Trailer Insurance

[Courier]

Have you had the Insurance Certificates through...?

Call the Insurer, NOT the Broker.

Quite frankly most certificates nowadays are irrelevant - what matters is the digital access to a live database.

 

[steveR]

Same sort of thing happened last year but didn’t know until I found out the ins. Company cancelled the premium as being unpaid…….the broker blamed it onto the accounts dept. Again blamed it on to people working from home, people are making Clovid an excuse for a lot of things lately, funny thing though I was pulled over by the police in April they said the Land Rover I was driving flagged up as uninsured BACK IN SEPT LAST YEAR!!!!! which I knew it was insured they checked my licence (which I always carry these days) & said the vehicle may just of just been cloned but said it was probably a glitch on their system!!! funny how they left it all that time before saying anything.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve got a Lord title on my owners registration because soon as he checked the ownership he quickly apologised said I won’t here no more about it & sent me on my way

I think I would be moving my Broker.

Sounds very unprofessional to me.

 

[steveR]

Quite frankly most certificates nowadays are irrelevant - what matters is the digital access to a live database.

But it is what customers receive as proof of Insurance. Yes it can be cancelled, but is a good start.

 

[Courier]

But it is what customers receive as proof of Insurance. Yes it can be cancelled, but is a good start.

Agreed it is a good start and demonstrates good intent, but the live database is what actually matters.

 

[Gordy1]

Have you had the Insurance Certificates through...?

Call the Insurer, NOT the Broker.

Yes they emailed it to me with the renewal cost but not how they wanted payment as I usually pay over the phone that’s why I’ve kept trying to contact them even phoned the chaps mobile several times asking him to call me back so I could make the payment….to date nothing heard from them, I did consider sending one of those paper cheque thingies but wouldn’t know where to find the cheque book besides it would probably lay on their office door mat for I don’t know how long!!!

 

[Highland Mule]

Theft of trailers is a very real issue in most areas.
Third party insurance when being used on the public highway is mandatory and not always automatically conferred from the towing vehicle.

I’m with Direct Line for most of the vehicles. A check shows that third party is no problem. Happy to stand the theft/ damage risk myself, given my understanding of the theft issue around here (low risk/ rare).

 

[steveR]

Agreed it is a good start and demonstrates good intent, but the live database is what actually matters.

But teh MIB database is not always accurate... 3-4 years ago, I went to tax a bike and was refused on the grounds of no Insurance. I called my Broker who checked MIB and found the same. Called teh Insurer (Zurich I think) whoc confirmed that the cover was live and had been for x weeks, and MIB database had been notified when cover was provided. So goodness knows what went wrong.

At teh time, I was advised to wait 24hrs and try again. But I would have been knacked if pulled by the Police, albeit I had a valid insurance certificate

 

[Gordy1]

I think I would be moving my Broker.

Sounds very unprofessional to me.

Did think about it, but they are well established been about since the sixties……the thing is though they took over from the broker I used to be with when he was blocked from trading by the FCA due to siphoning money off amongst other things!!! bloody hell perhaps these have done the same thing trouble is they would of run before taking the money

 

[Courier]

But teh MIB database is not always accurate... 3-4 years ago, I went to tax a bike and was refused on the grounds of no Insurance. I called my Broker who checked MIB and found the same. Called teh Insurer (Zurich I think) whoc confirmed that the cover was live and had been for x weeks, and MIB database had been notified when cover was provided. So goodness knows what went wrong.

At teh time, I was advised to wait 24hrs and try again. But I would have been knacked if pulled by the Police, albeit I had a valid insurance certificate

Any police action would ultimately be based on investigation and fact.

 

[Courier]

Did think about it, but they are well established been about since the sixties……the thing is though they took over from the broker I used to be with when he was blocked from trading by the FCA due to siphoning money off amongst other things!!! bloody hell perhaps these have done the same thing trouble is they would of run before taking the money

When I need to hire in extra vans for a few days at a time, at short notice, probably about half a dozen times a year, I need to be able to provide the hire Co with a paper copy of the certificate. My insurance Co achieves this by PDF generally within 45 minutes.

 

[Tarw Coch]

Any police action would ultimately be based on investigation and fact.

Hmmmmm, watched a few police interceptor type programs in my time and they check MIB first and have seen them also ask who the vehicle is insured with if it comes back as uninsured on there so they can ring insurance company direct.
A couple of problems, some people, myself included could tell them which broker but not which insurance company they’re insured with and if it’s out of hours they probably can’t contact the insurance company in which case there’s a good chance the vehicle would be seized.
Provided it could be proved to be insured in time there wouldn’t be a prosecution but it could well cause inconvenience.

 

[steveR]

Any police action would ultimately be based on investigation and fact.

Not much help when teh fuzz pull you and take your vehicle when 200 miles from home!

 

[Courier]

Not much help when teh fuzz pull you and take your vehicle when 200 miles from home!

I am only aware of having vehicles pulled for "Spot Checks" twice in the last 5,000,000 vehicle miles. Always sorted within 20 minutes.... Just dont do anything to attaract attention....

 

[Nigel Wellings]

All the farm fleet policies we sell give comprehensive cover on trailers automatically at no charge as long as the car, commercial vehicle or truck doing the towing has comprehensive cover on it. It is not easy to get stand alone trailer cover but can be done.
Do not put up with the Covid excuse from Brokers or Insurers. If you want business you need to provide the service no matter what. We have found certain Insurers service has gone downhill in last 18 months with people supposedly working from home.
The Motor I

 

[Nigel Wellings]

Follows on from previous post;
The Motor Insurers Database (MID) is correct 98% of the time, but we do get problems with it. There is sometimes a time-lag between policies being renewed or vehicles added before a vehicle appears on MID. The other common problem is Broker/Insurer/Client confusing a letter or digit on a registration, this completely confounds the system and when that reg is probably being keyed in 3 times before it gets on MID it can happen. Still useful therefore to keep a photocopy of vehicle insurance certificate in each vehicle, too many times I have had calls evenings/weekend where police saying a vehicle not insured. Problem usually resolved with a swift e mail to them

 

[Percy Veer]

Who is the towing vehicle insured with?
The cheapest option is usually to add the trailer on to that policy, whoever it may be with

The problem is that my insurer, LV, won't insure trailers for business use. Business use for the pick-up is no problem, but it is for the trailer.

Thanks for all the replies, you've given me a few options.