Towing a track car - Insurance needed?

Hammyman

If he passed his test after 1/1/1997 he'll find that his driving licence doesn't actually allow him to tow that trailer without taking a Category B+E test. If he was stopped by the Police or VOSA, he would be prosecuted for basically driving without a licence.

rev_henry

Is this a trailer with the car completely on it, or a dolly with the back wheels of the car trailing behind? If the track car has no wheels in contact with the public roads then he doesn't need anything. If any wheels are in contact with the road, as with a dolly, it will need insurance, tax and MOT, iirc.

dacouch

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Not all policies. Some specifically exclude trailer cover, even the legal minimum, in certain circumstances. Admiral and Elephant are companies that spring to mind

You must be miss reading part of their policy as both Insurers you mention specifically cover attached trailers for third party only cover.


Elephant

"Section 3: Liability to
other people
1a. Driving your car
We will cover you for everything you are legally liable to pay due to an accident in your car or an attached trailer and:"

http://www.elephant.co.uk/policyDocs/EL51%200610%20Policy%20Booklet.pdf page 9

Admiral

"We will cover you for everything you are legally liable to pay resulting from an accident in your car or an attached trailer"

http://www.admiral.com/policyDocs/ADM.pdf page 13

optimus_primera

rev_henry wrote: »

Is this a trailer with the car completely on it, or a dolly with the back wheels of the car trailing behind? If the track car has no wheels in contact with the public roads then he doesn't need anything. If any wheels are in contact with the road, as with a dolly, it will need insurance, tax and MOT, iirc.

Incorrect. if only 2 wheels on the public highway,then tax and mot not required. if all four wheels on the rd, ie towed on a rope/bar, then tax and mot needed.

Bear in mind that 'A frames' are not legal to use if nobody is sat in the towed vehicle, as its then classed as an unbraked trailer as it weighs over 750 kg ......

bunking_off

A different application, but I can answer these questions as I've towed a car behind my motorhome both on an a-frame and trailer.

1) With the car on the trailer, you're covered by the towing vehicle insurance, but only 3rd party. This includes Admiral (I know because I used to be insured with them). You will, however, find it very difficult to get fully comp cover for the track car while on the trailer. OP doesn't say whether this is needed, but if so you'll need to consult specialist brokers.

2) It is illegal to tow using a dolly arrangement (only rear wheels of towed car on road), other than for breakdown recovery purposes.

3) Proper A-frames (all 4 wheels on ground, typically used in motorhome applications) are legal, but the brakes on the towed car must be operable. This is because if a trailer has brakes, they must work. On small cars as typically towed by motorhomes this can be accommodated via over-run arrangements, but on larger vehicles where servo assistance is material, it may not be. There's widespread misconception that cars <750kg are exempt from this as this is the breakpoint for trailers requiring brakes - however the rule that if a "trailer" has brakes (and every car does) they must work over-rules this. As the towed car is legally a trailer in this configuration, it must have the requistive triangles on rear and have only the registration of the towing vehicle displayed. Most car policies will cover the towed vehicle third party, i.e. towing vehicle provides the 3rd party cover. Any fully comp cover must be provided by the towed vehicle policy, which once again typically requires a specialist policy.

dacouch

bunking_off wrote: »

A different application, but I can answer these questions as I've towed a car behind my motorhome both on an a-frame and trailer.

1) With the car on the trailer, you're covered by the towing vehicle insurance, but only 3rd party. This includes Admiral (I know because I used to be insured with them).

A trailer that is attached to an insured vehicle should be covered by any UK Insurer. I think Gloomendoom got confused by optional accidental damage and or fire and theft for a trailer as all UK policies should include third party for a towed trailer