Insurance Gap

 No, not really. LV sent me a pdf copy of the Document of Insurance yesterday.

This doesn't say that I am covered to tow a caravan, but it does tell me that I'm not covered to two tow caravans at once, so perhaps by implication that means I am covered to tow just one caravan. 

The more I read the more confused I am becoming.

Can of worms you've opened up there 😮😉. Don't tow myself but the implications are great if you're reading it properly! We've used LV for years and reckon they offer good cover possibly pricey. But insurance needs to cover you for a claim! Certainly the couple of claims we've made have been sorted quickly and with it hassle on car, home and travel.

It would appear that towing anything with any vehicle could be an issue. Where next seems to be 'our' expect from what he writes. 

I agree.

All I require from LV is a simple, clear statement - Yes, you are covered would be nice. 

I shall write to them and ask again to see if I can get any sense out of them. My feeling is that I am covered but I now really would like to see it confirmed in writing by LV. 

Just as a matter of interest I telephones the LV= asking for a quote but telling them that I wanted to clarify a point. Went through the details of towing and made sure that the operative understood that I wasn't talking about damage to the caravan but merely about damage or injury to Third Party.

He initially said there was no cover as soon as it became detached. When I pointed out the relevant sections and asked him further questions it quickly became obvious that he was out of his comfort zone and referred "Upwards". He then came back and confirmed that my view on the matter was correct. Obviously the call was terminated by me soon afterwards.

They really can't expect NOT to pick up the cover. If your bike fell off your car and caused a huge pile up behind you on the motorway who do they think would pick up the bill? The household insurers? No way. It's a motoring incident. Same with a trailer, which half of the time doesn't even have separate insurance on it. It's a motoring incident if flies off the car when going down a road. Same with a caravan, and it's not actually compulsory to have insurance on the van anyway. It's a motoring incident!

Your best bet to set your mind at ease is to get them to confirm it writing but believe me your liability is covered by the policy.

Thanks Wherenext. 

When I telephoned LV I asked the same question as you and initially got the same reply of "no cover". I asked the operative to check the point with their manager while I was left on hold for a minute. He then returned and confirmed his first response of "no cover". 

As I said earlier I suspect that I am covered and the problem lies with poor training of LV's call centre staff but I'm still uneasy.

I shall write to them but it would have been nice to have early clarification.

Not worth replying too!

Interestingly everyone refers to the name of the insurers. When you've found a decent insurer then we all should be in a position to refer to the name of the persons within the insurerswho you always deal with.

NFU Mutual have an office no more than 13 miles from any of us in England. Local service local person and a policy that is as good as the best and better than most. Their policy cover caravans which accidently detach themselves from the towing vehicle.

New for old on motorhomes for first two years from new and i think 4 to five years for caravans. Any problems then you just call your local office on a local number and talk to the same person each time who get to know you.

The insurers are required to give the cover stipulated by the Road Traffic Act. Any damage caused by a trailer becoming detached has to be covered by the policy and if the caravan becomes detached while traveling on the road the cars policy covers it. I can only think the person you spoke to was not fully trained or made a mistake. As the person handling these claims before I retired I can confirm we dealt with them. To be fare to them they may have misunderstood the question but if not and they did not know they should have sought guidance. If you have any doubts write and get it in black and white.

The car policy only comes off cover if you or someone else deliberately unhitches the caravan.

Thank you.

I share your view but since the documents do appear to disown a detached caravan I have sort clarification since I have little working knowledge of the Road Traffic Act other than it's existance.

I have now raised the question with the insurance company in writing and when I receive their reply I will copy it here. 

LV have responded to my email commendably quickly considering that it's a holiday weekend.

My questions are in italics:

A) Am I insured to tow my caravan? 

The caravan/trailer you are towing will be covered third party only whilst attached to the vehicle.

B) In the event of the caravan becoming accidently detached from my car and causing injury to a third party am I covered against claims from the third party?

We will cover the damage caused to other vehicles/third parties, arising from an accident caused by the caravan becoming detached from any towing vehicles. For any other claims, if found negligent in a court of law then we will provide cover for this.

...............

So that's sorted, I hope I never put it to the test.