Cart Insurance & Accident Claim
 

I was told today by someone that if you have a gas cart that can go over 19 MPH and you are involved in an accident because your cart can exceed 19 MPH your insurance company will not cover you even though you were not exceeding the speed limit when the accident occured. If it's proven that your cart exceeds 19 MPH they will not cover you in case of an accident. If this is true and your cart can exceed 19 MPH why have insurance if they will not cover claims.

Anyone have any knowledge of this?

John

Do not believe this.

Was this "someone" a lawyer, insurance agent or a bartender?

He's a guy who has lived here for over 15 years and is a starter at a country club. For some reason he heard this from someone. I think he's pretty reliable but don't know where he got this information. It could have come from multiple sources.

John

I have seen this reported numerous times on TOTV. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but to me, it makes sense from an insurance standpoint. Your insurance rate is partially based on the max speed that the vehicle is capable of going. If it goes faster, then it supposed to be equipped, registered and insured (at a much higher rate) as an LSV.

John, it's probably best to call your own insurance agent for their insight.

Bill :)

If true, why would this not apply to faster than 19 mph - non street legal carts as well? We get passed in our gas cart that is set to go 19.8 mph more often than not by electric carts that are non street legal.

Well how can they prove what your cart is capable of speed wise?

If that were the case would you be covered on your car?

Mine can do 140mph

I would think it's a rumor.

The only meaningful response, as each insurance company may be different.

As a followup I checked with my insurance company (Allstate) and was told that if the cart goes over 19 MPH to be legal it must be registered as a low speed vehicle. I was also told that if the cart came from Yamaha with a speed over 19MPH than that would be OK as a golf cart but if it was adjusted at the dealer it would have to be registered as a LSV. She also said that if the dealer made these adjustments they could lose their Yamaha license. I then contacted Carts and Clubs and was told by them that a gas cart cannot be registered as a LSV. They also said that they make adjustments to the speed there and have no problem with Yamaha. She also told me that if I wanted to reduce my speed to 19MPH they could do that. Currently I can go 23MPH but don't drive at that speed. I like the fact that I can get a little speed boost when needed. In order to get a higher speed than 19MPH they put in a high performance gear differential. She said that with this differential you get better gas mileage and there is less strain on the engine going 19MPH. (however, someone once told me that that was not true).

John