Does car insurance cover towing?

Yes, car insurance can cover towing. So can roadside assistance. Read on to find out how.

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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.

  1. If you hold a third party property and theft policy then towing may be covered after an event like a bushfire or if your car has been found after a theft.
  2. 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 damage 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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Finder Score Accidental damage Roadside Assistance Agreed or market value Storm & Flood
Finder Score
9 Excellent
Agreed or Market
Summary: A great value policy with exceptional customer service. Youi won the 2024 Finder Award for Customer Satisfaction. It scored highly for features and benefits, customer service and reliability. It also automatically includes roadside assistance with comprehensive policies in its price - a feature that typically costs upwards of $90 per year.
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Finder Score
8 Great
Agreed
Get 10% off the base premium for the first 2 consecutive monthly policies and up to a 15% potential monthly discount from your 3rd month for being a safer driver. Minimum premiums may apply. T&Cs apply.
Summary: One of the most cost-effective insurers for under 25s, according to Finder research, with no aged-based excess.

Who it might be good for: Young drivers looking to keep costs down and anyone who’d like to get more flexibility from their car insurance.
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Finder Score
9.9 Excellent
Optional add-on
Agreed or Market
Receive 15% off your first year's premium when you purchase cover online. T&Cs apply.
Summary: Budget Direct Comprehensive is highly commended as a feature-packed car insurance. It's cheaper than most, plus you can lower costs by adding age restrictions.

Who it might be good for: Anyone who wants a good value policy.
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Coles logo
Finder Score
9.9 Excellent
Coles Comprehensive Insurance
Finder Award
Finder Score
9.9 Excellent
Optional add-on
Agreed or Market
Save 15% off your first year’s premium when you take out a new Coles Car Insurance policy online. T&Cs apply.
Summary: Coles Comprehensive Car Insurance includes the benefits you'd expect, plus features like grocery replacement (up to $200 if damaged or stolen. T&C's apply).

Who it might be good for: Those who want great quality cover and more rewards with Flybuys.
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Qantas Car Insurance logo
Finder Score
9.9 Excellent
Qantas Comprehensive
Finder Score
9.9 Excellent
Optional add-on
Agreed or Market
Earn up to 40,000 Qantas Points with every car insurance policy. Ends 28 Jan 2026. Plus save 15% on your 1st year’s premium when you purchase online. T&Cs apply.
Summary: You need car insurance so why not get one that lets you earn Qantas Points? It's good value too (it's underwritten by the same insurer as Budget Direct).

Who it might be good for: People who want more bang for their buck with Qantas Points.
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ING logo
Finder Score
9.2 Excellent
ING Comprehensive
Finder Score
9.2 Excellent
Optional add-on
Agreed or Market
Save 15% on your first year’s premium when you buy a new ING comprehensive car insurance online. T&Cs apply.
Summary: A policy with high benefit limits included as standard with plenty of optional add-ons.

Who it might be good for: Drivers who like the ability to tailor their cover with lots of optional extras like windscreen damage and roadside assistance.
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Kogan logo
Finder Score
8.9 Great
Kogan Comprehensive
Finder Score
8.9 Great
Optional add-on
Agreed or Market
Up to 10% off your first year's premium when you apply online and $10 monthly Kogan credit (valid on $100+ purchases) for active policyholders. Black Friday deal: Get 12 months Complimentary Roadside Assist. T&Cs apply.
Summary: Kogan comes with all the perks that most comprehensive car insurance policies include, but you’ll also be entitled to some benefits from its online store. This usually comes in the form of a gift voucher or discount if you buy online.

Who it might be good for: Kogan shoppers and those after a good range of policy options.
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Australian Seniors logo
Finder Score
8.5 Great
Australian Seniors Comprehensive
Finder Score
8.5 Great
Optional add-on
Agreed
Save 5% on your first year's car insurance premium by holding a valid Seniors Card. T&Cs apply.
Finder’s summary: Australian Seniors’ comprehensive policy includes complimentary hire car for a stolen car, up to $1,000 for a damaged trailer or caravan, up to $500 for emergency travel and accommodation cover.

Who it might be good for: People over 50 years old looking for flexible cover options.
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Bingle logo
Finder Score
8.1 Great
Bingle Comprehensive
Finder Award
Finder Score
8.1 Great
Market
Summary: Our data shows it’s the cheapest comprehensive policy. It just covers the basics such as damage to your car, theft and storms – it doesn’t go in for add-ons and extras.

Who it might be good for: Those wanting a low-cost, no-frills policy.
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Huddle logo
Finder Score
8 Great
Huddle Comprehensive
Finder Score
8 Great
Optional add-on
Agreed or Market
Summary: Huddle's comprehensive policy will cover you if your vehicle is damaged or lost as a result of a collision, a natural event, a malicious act, theft or fire. It also includes up to $500 for essential repairs.

Who it might be good for: Someone who drives less than 15,000 km a year can opt for Pay As You Drive cover.
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Real logo
Finder Score
7.7 Great
Real Comprehensive
Finder Score
7.7 Great
Optional add-on
Agreed
Summary: Real Comprehensive Car Insurance provides similar coverage to other insurers for the important stuff like looking after your car if it's stolen or you crash. It's also one of the few insurers who offer a Pay As You Drive policy, so you might be able to save big if you don't drive much.

Who it might be good for: Those that don't drive much can take advantage of its Pay As You Drive policy.
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QBE logo
Finder Score
7.6 Great
QBE Comprehensive
Finder Score
7.6 Great
Agreed or Market
Save $75 when you purchase a new comprehensive policy online. T&Cs apply.
Who it might be good for: Those who want a trustworthy insurer and more cover than other brands, such as 3-year new car replacement (e.g. they'll give you money for a new car for up to 3 years if yours is written off).
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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. We use your responses to our quiz to pair you with the closest price profile and while we are not allowed to display actual quotes, our price score aims to serve as an indicative guide to how cost 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.

Depending on your answers to our car insurance quiz, we upweight the relevant price score or feature score to generate a dynamic Finder Score (80% weighting on the primary selection between Price or Feature). Finder Score, Price Score and Feature Score are only to be used as indicative guides and are not product recommendations.

Read the full methodology

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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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Peta Taylor's headshot
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Publisher of Insurance

Peta Taylor is a publisher at Finder, working across all of insurance. She's been analysing product disclosure statements and publishing articles for over 2 years. Peta is passionate about demystifying complex insurance products to help users make well educated decisions with confidence. Peta is part of Finder's insurance awards team and works alongside editorial and insights experts to bring users the best insurance products every year. See full bio

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