# Insurance and your stock trailer



## AClark (Aug 8, 2017)

So we ran into an interesting situation when my truck blew the motor with the stock trailer on it.

Something I think all farm folks should be aware of, just because you have roadside assistance on your towing vehicle, does NOT mean that they will tow your trailer in the event your truck needs a tow. Even though they will tell you that your trailer is covered in the event something happens, under your towing vehicles insurance. This is not entirely true. This is something you may want to call your insurance about ahead of time, but this is our experience with it.

I insure with Geico. When my truck's motor blew, we had our 4 horse trailer on it. We called to use our roadside assistance. The first operator said we had to drop the trailer to be towed.
Now, anyone with half a brain cell knows that if you leave your trailer on the side of the freeway (in our case, I20) it's very likely that it won't be there when you come back for it.

We called back, and Geico advised that while the shop could tow it, we would have to pay the difference. I had called ahead to a semi-wrecker, so they already knew it had a trailer and to bring something big out and not a rollback. They did tow it in tandem. They dropped the drive line on the towing vehicle and raised it up and towed the whole 45 ft mess. We had to pay extra for the trailer being on it, rather than being covered by insurance. The thought on that is we were so far away from anything it didn't matter, and the overage we paid to keep our trailer with the vehicle is absolutely worth it.

So, with all that in mind, I called Geico yesterday, and they researched it and called me back. They absolutely will not cover the towing of a non-motorized trailer, and while they can insure the trailer, it does not include roadside for the trailer. They cover motorcycles, RV's, etc, but if you're dragging a trailer, you are SOL. They suggested I call AAA. So I did. 

AAA will cover it being towed in tandem, as long as it is empty, for $100 a month for their plus services. If you have livestock in it at the time of vehicle failure, they make you drop the trailer and arrange for it to be picked up for an additional fee due to the liability. 

I had called before we moved and inquired about trailer coverage when towing. Geico had said it was all covered under my vehicle insurance, no problem. That is not the case at all, though I had no issues on that trip. 

I think this is something important to know. While I've hauled countless times, I have never run into this issue before. 

Does anyone know of any other way to insure your trailer is taken care of in the event that your towing vehicle is no longer operable?


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## farmerjan (Aug 8, 2017)

Try your farm insurance?  I believe that we are covered by our farm policy but will check with my son on that.  Again, our farm policy covers the "FARM USE " vehicle status of any of our non liscensed vehicles.  It covers any and all of our trailers and I will have to ask about the type of scenario that you encountered.  
I think that you did exactly the right thing for your situation at the time.  I have often seen trailers left unhooked on the side of the road but usually they have a flat or something and think that the owner of the vehicle has gone with their vehicle to the nearest exit to find a new tire or some other solution to a situation.
We are lucky in that we do not often go too terribly far from home so to speak, say 100  miles or less, and if we had a breakdown, have countless people we can call to come to the rescue who have cattle or animals.  Have even helped out in the past with a broken down friend and off loaded his cattle into our trailer  and took them on to the stockyard but have never been in your exact situation.  
Thanks for bringing this up, will be an interesting thing to research.


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## AClark (Aug 8, 2017)

That was the part that made it all a giant disaster was that it was 600 miles from home. Locally, I could have talked to a neighbor and managed to get everything home.
Geico will insure the trailer, for collision and comprehensive and liability, it's an additional $4 a month, so cheap. They will not include roadside however, they just don't do it. So your trailer can be fully insured, but if your tow vehicle breaks down, you're still in the same situation. I don't have any vehicles registered for agricultural use, just normal driving and whatnot - Oklahoma requires you to be tax exempt (I am) and Schedule F for taxes to register a "farm truck" - which doesn't apply to me yet.

I strongly suggest using Uship in the event your vehicle isn't coming back with the trailer and it's a long distance like mine was and nobody else can go get it. It isn't cheap, but I had a quote within an hour and someone set up to get my trailer and haul it back up here, they will do it with livestock and everything if need be. I was pretty stressed about losing the trailer after already losing the truck, it would have added insult to injury for sure. I will say, the guy who brought it back up here was kinda wild, but he took good care of our trailer. He didn't even realize I had left the registration (I told him where I left it, in the spare tire in the tack compartment!) and everything for him in case he got pulled over, just hooked and booked it. 

You should always carry a spare with the trailer and check it before long road trips, just like the truck. I also like the ramps made for trailers to make changing tires easier than jacking the trailer up or unloading to jack it up. Obviously unloading is not just inconvenient, but impossible in some circumstances. You just drive the trailer on it, change the tire, all gravy.


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## Baymule (Aug 8, 2017)

Very good discussion here. We also have GEICO so we are in the same boat as you. I did a little searching and found this.

http://www.usrider.org/faq

https://www.facebook.com/Trailguard/posts/672732546171442

https://trailguard.org/


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