Weight Police: Need Help!!!

SanMarMor wrote:
People keep saying it's fine to go over the trucks weight sticker ratings. Sure, it will pull, it may even stop, sort of. But if you ever get in an accident, the first thing the insurance company will do, is check to see if you were over ratings. When they find you were, your insurance is no good, and lawyers from the other vehicle in the accident, will come after you with a vengeance. After all, you negligently disregarded the trucks specifications. You are at fault. You can imagine where that will go.

Mark

That literally never happens, especially in a scenario like OP is asking about. Towing over a manufacturer's ratings in and of itself doesn't mean anything. Being overweight has to actually cause the injury which wouldn't be easy to prove. Even the weight of the trailer at the time of the accident wouldn't be easy to establish because most of the time it'll be smashed and scrapped before all the contents can be weighed. And those factors really speak more to your liability in an accident situation, not denial of coverage. As far as denied coverage goes, insurance companies pay when their insureds are at fault all the time. Trying to deny coverage in a situation like OP is asking about is a good way to get slapped with a bad faith claim.

I practiced insurance defense litigation when I was starting out my career so I have a bit of first hand knowledge about how bad drivers and bad doctors get subjected to in terms of civil liability and insurance coverage.