Towing with a company lease car...

Michen

Michen

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 January 2014
Messages
12,800
Visit site
Anyone managed to do it? I'm possibly going for a new job. My current company car is a hatch back so not up to towing obviously, but I might be able to get a VW Tiguan with new company and from my research I think that would tow a single horse trailer fairly comfortably.

I imagine there is all sorts of issues with company lease cars and attaching tow bars and insurance (though am I right there is no "extra" insurance for towing, you just insure the trailer)? Many thanks.
 
You will need to talk to the company and ask them to check with their insurance company, there may also be repercussions with the lease hire company if you go adding a tow bar but it is possible, we used to tow with my OHs 4x4 although it was classed as a commercial vehicle rather than a company car as such but I can't see that making very much difference when it comes to insurance etc
 
I was going to do this with an NHS lease car but both leasing companies they use would not allow towbar to be added. Lex and Autoleasing were the companies then.
 
ROG said:
Towing on what licence - B or B+E?
Click to expand...

B licence.. If I've got it right as long as I down plate the trailer a VW Tiguan with a GVT of 2080?

Though I am concerned about towing with a 2WD. The 4WD would increase the GVT to 2250 and only leave me enough room for a 650kg trailer.
 
Michen said:
B licence.. If I've got it right as long as I down plate the trailer a VW Tiguan with a GVT of 2080?

Though I am concerned about towing with a 2WD. The 4WD would increase the GVT to 2250 and only leave me enough room for a 650kg trailer.
Click to expand...
If the GVW is 2080 (lets say 2100) then you can have a trailer plated at 1400

Taking an HB401 as an example which is max 800 empty that would leave 600 for the horse

The more the GVW the less the max trailer MAM and therefore the less can be loaded into it

I like the Bateson Derby as its only 675 empty and only costs a tenner to down plate
 
ROG said:
If the GVW is 2080 (lets say 2100) then you can have a trailer plated at 1400

Taking an HB401 as an example which is max 800 empty that would leave 600 for the horse

The more the GVW the less the max trailer MAM and therefore the less can be loaded into it

I like the Bateson Derby as its only 675 empty and only costs a tenner to down plate
Click to expand...


Think they are quite hard to find though and not sure about not having a front ramp for a tricky loader. I'm also looking at the KIA sportage as the 4WD version has a lower GVT than the 4WD of the VW tiguan. I've finally got my head around the figures, it's only taken 6 months of reading old horse and hound threads and many of your posts!!!!
 
Not quite for the same purpose but a sales rep in my company was able to have a tow bar fitted to his company car so he could tow his caravan. Our sales director agreed provided the rep paid for the cost of it being fitted and then removed when it went back (think he also had to make sure it was done without any visible alterations to the bodywork of the car).
 
I have a lease car with ALD and can tow as long as you insure for towing yourself and the trailer itself is insured. Pay for towbar yourself but when you return the car, keep the old plain bar to re-fit. Although sometimes they prefer the towbar left on (cheeky *******) as it's not detrimental to value of the car at resale and lots of buyers like a towbar. Mind you... there's 90k on my clock (61) so I doubt messing about changing it will make a massive difference to price! However, my towbar is staying with me for the next vehicle!

I tow a HB505 with an Audi A4 2.0 Estate. Does me fine with one 500kg horse and a bit of tack. We don't go far or that often.
 
Last edited:
tallyho! said:
I have a lease car with ALD and can tow as long as you insure for towing yourself and the trailer itself is insured. Pay for towbar yourself but when you return the car, keep the old plain bar to re-fit. Although sometimes they prefer the towbar left on (cheeky *******) as it's not detrimental to value of the car at resale and lots of buyers like a towbar. Mind you... there's 90k on my clock (61) so I doubt messing about changing it will make a massive difference to price! However, my towbar is staying with me for the next vehicle!

I tow a HB505 with an Audi A4 2.0 Estate. Does me fine with one 500kg horse and a bit of tack. We don't go far or that often.
Click to expand...

Fab. I'm concerned about towing with something that's not 4WD... hence being a bit hesitant about the Tiguan 2WD even though it would just be a single trailer and one horse. If I get the 4WD I will have to do test and also will have to pay more towards the car, pay more benefit in kind tax, etc etc.

So can you get separate insurance to cover it for towing? or do you have to take out a whole new insurance policy (which would be very expensive for me at 23 with a 3 year old licence, 3 points and 1 at fault accident!!)
 
