!

Marina

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