A warning about full time insurance

And just collected $2480 on my homeowners policy last month, due to water damage from a leak. Had another $8600 home owners claim two years ago too, also a water damage problem (broken pipe flooded two rooms).

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Hi Gary... Just wondering.  Did both of those incidents happen while you were on the road, far from home ?

If so, I wonder if insurance companies will someday question such claims. Not a happy thought.

Carson

One of them occurred shortly before we arrived back home, but my daughter was staying in the house at the time so it was "occupied" and she prevented further damage when the leak was discovered.  The insurers rules on water damage claims make it clear that an unattended property might be grounds for denial of claim. Home owners coverage in general stipulates that the property is occupied by the insured. Not clear what that means for a second home, which by definition is only occupied part of the year.

This brings up another point of the discussion.  When we leave, we turn the inside house water off; and leave the yard/landscaping water on.  Somewhere along our travels we were discussing this with another RVer and they mentioned that their insurance would not cover them if they turned off their water.  When we got home we checked with our Farmer's agent.  They informed us that it did nothing to our policy and they recommended turning the water off when we leave.

Marsha~

Several years ago, when we left for the winter for the first time, we didn't turn off the water or the water heater (ok, we were stupid). While we were gone, the water heater overflowed and damaged our hardwood floors and the carpet, the vanity in the bathroom, and some personal property. State Farm covered the whole thing, including the hot water heater, because they determined that it was all caused by snow blocking the pipe where the heater drains outside. Not only did they not care that we weren't there when it happened, our agent and the insurance adjuster both suggested that we remember to turn off the water the next time we left for the summer.

Well gang, I still need to know if any of you happy State Farm insurees are also full timers?  Same for USAA insurees?

We have Geico.  Only claim for the RV (have been many for everything from 5 deer hits to total loss with a brand new vehicle) was damage from a freak windstorm in Bristol last August.  Geico actually showed up at the campground during a Nascar week (pretty crazy) and took care of business.  Basically, other than the $500.00 deductible, they are paying for all the damage to our electric awning and the decal that was scratched with the damage.  I'm bringing the unit up for the repair this week, take a day off work (day after Thanksgiving) and get it done.  Sorry for anyone else that has not had perfect experience with Geico, but they will continue to have our business, just never had anything to complain about.... other than what our premiums cost us... but that's just the situation with all insurance today.

Ladybiker said:

We have full time insurance and personal effects coverage for $15K from Progressive.  Last week someone got into our rear storage compartment using either that C751 key or by picking the lock.  They took our tools, every last one.  The list is quite long and runs about $2k for replacement.  Who woulda thought tools could cost so much.

We thought we would be covered.  But it turns out that in most full time personal effects insurance plans there's a clause that says in effect you get zero coverage if there is no "evidence of forcible entry".  So if the locks had been broken out we would have been covered for both the tools and the repair.  Since there was no damage, we get nada.

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As others have noted there is an almost universal requirement that some sort of evidence of illegal entry be present before a claim will be paid, for insurance policies of any kind (house/car/RV).

I put valuables in a locked box that's screwed down, both at home and while traveling.  While I suppose the box could be pried open by a motivated burglar, doing so would leave clear physical evidence that a theft occurred.

Jammer said:

I put valuables in a locked box that's screwed down, both at home and while traveling.

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You sound like Al Gore. ;D

OK, Guess I will assume from reading this thread that State Farm only offers RV kinsurance to part timers and NOT full timers. 

I don't KNOW if they offer it to full-timers. I only know that you do NOT have to have homeowners insurance with them to get coverage for a motorhome. If you really want to know if they offer motorhome insurance for full-timers, you probably should call them

Wendy

Wendy, when I called them in the past State Farm said they did not offer full timer insurance.  However NMNutswr above in the thread said the do cover HMs.  Not sure what he meant by HM, but it sounded like he might be answering my directly preceeding question in the positive.  If anyone on the forum had full timer insurance from State Farm I wanted to hear from them.  Otherwise, I am going to assume that what I was told by State Farm in the past is still true.

Smoky

My 2 cents.

If you look up all of these companies, State Farm, Geico, AFLAC, Allstate, Prudential, etc etc...look at the pictures of their corporate headquarters. Where do you think that money for the wasted space marble floored opulence comes from? You and me! Then there are all of the buildings around the country with an insurance company name. The GEICO Arena..The ALLSTATE Arena. Insurance companies are similar to banks. Both are intermediaries of funds. If you have $100,000 the best bang for your buck is to loan it to someone. But what does the average depositor know about making a loan. So, we loan it to the bank, and they turn around and use their lending expertise to re-lend it at a better rate. (any deposit in a bank is in its most common denominator, is a loan to the bank) They owe you the money, sooner or later. Insurance companies also make loans, however usually in the form of real estate investments, home mortgages (Washington Mutual come to mind?) and other instruments of funding. A whole-life insurance policy is simply a loan to the insurance company. The re-invest the money while you are alive. Life insurance is probably the least denied insurance claim, but they still make your beneficiaries prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are dead.

My experience is that they will try like heck to get out of paying a claim. However, they have the insurance regulators to answer to, especially on consumer claims, which is the reason for the meeting where they make an effort to pay. It looks good to the insurance examiners.

parttymer said:

My 2 cents.

