Towing slightly over sticker limit - anyone been denied insurance claim?

I was told that I have to keep the entire tow load below the posted weight on the door jam sticker or else in an accident the insurance company could deny the entire claim. And while I know everyone has an "opinion" does anyone know *for sure* if this is true? Would love to hear from someone who works in the insurance industry on this topic, or even anyone that has been denied a claim.

I'm looking to buy a toy hauler and my 2019 Sport w/tow pkg has a limit of 6800lbs (although some websites say it is 6400lbs?) I *assume* that means gross total with all gear in it, which kinda sucks. After two motorcycles and gear and water tanks it means a base trailer that weighs under 5500lbs at least, prob closer to 5k.

Please no "buy bigger rig"...that's not gonna happen.

 

the insurance companies make a profit by taking money in, not paying money out, therefor if they feel they have a legitimate reason to not pay out, they will.
I try to remember to apply the flip test to things; what if you are the insurance man paying out, are you going to voluntarily payout in this scenario or fight it?

regardless of financial and legal liabilities; do you want to spend vacation/relaxation time white knuckle driving, getting their tired and stressed, driving in the far right lane with hazards on going up hills, getting single digit MPGS, wearing out your truck, etc?

 

I don't know the answer to your insurance question, but I can tell you the 6800 pounds you're looking at would be the wrong measure if this became a problem. If you were to drive your rig with the trailer and all the crap in your truck and trailer ready to go onto a scale that measures your front axle, rear axle and the trailer axles separately your limits are (they're listed in your door jam). Front axle: 2910 pounds, rear axle 3280 pounds. Front + rear + trailer axles 11360 pounds.

 

Who "told you"?

 

You already know the answer. Buy a smaller trailer or a bigger truck.

 

OP already took option A off the table, so smaller trailer, or driving across country in 2nd and 3rd gear it is!

 

The reality is...IF the responding officer thinks you're overweight and IF for whatever reason they make a note of it in the crash report, good luck disproving that by dragging your smashed and upside down combo onto the truck scales.

We all know what those "ifs" mean. It's a low probability, but you're fucked if those dice crap out. Especially if that "IF" includes a 3rd party casualty.

In reality, the above is right. IF you know in the bottom of your heart that you're overweight, then you have more immediate problems than the insurance company. Use the right tool or adapt your lifestyle to the tool you have.

 

I believe the principle is similar to the USA as to what we have in Canada. You, and the person you injured/hit/caused a loss to, would be covered, but you would likely be found to be responsible if the excess trailer weight was a contributing factor in an accident. So, your future insurance rates (if you can get coverage at all) will be quite a bit higher.

The only time they can refuse to pay out is if the claim is either fraudulent or intentional. So, setting fire to your own truck isn't covered, nor is submitting a claim for $5,000 worth of body work if the shop did it for cash for $2,000. In the latter case, they would probably deny any payment if they found out, not to mention the chance of getting charged with criminal fraud.

 

sounds about right , luckily he has a m.t

 

If you’re at 5500 what’s the issue?

 

Just curious which camper you're looking at and what you're thinking of putting in it? The NoBo TH weighs in at 4800 dry, so 1600 extra lbs doesn't leave much, if you're considering a SXS or something.

You know what they say, "don't crash"

 

Really do your homework before buying such a heavy rig with plans to add a pretty hefty load. Rule of thumb is to keep tow load at 70-80% max of tow load shown for your truck.

 

5500 Dry***. Add about 750 to that for propane, battery and furnishings, plus water weight, plus toy weight.

Because the RV marketing industry is unethical as hell in blithely talking dry weight numbers without explaining what that means.

 

The OP said, “After two motorcycles and gear and water tanks it means a base trailer that weighs under 5500lbs at least, prob closer to 5k.” I interpret that as an under the max tow capacity of 6800. I’m bit confused what the OP is asking. He might be confusing GVWR and towing capacity.

 

This is really simple - Read your insurance policy. They aren’t that hard to understand. If you still don’t know the answer then call your insurance agent. If he/she doesn’t know then he/she will contact the claims department for the answer. Asking the question will not affect your policy or coverage. Why ask a bunch of strangers when most or all of us don’t know the answer. Are you going to base your decision on advice from a stranger who maybe doesn’t know shit?

Second, towing over limit is dangerous and by doing so you jeopardize the lives of you and your passengers and the other vehicles and passengers on the road around you. When you plow into someone and injure or kill someone because you and your over limit load couldn’t stop in time, you’ll be in deep shit whether your insurance covers you or not. If this happens your liability goes way up, possibly beyond your insurance policy limits. And fyi police accident investigators are trained to look for overweight, over limit as cause or contributing factors in accidents.

 

Exactly.

 

This.

 

I've towed 6500 lbs with my truck. Pain in the ass and couldn't wait to get to my destination. Good luck and, I could care less if you mess up and hurt yourself, just don't hurt the person not responsible for your bad decisions.
Oh, and enjoy trying to back that weight up with the MT transmission. Slipslipslipslip goes the clutch.

 

I've never heard of anyone being deigned coverage because an over loaded truck/trailer was in an accident. Like you, I'd like to hear of an actual, verified instance.

I subscribed to your thread to just read all the responses that really are not answers to your question.

 

Thanks for the thoughts everyone, although the pissy attitudes were typical but not necessary. As I research more I find that GVWR is 5600lbs and need to figure out how that corresponds to the max tow capacity of 6800lbs.
Yes, manual transmission.
Yes, trailer brake system installed.
Yes, 2LO mod installed for reversing.
And yes, planning on living in the slow lane and getting single-digit MPG because V6.