How do you Wrecker owners insure your truck?

[ida34]

RE: Re: RE: insurance

Did you file a claim on your truck Randy or was all the damage to the other car? I don't think a blanket statement of anything attached to your vehicle is covered is accurate. I am not in insurance but I deal with them on a regular basis. Accident reports are brief at best in most cases. You may have gotten through the cracks. Then again I may be totally wrong but I know how insurance companies are and some times they seem to look for any little reason to deny a claim. I have been lucky but I have heard horror stories. Kind of like dealing with the IRS on an audit. It depends on the person handling the case. Did you have historical vehicle insurance or regular insurance? I think this would make a big difference. This has a lot or relevance to me as I will most likely be flat towing my M818 home with my deuce. I for one am going to be calling Gulfway on Monday to find out. Anyone else checked this with Gulfway?

Sorry to hyjack your thread Lee.

 

[ida34]

RE: Re: RE: insurance

I also forgot to add that there are two things we need to look at. Liability and insurance to repair the towed vehicle. My travel trailer was covered under my liability from my truck but if I messed it up and did not have separate insurance on the trailer then they would not have paid. I had to have seperate insurance on my trailer to cover damage to the trailer. You are right in that a drive vehicle covers a towed vehicle for liability but the towed unit needs its own insurance to be covered for damage. The biggest thing I was trying to bring up is the fact that most of use have the special historical or recreational use insurance on our trucks plated as historical vehicles. These policies put a lot of extra restrictions on the use of the vehicle to be covered. Bottom line. Check with your insurance company.


Lee,
Were you just trying to get liability to be legal on the road or were you also trying to get full coverage?

 

[houdel]

RE: Re: RE: insurance

One big problem is if you are using it as a wrecker than most people would not consider it a show or parade vehicle.

I specifically asked if I were in a parade, rally or other rolling event and another truck broke down and needed to be towed would I be covered since was a HMV event. The answer was an emphatic NO! If it is something I own on my property I am covered, anything else I'm screwed and I didn't even get a kiss.

Towbars I think would be covered as they are commonly used to tow jeeps etc and small cars behind RVs (either tow dolly or tow bar which for liability purposes are pretty the same thing). Towbars are an accepted product commonly but infrequently used by private individuals for personal use.

Wreckers, on the other hand are generally commercially owned and operated on a continual basis to recover and tow vehicles owned by another for the principle purpose of making a profit.

 

[Crash_AF]

RE: Re: RE: insurance

Gulfway told me that I could tow anything I wanted with my 818, BUT the trailer would not be insured unless I purchased a separate policy for it. The person I spoke to said that coverage is not extended to towed vehicles with the type of policy I am getting.

Later,
Joe

 

[ida34]

RE: Re: RE: insurance

That answers that question for me. I have Gulfway for my Deuce.

Joe,
Did you ask if liability for the trailer or towed vehicle was covered by the towing vehicle? I figured the trailer or towed vehicle would not be covered for damage.

 

[Crash_AF]

RE: Re: RE: insurance

They specifically said the trailer would NOT be insured unless it had its own policy. I've got to call them on Monday to get some information so I'll ask the question about liability to make sure, but I'm pretty sure they meant no coverage of any kind.

Later,
Joe

 

[5tonpuller]

RE: Re: RE: insurance

With my M543A2 is about $100 a year. Can not use it for what it is made for. Only to and from events AND can not put more then 2500 miles on it in a year.

 

[DDoyle]

RE: Re: RE: insurance

I'd suggest contacting the International Towing Museum and Hall of Fame in Chattanooga TN and asking them about insurance.

Whereas, for the MVPA wreckers are only a small percentage of the vehicles owned by a small percentage of their members, for the Tow Truck guys its is their bread and butter - and the folks there are very nice.

To complicate things - IIRC, here in TN, I believe it is illegal for me to stop in any vehicle I own and as a "good Samaritan" pull another motorist out of the road or ditch. Add to this most insurance policies include a clause concerning legal use of the vehicle....

Thus, if I am pulling farmer Brown's truck with my M62 and there is a problem, I can be ticketed, and the insurance COULD use this as justification to deny a claim.

Regards,
David

 

[houdel]

RE: Re: RE: insurance

Also here in Michigan a tow truck operator is required to call the police if he recovers a vehicle from a ditch etc. and the vehicle has sustained any damage.

 

[Coveralls]

I have my 816 insured with State Auto out of Columbus Ohio.The agent could not find a manufacturer listed as General Products Division, so she listed it under the farm policy.I pay $523. for the whole year, but that is with buildings also.

 

[houdel]

I have my 816 insured with State Auto out of Columbus Ohio.The agent could not find a manufacturer listed as General Products Division, so she listed it under the farm policy.I pay $523. for the whole year, but that is with buildings also.

But does that coverage include WRECKER operation or is it only for VEHICLE operation? That is the BIG question!

 

[clinto]

This is an older thread, but I'd like to see some additional answers. Is there anyone here on SS who has a wrecker that would like to tell us how they are insuring themselves?

I basically want a policy that allows me to drive say, 2K miles a year, store it outdoors and occasionally tow my own stuff, non-commercially. Does such a policy exist?

 

[SixSpeed]

Bump! Gulfway won't write policies from Wreckers anymore.

I just want to use it around my property, and drive it around. Storing it indoors is no problem, and I won't be using it for towing (its slow enough as is!) or commercial use.