Does car insurance cover a trailer in New Zealand?
Your car's liability cover reaches a trailer you tow, but the trailer itself is only insured if you add the optional trailer benefit. Source
QuoteHub is a Tower partner. Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy. General information, not advice.
Read the full answer
Not automatically. In Tower's car wording the trailer itself is insured only if you add the optional Trailer benefit, and only for a domestic single-axle trailer listed on your certificate, with a limit of $3,000 (Tower's comprehensive wording). Damage you cause to other people's property while towing is a different question, and the car's liability cover handles it. This guide, part of QuoteHub's car insurance section, uses Tower's published wording as a worked example. Other insurers set their own rules.
Does car insurance cover a trailer?
Partly. The car policy's liability cover reaches damage to other people's property involving a trailer attached to your car. The trailer itself is covered only if you chose Tower's optional Trailer benefit, which is set out in the comprehensive wording (Tower's comprehensive wording).
Read moreShow less
Tower's third party, fire and theft wording and its third party only wording carry the liability cover for an attached trailer, but neither sets out a Trailer benefit (third party, fire and theft wording, third party only wording). Our guide to comprehensive car insurance covers that level, and the one on third party car insurance covers the other.
What does the optional Trailer benefit pay?
If you choose it, Tower pays for loss to your registered and warranted domestic single-axle trailer listed on the certificate of insurance. It pays the least of the repair cost, the sum insured, the market value or $3,000 (Tower's comprehensive wording).
Read moreShow less
The $3,000 is a ceiling, not a value. A trailer worth less is limited by its market value or the sum insured instead.
"Loss" in the wording means sudden and accidental physical loss or damage in New Zealand during the period of insurance. Wear, tear and depreciation, and the cost of repairing faults and defects, are excluded (Tower's comprehensive wording).
The benefit text does not say it applies only while the trailer is hitched, and it does not mention what is loaded on the trailer. The car wording sends personal effects and business tools left in the car elsewhere, to a separate contents policy (Tower's comprehensive wording). The wording does not say how loaded gear is treated, so Tower is the one to confirm that.
Which trailers can be insured?
Only a domestic, general use, single-axle trailer that you own. Tower's definition leaves out boat trailers, caravans, horse floats, camper trailers and any double-axle trailer (Tower's comprehensive wording).
Read moreShow less
| Trailer | Under the Trailer benefit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic, general use, single-axle, owned by you, registered and warranted, on the certificate | Can be insured, up to $3,000 | Tower's comprehensive wording |
| Double-axle (tandem) trailer | Excluded by the definition | Tower's comprehensive wording |
| Camper trailer or horse float | Excluded by the definition | Tower's comprehensive wording |
| Boat trailer | Excluded here. A boat policy has its own optional benefit | Tower's boat wording |
| Caravan | Excluded by the definition | Tower's comprehensive wording |
| A trailer you hire or borrow | Outside the definition, which says "that you own" | Tower's comprehensive wording |
Whether a particular trailer counts as "domestic, general use" is decided under Tower's definition, and a trailer used for work may fall outside it.
What if the trailer damages someone else's property?
The car's liability protection covers your legal liability for accidental damage to someone else's property involving a trailer or caravan attached to your car, up to $25,000,000 in total. You do not need the Trailer benefit for that (Tower's comprehensive wording).
Read moreShow less
Liability cover has exclusions that matter when you tow. Driving unsafely is excluded, and the wording's own example is overloading either the car or the trailer. Using the car off-road, such as on a beach or riverbed, is excluded too, except while you launch or retrieve your boat from its own boat trailer (Tower's comprehensive wording).
In the third party only wording the attached trailer or caravan is covered "provided not otherwise insured" (Tower's third party only wording). Our guide to when car insurance won't pay out lists the other common exclusions.
What about boat trailers and caravans?
A boat trailer sits on the boat policy, not the car policy, because the car wording's trailer definition leaves boat trailers out. The same definition leaves caravans out, so the Trailer benefit does not insure a caravan (Tower's comprehensive wording).
Read moreShow less
In Tower's boat wording the optional Boat trailer benefit pays for loss to your registered and warranted boat trailer listed on the certificate (Tower's boat wording). The boat insurance guide covers trailer boats, and our page on what boat insurance covers goes through the policy.
What does it cost, and is there an excess?
This page cannot show a price, because Tower works out the premium when you quote. The wording does say you pay your excess on a claim unless the benefit being claimed is described as excess free, and the Trailer benefit is not described that way (Tower's comprehensive wording).
Read moreShow less
The excess amount is shown on your certificate of insurance. For how car premiums are set, see our guide to car insurance cost in NZ. If you do claim, the steps are in car insurance claims.
Getting a quote from Tower online
Have your car's registration number, the licence and claims history of each regular driver, and the trailer's details to hand. QuoteHub's link opens Tower's online quote, Tower's own page, where the cover level and optional benefits are chosen.
Read moreShow less
The Trailer benefit is a comprehensive-level option, and the trailer has to be listed on the certificate. Other insurers sell trailer cover too, with their own limits. Our page on getting a car insurance quote online explains what the form asks for.
Questions people ask
Does car insurance cover a trailer I am towing?
For damage to other people's property, yes. Tower's liability protection covers your legal liability involving a trailer or caravan attached to your car (Tower's comprehensive wording). For loss to the trailer itself, only if you chose the optional Trailer benefit.
Can I add trailer cover to third party car insurance?
In Tower's wordings the Trailer benefit appears in the comprehensive wording only. The two third party wordings cover liability for an attached trailer but set out no benefit for the trailer itself (third party, fire and theft wording, third party only wording).
Can I insure a tandem or double-axle trailer on my car policy?
Not under Tower's Trailer benefit. Its definition covers single-axle trailers only and excludes any double-axle trailer (Tower's comprehensive wording). The wording sets out no other trailer benefit for a tandem trailer.
Is a trailer covered when it is not hitched to the car?
The Trailer benefit wording covers loss to the listed trailer and does not tie cover to it being attached. Limits and conditions in the wording and on your certificate still apply, so confirm the detail with Tower (Tower's comprehensive wording).
Is the $3,000 limit what I will always be paid?
No. Tower pays the least of the repair cost, the sum insured, the market value or $3,000, so a trailer worth less than that is paid at its lower figure (Tower's comprehensive wording). Your excess applies as well.
Sources
(4)
Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Reviewed quarterly, when the underlying data is restated. General information, not advice on your situation. Buying through Tower's online quote is direct, without advice. QuoteHub is a Tower partner and Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission from Tower.
Get a Tower quote online
Tower’s own quote opens in a new tab. House, contents, landlord, car and boat cover can be quoted together in one go.
Tower Easy Save: save $400*. *$400 is made up of individual policy discounts, each available separately. New, eligible policies only with promo code EASYSAVE. Excl. contract works. Ends 30 Jan 2027. Ts&Cs apply. Tower’s Easy Save terms, checked 6 October 2026.
QuoteHub is a Tower partner. Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy. General information, not advice.
Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, Calculators.