Friend borrowing trailer?

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chestnut cob

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Friend has asked if she can borrow my trailer occasionally but I'm not sure where things stand legally... I have it insured but obviously if I claim for an accident she has in it or with it, that will affect my premium and claim history. I also have breakdown cover for it, but that only covers it when it is hitched to MY car (they have the car reg).

So...do I ask her to take our her own breakdown cover, her own insurance, and do we draw up some sort of contract for any other damage she or her horse(s) might cause to it while it's in her care? I know that all sounds a bit OTT but I can't afford to put anything right that might go wrong when someone else uses it, and I'd rather not claim on my own insurance if it will affect my premium.

Can you tell I'd prefer not to lend it out?
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I was asked to lend out my trailer by a friend so i rang up my insurance people and they said do not do it.even if they take out their own insurance.The trailer can only be insured by one party.And also it would come under the hiring out on a commercial basis even if it is to a friend.
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Cool, thanks for that Rema. I had a feeling the insurers would say something like that so no surprise. I was going to give them a call to clarify tomorrow as I wasn't sure if I was just being a bit over cautious.
 
I've just learnt to be tough and say "sorry, no" to everyone. Apart from the insurance, there is little that you can do once a horse (" he's so good to load usually") has kicked holes in it!!!
 
as far as im aware no one else can insure your trailer as insurance only covers your loss and if the person that is using the trailer damages it is not classed as there loss (as they dont own it to loose it) - most insurance companies cover trailers for damage to the trailer no matter were it is or who is towing it, the cover is attached to trailer not person.
were as the breakdown is normally attached to the car so is responsability of car owner to cover as it.
but if your trailer is damaged or stolen your premium is nearly always loaded for a few years after
hope this helps and makes sense.
 
Thanks. It does make sense and I understand what you are saying about it being covered no matter who is towing, but I am also concerned about third party liability. If, say, the friend causes an accident and could be proven to have been negligent (say she wasn't paying attention driving, too much weight in, too fast etc), I / my insurer would then be landed with the third party liablity costs to pay out. Say if her horse has a paddy in trailer, causes it to turn over and it lands on another car, who would pay for that? I doubt my insurer would want to cover it.

I think there may be too many potential legal problems to even bother considering lending it to someone.
 
Iam afraid I dont lend anything out anymore, I once lent clippers out they came back damaged, I look at it like this YOU had to buy a trailer, so should they. Tell your friend to hire one from a proper hire company, they are fully equiped and insured for this. There is a company near us that do trailer hire £50 per day.
 
Agree totally, I was asked once and said no coz I was too worried about what might happen. Can't be too careful these days...
 
as far as im aware every car has third party insurance so the person borrowing the trailer has tp cover on the car - but this was purely for your info - but i totally agree to many risks in lending things and ive been taught that the hard way, i hate saying no but some times you just have to.
 
Having leant my lorry to friends in past I would also say no. You can always blame it on the insurance company restrictions!
When mine went out with others it was amazing how many miles got covered which impact on servicing costs as well as damage and in case of my lorry how little diesel got put in!!
There are other options for the borrower concerned they just cost more!
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In that example then your friends car insurance would cover 3rd party liability to another party, it wouldn't cover any damage to your trailer.

I do and have lent my trailer to friends, but they are what I would call true friends who would be mortified if they damaged anything and would repair out of their own pocket. I wouldn't lend to an aquaintance though.
 
I have lent to a couple of friends in the past. My ex YO as he had insured my trailer under his farm cover (prob illegal but there you go! cost him£30/yr nothing like what I'd have had to pay), the other is a friend of the family who I've known for years. Both said that if anything was to happen to the trailer they would repair or replace, and I knew they both were very experienced at towing.
 
Having just replaced a whole pannel and breeching bar, due to lending to someone I would say don't do it.

Lent to "friend" who had to get their horse to the vets ASAP. Of course I said yes, but have not been able to use trailer for 2 months waiitng for panel to come in (and save up to replace it). Also caused friction on the yard, as the girl refused to pay out and told me to go claim on my insurance.
 
That is disgusting Sit_Up, sounds like you have been thoroughly used.

We never lend our trailer to people but will transport them if they need help. Never for a fee and always with the proviso that if any damage happens to the trailer it is their responsibility to pay for it.
 
Pile of poo Sit_Up
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I borrow a friend's tralier, she used to borrow my horse lorry. We know that if either of us damaged the other's propery we would repair/replace immediately. Her other half drove my lorry under my insurance, and I use her trailer under her insurance. I snapped the break-away cable last week and replaced it straight away: it meant a fifty mile round trip because I only knew of one place to get it from, but my fault so tough wotsits to me
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Off to get m'lorry fixed though so we can go play again
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One of the reasons why I dont take my lad anywhere at the moment, I have been offered the use of a trailer which is very kind of them but if my horse damanged it, then not only would I feel terrible but I'd have a huge bill to folk out and I wont take that risk.

Not only that but my concerns would be, is the trailer safe, when I had my trailer I made sure it was fit for purpose and in good nick, ramp etc but not everyone does this, or if a trailer looks fairly new, your under the impression that it's more than likely ok, not always the case.

To be on the safe side, if they want to use it, then really you should take them, you could charge them but then there is no doubt some law about accepting money for trasnporting a horse if your not a horse transporter...so if you had an accident they might then throw the book at you or effect both yours and their's insurance but you'd have to check I guess.

All very complicated
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I have let someone borrow mine in the past, but my jockey wheel got broken and still to this day has never been replaced.
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Ps:- I've got some pics to send over to you when I get 5 mins!
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Don't lend it, or anything else horsey. My neighbours borrowed a jacket I was keeping for my daughter, guess what never saw it again. They keep asking to borrow clippers, no way cos they'd never pay for a repair. We've only ever lent out our trailer once and we were so relieved when it came back in one piece! I have even been asked to lend my horse out as the person can't afford to buy it and she thinks I'm not doing enough with it. Tough, it's my horse and my business what I do with it! Perhaps I should change my name to Grumpyoldwoman :-)
 
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