Does car insurance cover towing?
Yes, car insurance can cover towing. So can roadside assistance. Read on to find out how.
Key takeaways
- Comprehensive car insurance typically covers towing after an accident or storm damage, but not general breakdowns.
- Roadside assistance is generally required for towing related to breakdowns, flat tyres or mechanical issues.
- Most third party property damage policies do not include towing for your car; some fire and theft policies may.
What different scores mean
9+
Excellent
These products offer the best value and outcomes considering various product features and price.
7+
Great
Competitive products within their group.
5+
Standard
But these products still offer reasonable value and have the basics sorted.
0+
Basic
Offering basic cover with limited features or higher pricing.
Car insurance and towing
If you hold a comprehensive car insurance policy, towing is covered. However, there's a catch. Towing is only covered for certain types of events, these can include:
- Following an accident when your car needs to be towed
- Following a hail storm where your car has been damaged and needs to be towed to a repairer
It will not cover towing for breakdowns, flat batteries or flat tyres. For that, you'd need roadside assistance.
Roadside assistance and towing
Roadside assistance covers towing for events like breakdowns, flat batteries, flat tyres, if you've run out of fuel or used the wrong fuel and more. Based on the plan you've selected and where you've broken down, you may be covered for towing across longer distances (up to 200km from home) or shorter distances (up to 50km from home).
Does third party car insurance cover towing?
It's unlikely that your third party car insurance will cover towing but there are a few things to consider.
- If you hold a third party fire and theft policy then towing may be covered after an event like a bushfire or if your car has been found after a theft.
- If you hold a third party property damage policy then towing will not be covered. This is because these types of policies only cover costs incurred for damage to other people's vehicles, not your own.
Do I need insurance to tow a trailer?
You don't need special insurance to legally tow a trailer as the trailer is covered by your car's compulsory third party insurance (CTP). So as long as your car has CTP, then the trailer it's towing is covered under this.
However, CTP only covers you for injuries caused to other people. It does not cover damage you cause to other people's property or damage to your own trailer. If you want cover for damage to your own trailer then it's worth considering trailer insurance.
Car insurance policies that cover towing
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How we picked these
Finder Score for car insurance
We analyse over 30 car insurance products across insurance providers, and rate each one for price and features. We collect up to 36 quotes per product, for male and female drivers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. Quotes are collected for 20 year olds, 30 year olds and 60 year olds, assuming an excess of $850 for a 2020 Toyota Corolla 4 door sedan model, with an average 15,000 kms driven each year. While we are not allowed to display actual quotes, our Finder Score aims to serve as an indicative guide to how cost and feature competitive a product might be for you.
Our feature score assesses each product for more than 15 features across loss and damage coverage, repairs and assistance coverage, personal items coverage and policy coverage. Features we assess include but are not limited to legal liability, essential repairs, new car replacement, car hire events, roadside assistance, agreed or market value, windscreen damage and natural disaster coverage.
Our expert says
"When it comes to car insurance and towing, there are very specific events where you will and won't be covered. Generally speaking, comprehensive policies will cover towing if it's needed as the result of an accident. Only roadside assistance plans will cover you for towing for more minor things like a flat battery. The good news is, if you need towing for more major incidents - it's likely already covered under your comprehensive policy. And if you need towing for more minor events, there are really affordable policies available."
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