This came up in a conversation recently and I didn’t have an answer…Are karts and all the stuff that goes with them covered by either homeowners or car insurance? If not, does anyone purchase additional insurance? I plan on calling my agent but would like some first hand points of view too.
I have an enclosed trailer, I usually carry or store 2 or 3 karts in the trailer, tools and spare parts. I would guess the type of loss may matter (accident vs theft) but it is probably close to 20k in value and likely more to replace.
My boilerplate answer for insurance is “it depends”. Ask your insurance because coverages vary.
The kart may be covered against theft under personal property insurance. I suspect same for trailer…. But only while on the insured premises or in storage.
If your karts and tools are company assets, then it would be commercial property insurance you need.
On the move, the trailer and contents may be covered under your auto policy.
So I’d definitely check with your agent on the coverages, deductibles.
James is spot on. “It depends”. For my policy, the answer was pretty simple. If its sitting in my driveway, its covered by my home owners policy. If its hooked to my truck, its covered by my auto policy.
I’m no expert by any means, but read the fine print and ask lots of questions… My racing buddy recently went through this and was told some weird caveats for coverage (Not sure of the insurance company). I can’t remember all the specifics, but it was something to the tune of if you have running vehicles stored in your trailer, that homeowners will try to push it off on auto, which auto will then say they aren’t on the policy, but if you have “parts” of vehicles, one of them may cover it. His agent basically said take the motors off your karts when they are in the trailer. He ended up just getting a separate umbrella policy for the trailer and contents.
Car insurance covers it, but you need to specifically cover the trailer as a separate policy option that is “appended” to your main vehicle policy. Few hundred dollars a year and you can also cover theft of the trailer itself and contents for an amount that you decide. (Allstate/Progressive) I just did mine
That’s the umbrella or amendment both guys above mentioned. Your car coverage has a limited dollar amount you’ve agreed to that probably won’t touch the karts.
Different but related: I had a mountain bike stolen from my truck at the end of 2022. I would have thought car insurance would have covered it if anything, but my agent told me to file a claim with homeowners insurance (Travelers) and despite being 350 miles from my home, it was covered and they immediately cut me a check.
HOWEVER, the company proceeded to drop me 3 months later. It “wasn’t related” but I mean…come on. I had been with them for 8 years and never missed a payment or made a claim. What’s worse is that when I went to get a new policy, I was “uninsurable” by the only company writing policies in my neighborhood at the time (State Farm). They explicitly told me it was because of the stolen bike claim and the fact that I couldn’t prove that I made mitigating efforts from it happening in the future. I ended up having to get a California FAIR plan instead, ultimately costing me much more than the $4,500 I got back from insurance for my bike.
So might they cover you? Sure. But be sure it’s worth it.
This is very interesting. Were you asked to prove how you secured your bike? I lock my bike with a cable lock in my truck bed but the reality is 30 seconds with a cut off tool and its gone.
State Farm (like many others) has been pulling out of California for a while, you can find many articles about it, talk to a RE agent and they’ll tell you what’s up. Sad situation for many people
My insurance company at the time, who covered the theft, didn’t ask diddly other than how much the bike cost me. When I was trying to get new insurance they asked me how it was secured but ultimately said “bike thefts are nearly unpreventable, and as such you can’t really prove to us that you’ve done any mitigation to avoid another claim in the future. For any claims within X years (don’t remember how many) for us to be able to insure you we need to show you’ve mitigated the risk, which you can’t.”
We’re in the Santa Cruz Mountains (Redwoods in every direction) so we’re well aquainted with insurance companies not covering us. Even in 2015, AAA, who I’d been with since I turned 16, wouldn’t insure our house.
But this was not that. State Farm insures most people in my neighborhood and even at that time they were actively writing new policies (a neighbor who moved in had the exact same agent insure her 2 months later).
I am with State Farm. I was told they will not cover go karts (gas powered transportation devices) at all. The trailer would be a separate policy but seems reasonable in cost at about $100 a year for a 6K trailer. Tools and such would be covered by the homeowners policy.