Have you ever wondered if travel trailer need insurance? Look no more. We´ve got you covered.
If you are towing a travel trailer on the road, then there is always going to be that added element of risk. As a result, a lot of people wonder whether they need to buy additional insurance in order to cover this added risk.
Before we answer this question, we do want you to bear in mind that we are purely discussing this from an American perspective. This information may not be applicable if you are located outside of the United States!
So, do travel trailers need insurance? Mostly, no. Travel trailers do not need insurance. In the vast majority of cases, a standard car insurance policy will also cover a travel trailer! Travel trailer insurance is designed to cover the gaps that your auto and home insurance policies do not.
However, it is always going to be dependent on the insurance company that you work with and the state that you are located in.
Table of Contents
Do Travel Trailers Need Insurance?
The travel trailer is essentially an extension of the vehicle that you are driving. Only motored vehicles will need to have that insurance to be on the road.
We do want to point out that this only applies if the trailer is for personal use, though. If you are towing a travel trailer for commercial purposes, or you are hauling any other type of trailer for commercial purposes, then your insurance policy will likely not cover it.
Of course, do not take our word as gospel here. If you really want to find out whether you need travel trailer insurance, then look through your policy.
Do you need INSURANCE for a Travel Trailer? >> Check the Video Below:
It should clearly highlight what is included. At some point, it will likely say that you are allowed to attach trailers for personal use only.
If you are still in doubt, then you should talk to your car insurance provider. They will be able to help you out!
Read also: Why is Travel Trailer Insurance Important? [Must-Read]
Will Car Insurance Cover Damage to the Travel Trailer?
Will car insurance cover damage to the travel trailer? Probably not. If your travel trailer causes an accident then, yes, the damage caused by your travel trailer will be covered. If somebody damages your travel trailer while you are on the road then their insurance will cover the damage to your travel trailer.
However, many people have reported that broken-down travel trailers or other sorts of damage have not been covered under their insurance policy. So, do bear that in mind.
Again, this is something that you will likely need to discover from the car insurance policy yourself.
Read also: Does Your Auto Insurance Cover a Travel Trailer? [Updated Rules]
What Will Be Covered?
This is going to be completely dependent on the car insurance policy that you have.
👉 All car insurance policies will have a maximum amount that they will pay out. You will also have an excess that you will need to pay before the insurance ‘kicks in’ i.e. if you need to make a claim.
👉 Your travel trailer insurance policy will cover any damage that you cause to other vehicles on the road. It will also cover any damage that you cause to property.
If you injure somebody, then the travel trailer insurance will also cover their medical expenses.
👉 If somebody damages your vehicle, it is not up to your insurance policy to pay out. It is the insurance policy of the other party. However, your insurance policy may cover you for the interim costs while they try to recover expenses from the other party.
Obviously, this all applies only if you live by the terms of your insurance policy. For example, some insurance policies have a maximum travel trailer that you can pull.
If you go over in terms of height or length, then you may not be covered.
Read also: Is Good Sam RV Insurance Any Good? An Honest Review[Updated]
Does Travel Trailer Insurance Cover the Items in the Travel Trailer?
Does travel trailer insurance cover the items in the travel trailer? No, if somebody else causes damage to your vehicle then, yes, the car insurance cost of the offender will cover any damage to the property inside of the travel trailer.
Of course, this does not mean that you are not covered in other situations. There is a good chance that your home insurance will cover any of the personal items inside of the travel trailer.
Once again, you do need to double-check your home insurance, but most of them will cover the cost of anything traveling outside of your home (up to a certain value!)
Should You Buy Travel Trailer Insurance?
As we said before, you should probably check your insurance policy. There is a strong chance that there will already be some sort of travel trailer insurance included.
That being said, you do have to remember that each state has its own insurance requirements. So, if you are traveling to a different state with your travel trailer, then you need to make sure that you are going to be covered there too.
There are some people that will purchase a bit of extra insurance on their vehicle if they have a travel trailer installed.
So, even if you have a policy that covers your travel trailer being towed, you still may want to find out if there is an additional policy that you are able to obtain.
If there is, you may as well go for it, right? Extra coverage is always a good thing!
The Importance of Electric Brakes on the Travel Trailer for Insurance
If you are towing a travel trailer, then it is important that you look at the laws for the state you are in with regard to brakes on travel trailers. This is because some will require you to have brakes if the travel trailer is over a certain length or weight.
If you do not have brakes on your trailer and they are required, then this could potentially invalidate the insurance that you have.
You may not even be covered for damage to your vehicle when you are towing the travel trailer, even if the travel trailer had nothing to do with the damage caused.
If somebody causes damage to your vehicle and you did not have brakes on the travel trailer, then there is a strong chance that their insurance company will argue that they do not have to pay you anything as you were driving unsafe on the roads.
Read also: What Is The Average Cost To Install Trailer Brake Controller – (Facts & Numbers)
It doesn’t cost that much to get some electric brakes up and running on your travel trailer. Not only is it going to be a whole lot safer having them in place, but you will be able to save yourself a lot of headaches if something does end up going wrong.
Do You Need Separate Insurance to Drive an RV?
If you are planning to drive an RV then, yes, you will need to get a specific insurance policy for the RV.
You will not be covered under general car insurance (some people are generally insured and it doesn’t depend on the vehicle that they are driving)
You will almost certainly need to check the insurance policy here. This is because we have seen some RV insurance policies that do not cover towing travel trailers.
This is because it is a lot riskier to tow a travel trailer while driving an RV than with a normal vehicle.
How Do You Choose an Insurance Company?
Chances are that you do not need to put any effort into choosing an insurance company. This is because it is all going to be covered under your standard car insurance policy.
However, we can still provide you with a few tips that should make finding an insurance company a little bit easier for you if you don’t have one.
Obviously, you should be using comparison search engines for price. This way, you will be able to compare the prices of multiple insurance providers at the same time.
Make sure that you check any reviews before you commit yourself to an insurance policy. Working with an insurance company can be tricky at the best of times, so you want to ensure that you make things as easy as possible for yourself.
Read also: The 4 Best RV Insurance for Full-Timers: A Dollar-Saving Guide
You should always make sure that you know what you are covered for when you get an insurance policy. By now, you should know that you are looking for policies that include travel trailer insurance. However, also look beyond this.
Know exactly what you are going to be covered for in the policy. You need to know if there is anything that you can do to invalidate the insurance policy.
If there is, then you want to make sure that you avoid invalidating it. After all, if you invalidate the policy, you will have to pay for all expenses out of your pocket…this can be millions of dollars in a serious accident.
Conclusion
The chances are low that you will need to purchase a separate travel trailer insurance for driving a travel trailer around.
This is assuming that you are only traveling for recreational purposes. However, as with everything, you cannot take our word for it.
We know that there are some vehicle insurance policies out there that may not cover you towing a travel trailer, so you really will have to dive into the terms and conditions to find out everything.
References
https://goodsamrvinsurance.com/
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