It is one of the most common assumptions in transport: the trailer is behind the truck, so it must be on the truck’s policy. Sometimes it is. Often it is only partly, and occasionally not at all.
Owned Trailers Need Their Own Sum Insured
A trailer you own is a separate item of property. It should appear on the schedule with its own value, in the same way each prime mover does. Liability arising from it while attached is usually picked up by the towing vehicle’s policy, but the trailer’s own damage is not covered unless it is listed.
Trailers You Do Not Own
If you tow trailers belonging to a customer, a subcontractor or a hire company, responsibility usually sits with you while they are in your care. That is what trailer in your control cover is for. Without it, damage to someone else’s trailer can fall outside both your motor policy and your liability policy.
The Unhitched Problem
Many wordings treat a trailer differently once it is detached. A trailer dropped in a yard, at a customer’s dock or on the side of a road can be:
- Outside the towing vehicle’s liability cover, because it is no longer attached.
- Subject to different theft conditions, depending on where it sits and how it is secured.
- Exposed to a runaway claim, where the trailer moves and causes damage on its own.
Unhitched trailer liability is a specific extension worth asking about if you drop and hook.
The Load Is a Separate Question Again
Neither the truck’s policy nor the trailer’s cover pays for the freight on top. That needs carriers or goods in transit cover — see goods in transit explained.
Attachments, Bodies and Modifications
Tautliners, tippers bodies, tanks, dog trailers, dollies, ramps and load restraint equipment all carry value that is easily left off a schedule. If a body was fitted after purchase, check that the sum insured reflects the truck as it stands today, not as it was invoiced.
A Quick Self-Check
- Is every owned trailer listed, with a current value?
- Do you ever tow a trailer you do not own? If so, is trailer in your control cover in place, and for how much?
- Does the policy respond while trailers are detached?
- Is the freight covered separately?
- Are aftermarket bodies and equipment included in the sums insured?
Trailer Theft and Where It Happens
Trailers are stolen from three places above all others: unsecured yards, roadside drop points, and customer sites where they sit overnight between loads. They are easy to hitch and hard to trace once the plates come off.
The controls that matter are unglamorous — coupling locks, wheel clamps on long stays, GPS units fitted somewhere not obvious, and a habit of parking trailers so they cannot be reached with a vehicle. Insurers will ask, and the answers affect both the premium and whether a theft claim runs smoothly.
Load Restraint Equipment and Fitted Gear
Straps, chains, gates, tarps, curtains and load bars are consumable in theory and expensive in practice. Some policies include them within the trailer’s sum insured, others treat them as separate contents with a sub-limit, and a few exclude them. If your restraint equipment would cost thousands to replace, confirm which of the three applies.
Registration, Roadworthiness and Claims
An unregistered or unroadworthy trailer creates two problems at once. It can breach the conditions of the policy, and it invites an argument that the defect contributed to the loss. Brakes, couplings, lights and tyres are the components that come up after a rollover or a runaway, so pre-start checks are worth recording rather than merely doing.
Common Questions
My trailer is unregistered and only used on site. Is it covered?
Possibly under plant rather than motor. Tell your broker how it is used, because the placement decides the cover.
Does a converter dolly count as a trailer?
Usually yes, and it is one of the items most often missing from schedules.
What if a subcontractor tows my trailer?
Their policy may not cover it and yours may exclude it while in someone else’s control. This is worth resolving in the subcontract, in writing.
Talk It Through
Send us your schedule and we will tell you which trailers are actually covered. Get in touch or call 1300 983 940, or read about semi trailer insurance.
General advice only. This article does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Consider the relevant PDS and Target Market Determination before deciding on a policy.