Memorial Day weekend is fast approaching which means the roads and highways leading to the Cape, NH and Maine will be loaded with vehicles pulling trailers hauling boats, waverunners, ATVs, dirt bikes, horses, and anything else you can think of. If you are one of the thousands pulling a trailer do you know how your insurance works?
In MA it is fairly straightforward. For the purposes of this blog I am talking solely about people towing property for their personal enjoyment. I am not including people hauling things for work. That may be a subject of another blog. Assuming the trailer is being used for personal enjoyment the trailer will share the liability limits of the vehicle that is pulling it. That means if the pulling vehicle has a property damage limit of $100,000 the trailer will share that limit. It does not mean the trailer has $100,000 and the vehicle has another $100,000. It means the two combined have $100,000 to share. If the pulling vehicle has the minimum limit of $5,000 then they will share that. The same is true with Bodily Injury to Others (Parts 1 &5). The pulling vehicle and trailer will share the limit. There is no additional charge for this.
What if you don’t own the trailer? It doesn’t matter. The MA policy extends liability coverage to any trailer you are pulling with a covered vehicle.
Physical damage coverage, like Collision and Comprehensive, do not automatically extend. In order to get this coverage the trailer must be listed on the policy and a premium shown on the policy.
Travel trailers that serve as summer homes are not covered by the MA auto policy while they are being used as a residence or premises. So if you haul your travel trailer up to a Maine campground for the summer every year the auto policy will cover the trailer while you have it on the road but you will need a specialty product once the trailer is settled.
If you have any questions on trailers or your auto policy in general please call us at 800-559-5553 or email me at jolson@ColumbiaInsuranceAgency.net. I hope you all have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend.