bgum wrote:
If you do get in an accident your insurance could deny any claim on your behalf. Others attorneys would have a field day in court.
I can't believe this old myth still persists.
I worked in insurance claims for years and this never ever ever ever happened in my office. Never.
Insurance is specifically for stupidity and negligence. If insurance didn't pay out claims for negligence, they would never pay out a claim. You're negligent when you run a red light or make an unsafe lane change. You're negligent when you overload the bed of your pickup truck with pallets of bricks and you roll the truck. The list of stupid stuff is infinite.
Claims reps and adjusters look for fraud (first-party claims) and negligence/blame where a third-party is involved so that responsibility can be assigned. They haggle with body shops over parts prices and labor hours. They haggle with rental car companies over the number of days they'll pay for the rental. They haggle with their policy holders over the value of a total loss (worst part of the job). They look closely at fire claims because of the high incidence of fraud. But they don't give a rip about tow ratings.
Underwriters look for patterns of negligence so they can either raise the premiums on risky drivers or tag them for non-renewal if they're bad enough.
Neither of these roles involve looking at tow ratings.
As far as third-party attorneys go (somebody else suing you)... They'll look for any reason to run up the bills. If your claim involved you towing overweight, the injured party's attorney might use this as a point to try to sway a jury (if your insurance doesn't settle and lets it go to trial). All of this is irrelevant to you though, because your liability adjuster is going to defend you in court and pay out if it's your fault. It doesn't matter to you how much they pay out, as long as it's covered by your policy limits.
Your biggest risk isn't your tow ratings, it's your liability coverage amount. With property values skyrocketing, make sure your limits are high enough to cover the value of your house and assets. If you have strong assets, work with your agent to figure out the right amount of liability coverage and add an umbrella policy.
And don't listen to people perpetuating the myths. For that matter, don't even listen to me. Read your policy and see what's covered and what's excluded. Talk to your agent. The more you educate yourself, the easier it will be to spot the urban legends like bgum's above.
Remember: The sky is NOT falling.
