Caravanning company car drivers should be ‘towing’ safety guidelines

With the summer holiday season upon us, thousands of company car drivers will be hitching up their caravans and hitting the highways of the UK and Europe.

However, some drivers are unknowingly towing their caravan without the correct insurance cover in place or without prior permission of their employer, thus contravening Duty of Care legislation.

A resulting accident involving either the car and/or the caravan could result in hefty uninsured repair costs and may even incur a corporate fine for failing to provide adequate insurance cover for drivers.

“All company car drivers should consult with their employer or driver handbook before they tow anything, including a small trailer,” explained John Webb, Fleet Consultant with Lex Momentum.

“If published towing policies aren’t in place they should seek guidance from their fleet manager or HR department. Under no circumstances should they tow without prior agreement as they may not be covered under their company’s insurance policy.”

The Caravan Club has come up with a good rule of thumb; that a car should not tow a caravan more than 85% of its towing vehicle’s kerb weight, as long as 85% doesn’t exceed the vehicle manufacturer's recommended towing limit.

All towing weights and measures are quoted in a car’s handbook and should be consulted carefully by both driver and employer before a company car is used for towing.

“It is imperative the quality of the tow bar and its fitting meets the required safety standards. If a car is owned by a leasing company it will probably want its approved supplier to install the towbar based on the car’s size and official towing capacity as it will carry the Duty of Care responsibility for fitting the accessory,” said Webb.

From a safety perspective, Lex urges first time towers to consider some training in caravan or trailer towing before embarking on a long journey. Driving on the UK’s and Europe’s road in the school holidays is stressful enough, without having a caravan and several miles of traffic crawling behind!