I'm allowed to tow as long as I pay for the tow bar to be fitted and removed and get insurance to cover it. Unfortunately my vehicle isn't strong enough to tow a horsebox but my manager tows a caravan. Now contemplating whether to go all out for a 3.5 ton or buy a 4x4 that sits on the drive and only gets used at the weekend to tow!
 
You might find you're only allowed the 2wd version as a lot of companies are clamping down on CO2 emissions on their fleets. The one I work for allows towbars but we have an emissions cap of 120 grams
 
Echo24 said:
I'm allowed to tow as long as I pay for the tow bar to be fitted and removed and get insurance to cover it. Unfortunately my vehicle isn't strong enough to tow a horsebox but my manager tows a caravan. Now contemplating whether to go all out for a 3.5 ton or buy a 4x4 that sits on the drive and only gets used at the weekend to tow!
Click to expand...

Whats your vehicle? xx
 
Puddleduck said:
You might find you're only allowed the 2wd version as a lot of companies are clamping down on CO2 emissions on their fleets. The one I work for allows towbars but we have an emissions cap of 120 grams
Click to expand...


Quite likely! I guess a 2WD would be ok if I was careful about muddy fields!
 
It's going to depend on the lease company. For instance enterprise will not let you tow with their hire vehicles, except if you got it through Landrover Assistance, then they will allow you to use your own insurance company to cover it. It will depend on what the policies of the lease company are sadly. Usually they are unbending and irritating to anyone who wants to do something different to their usual!!
 
Michen said:
Fab. I'm concerned about towing with something that's not 4WD... hence being a bit hesitant about the Tiguan 2WD even though it would just be a single trailer and one horse. If I get the 4WD I will have to do test and also will have to pay more towards the car, pay more benefit in kind tax, etc etc.

So can you get separate insurance to cover it for towing? or do you have to take out a whole new insurance policy (which would be very expensive for me at 23 with a 3 year old licence, 3 points and 1 at fault accident!!)
Click to expand...

Michen said:
Quite likely! I guess a 2WD would be ok if I was careful about muddy fields!
Click to expand...

I think this is the deciding factor... if your going to be doing muddy fields often, then get a proper truck that will get you out of trouble! The cost will be huge but who said horses were cheap? :D

I rang the company insurer and explained my intentions, they then said said it was an extra xx to add on and it was fairly cheap... I paid them upfront and my trailer insurance is like £9 a month with e&l. Tow bar was £200. I didn't take the advice to get an Audi engineer to fit theirs... Not at £3000!!!!! Cheeky youknowots!

You can but ask the company!! Speak to the fleet managers first as they often have good advice and will know the policy well.
 
I know this thread is a couple of weeks old but bumping it back up as I am having issues with my company over this.
Getting a new company car (started working here 6 months ago so got given my predecessor's car until the lease was up, new one ordered now) in June. They are fine for me to put on a tow bar provided I pay for it and to make it good after. However, they are insistent that there is no cover for towing on the company insurance policy. I was told to approach reputable insurance companies to get cover for the car and trailer whilst towing.

This is what confuses me... I have a copy of the policy and all it says is that towing for hire or reward is not covered. There are no other exclusions, and it does NOT state "no towing". My understanding is that (and it says this on the Aviva car insurance website, eg) every motor insurance policy has to cover the car and trailer for third party liability whilst hitched up, under the rules of the Road Traffic Act. Aviva say this is not an extra charge on their car policy because it is the law that they provide that cover for every car whilst towing.

Surely there are two problems with this...
a) I cannot insure something that does not belong to me (the car)
b) they cannot claim the car is not insured whilst towing, since it has to be by law, if I have understood correctly

As far as I can see it, the car will continue to be covered fully comprehensively under the policy whilst towing and the trailer will have third party liability. That is the only cover needed for the trailer - just in case it should cause damage to someone else whilst hitched up. I have cover for everything else - third party whilst unhitched, and breakdown/ accident insurance which would recover the trailer, car and horse.

I suspect it is my company trying it on as they are very much like that! FWIW, I have a cat B&E licence so no issues with what I can actually tow, and pulling an IW505. If anyone has any comments on the above, I'd be really interested to hear them. This is the first time I've experienced any issues with a company over towing with their car. Previous two companies have been fine (spanning 9 years employment), just told me to get written permission from the lease company and pay for tow bar myself.
 
I didn't think sportages were able to tow?
Be careful getting a cheap towbar, I was told it would invalidate my warranty if hey messed up the electrics. It only cost £350 for kia to put a towbar on my sorento, and it is still covered.
 
chestnut cob said:
I know this thread is a couple of weeks old but bumping it back up as I am having issues with my company over this.
Getting a new company car (started working here 6 months ago so got given my predecessor's car until the lease was up, new one ordered now) in June. They are fine for me to put on a tow bar provided I pay for it and to make it good after. However, they are insistent that there is no cover for towing on the company insurance policy. I was told to approach reputable insurance companies to get cover for the car and trailer whilst towing.

