Rated towing capacity

[tgentry]

One thing that I don't think anyone has mentioned:

If you are involved in an accident, things can go quite badly for you in court if you have exceeded the tow rating of your vehicle.

[Oskar 26M]

Agreed tgentry. In practical terms you can get away with all sorts of towing arrangements, but its not so good if you get caught in a roadside inspection, and most insurance is voided if you are in an accident and found to have exceeded load rating and towing limits.

[Frank C]

I believe this varies among the different Nations. In the USA, it's nearly impossible for an Insurer to deny coverage once they accept premiums, unless there was blatant fraud in the application for insurance. Such details as tow rating, engine horsepower limits, or actual towing weight are never included as "statements" by the Insured on the application.

Basically, in the USA an Insurer must cover the Insured's mistakes and stupidity ... almost without question.

[Chip Hindes]

I believe Frank's statement comes under the heading of "Yes, but..."

If, while towing your Mac with a Yugo, the trailer rolls over onto and totals a $200K Classic Rolls, they may still pay off, but I believe they could still come after you and you might expect to hear from the insurance company's lawyers.

Even if they don't deny a claim, I believe it's pretty certain they wouldn't renew your policy the next time around.

This is all conjecture on my part. Has anyone had such an experience?

[Frank C]

I haven't any direct experience with an insurance company trying to evade coverage, though I've heard numerous examples of non-renewals.

However, the bacground for my post above ... my cousin spent several years as attorney for an "insurance defense" law firm in Los Angeles. Their clients were exclusively Insurers, and their litigation was always to challenge major damage claims brought by NON-policyholders. Of course, such damage claims were most frequently personal injury claims. He grew weary of always fighting against the little guys, eventually quitting the practice of law. He commented frequently that an Insurer can rarely (almost never) deny coverage on its own policies, saying, "... they're stuck with insuring stupidity."

I'm not an attorney, and this isn't legal advice. My street-level understanding though ... constraints on the Insurers are related to the implied warranty of merchantability, and of course, based upon years of court precedents. There's also a significant element of David vs Goliath in judges' attitudes when an Insurer takes issue with his own policyholder.