This is what confuses me... I have a copy of the policy and all it says is that towing for hire or reward is not covered. There are no other exclusions, and it does NOT state "no towing". My understanding is that (and it says this on the Aviva car insurance website, eg) every motor insurance policy has to cover the car and trailer for third party liability whilst hitched up, under the rules of the Road Traffic Act. Aviva say this is not an extra charge on their car policy because it is the law that they provide that cover for every car whilst towing.

Surely there are two problems with this...
a) I cannot insure something that does not belong to me (the car)
b) they cannot claim the car is not insured whilst towing, since it has to be by law, if I have understood correctly

As far as I can see it, the car will continue to be covered fully comprehensively under the policy whilst towing and the trailer will have third party liability. That is the only cover needed for the trailer - just in case it should cause damage to someone else whilst hitched up. I have cover for everything else - third party whilst unhitched, and breakdown/ accident insurance which would recover the trailer, car and horse.

I suspect it is my company trying it on as they are very much like that! FWIW, I have a cat B&E licence so no issues with what I can actually tow, and pulling an IW505. If anyone has any comments on the above, I'd be really interested to hear them. This is the first time I've experienced any issues with a company over towing with their car. Previous two companies have been fine (spanning 9 years employment), just told me to get written permission from the lease company and pay for tow bar myself.
Click to expand...


Hmmm interesting. I mentioned it to my new company in the end and they said the same thing as yours. I won't be getting one for 6 months until my probation is up as will have a hire car till then so would be interested in what you end up doing with this! What car are you choosing to tow with? I'm almost tempted to forget the towing and get a loan for a 3.5 tonne instead. A bigger company car is double the benefit in kind tax than a audi a3 for example, and I'm not sure if it's worth that money going to the government instead of into a load that I benefit from.
 
Volvo V60 which has enough towing capacity for what I need and plenty of power. Had one on trial for a week, it's an incredible car!

I have queried it with our HR woman who deals with the insurers etc. She said she had no idea, apparently no one has ever asked. Everyone else says they've had several people towing caravans in the past so it can't be that difficult to sort out. HR woman has emailed the company's insurance broker to get clarification. That was on Monday and nothing yet so it seems to me like they don't quite know what to do with the answer! I sent them a link to the Aviva website stating what I mentioned above and asked if I had misunderstood... but no insurance company does anything for free so I can't imagine that Aviva would be giving away insurance if they aren't required to be law. I'm just finishing my 6 month probation with this company. TBH I can imagine them turning around and saying no one can tow if it means they have to cover it on their insurance.
 
When we've had enterprise vehicles through Landrover Assistance we have had to insure the (whole!) vehicle on our policy so I could use it to tow. Presumably you could take out insurance on it, not sure exactly how that would work but we didn't own the vehicle and it was covered by our policy and enterprises policy at the same time.
 
chestnut cob said:
Volvo V60 which has enough towing capacity for what I need and plenty of power. Had one on trial for a week, it's an incredible car!

I have queried it with our HR woman who deals with the insurers etc. She said she had no idea, apparently no one has ever asked. Everyone else says they've had several people towing caravans in the past so it can't be that difficult to sort out. HR woman has emailed the company's insurance broker to get clarification. That was on Monday and nothing yet so it seems to me like they don't quite know what to do with the answer! I sent them a link to the Aviva website stating what I mentioned above and asked if I had misunderstood... but no insurance company does anything for free so I can't imagine that Aviva would be giving away insurance if they aren't required to be law. I'm just finishing my 6 month probation with this company. TBH I can imagine them turning around and saying no one can tow if it means they have to cover it on their insurance.
Click to expand...

Ahhh fab. I don't think I'll get much more than 22k P11d so I'm looking at a VW tiguan I think. Is the v60 4wd?
 
I had an NHS lease vehicle and the last one was a Landrover 90. I had a tow bar fitted as part of the deal and towed with their knowledge and approval. I am a nurse manager so used Landrover for travel to and from sites for meetings etc.
 
ROG said:
Have YOU Emailed the insurer and asked them if its ok for private towing?
Click to expand...

Surely they can't talk to you without permission from your company who are the policy holder? I know my insurers won't talk to anyone but me.

ETA - I'm now looking to tow with OH's company car instead as easier than messing around with my lot. Would have preferred to do it with mine but better than no tow car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top