If you look up all of these companies, State Farm, Geico, AFLAC, Allstate, Prudential, etc etc...look at the pictures of their corporate headquarters. Where do you think that money for the wasted space marble floored opulence comes from? You and me! Then there are all of the buildings around the country with an insurance company name. The GEICO Arena..The ALLSTATE Arena. Insurance companies are similar to banks. Both are intermediaries of funds. If you have $100,000 the best bang for your buck is to loan it to someone. But what does the average depositor know about making a loan. So, we loan it to the bank, and they turn around and use their lending expertise to re-lend it at a better rate. (any deposit in a bank is in its most common denominator, is a loan to the bank) They owe you the money, sooner or later. Insurance companies also make loans, however usually in the form of real estate investments, home mortgages (Washington Mutual come to mind?) and other instruments of funding. A whole-life insurance policy is simply a loan to the insurance company. The re-invest the money while you are alive. Life insurance is probably the least denied insurance claim, but they still make your beneficiaries prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are dead.

My experience is that they will try like heck to get out of paying a claim. However, they have the insurance regulators to answer to, especially on consumer claims, which is the reason for the meeting where they make an effort to pay. It looks good to the insurance examiners.

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.....f you look up all of these companies, State Farm, Geico, AFLAC, Allstate, Prudential, etc etc...look at the pictures of their corporate headquarters. Where do you think that money for the wasted space marble floored opulence comes from?

Got your 2 cents....

Frankly, I don't wish to deal with a company working out of a chicken-coop.  Just wondering how our system and it's issues stack up against insurance say in the old Soviet Union... or North Korea.... or China... Lot's of people making their living in those buildings, "the corporate headquarters".  Just more "2 cents"

Tony_Alberta said:

So the lesson is if you notice something taken with no signs of forced entry you then take the largest screwdrive you have to the lock and damage it.   

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Yep, pretty much.  They won't pay if the lock gets picked or "bumped", but they are prefectly willing to pay that, PLUS the damage caused after the door is crowbarred open.  Energize, Mr. O'Brien, there's no intelligent life down here.

We are with State Farm for the RV and don't have homeowners insurance. State farm dropped our homeowners just before hurricane charlie. They were alot cheaper than Progressive also on the RV. Maybe just my luck or being in FL. or multiple vehicles???

We are with Foremost and they have been very good about claims.  USAA has their insurance (fultime coverage) with Progressive.  We dropped Progressive 3 yrs ago because their premiums went up quite a bit with NO claims.  You have to keep looking from year to year to find the best deal.  A lot of the firms do not cover towing more than 15miles.

Okay, I know this thread is old... however, I just found it and joined the forum as well to post my recent experience.

I'm a 37 year old male with my truck and RV on an Allstate policy. Last month in January I was on the road in Oregon on Hwy 97 headed Southbound from Bend.

It was a great trip, two weeks along the coast and stopping to see a few friends whom I haven't seen in years.

Anyway, as I was headed South on 97, I was overtaken by a bigrig hauling butt and speeding just as fast as can be. He was doing about 70, and I was tooling along around 35 due to the conditions of the road, yes, it was icy... Bigrigs create a negative air pressure behind them as most of you are aware of, well, when this guy overtook me, the negative air pressure pulled my RV (tow behind) over just enough that the trailer decided to take the lead position down the highway.

So now, my girlfriend and I are facing the wrong way on the highway, sliding on ice... cross the center median... and pass through two lanes of oncoming traffic, and plow straight into a snowbank.

My RV was totaled... you could visibly see that the box was off the frame. Coachmasters in Bend stated it was two inches back, and an inch and a half to the side. There was no way my rig would be repaired.

My truck ended up being totaled as well... I love that truck.

Neither of us were injured in the accident, and I was so shaken, the only people I could think to call was Allstate. We sat there in that snowbank on the phone with Allstate and filed the claims. They were tremendous help, the lady on the phone got everything sorted for me and helped us both with this process. It was GREAT.

Long story short, Allstate was very efficient, and EXTREMELY helpful. They paid my out on my truck in just over 12 days, and the trailer in 14. Also, what they paid my out on the offer, the first offer, exceeded the value of my RV, and the truck.

Three weeks after the accident now, I have already purchased a newer setup, and there's still an excess of Allstate money. I never thought I'd say I love my insurance, but I do... I love those guys immensely.

BTW, this is my first accident ever, and it was ruled as a no-fault on my part.

A for what it's worth...you can open many rv cargo compartments with a stiff piece of wire without touching the lock!
Just thought I would help make you feel more secure

Jay Dee said:

The reason that GEICO rates are low is because they keep their payouts low. And that's why they can afford to flood the TV with ads. An example, if you think that you're gonna get the KBB or the NADA value for your stolen car you're in for a most unwelcome surprise. This I know from experience after paying them premiums for twenty years and NEVER filing a claim.
I know this thread is about RV insurance but I would think they screw you there as well as in auto insurance. I'm not planning on finding out. A fair warning!!!!

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I totally agree.  My son was an adjuster for them for a few years until his conscience bothered him so much he left.  My car was once hit by a GEICO policyholder.  When I took it to a bodyshop I had used before and trusted, he told me he couldn't fix it right for what they were willing to pay.  Personally I have USAA for all forms of insurance and if you are eligible either being military, ex military or a dependent thereof  I would look into them.

Staff edit: Fix broken quote tag

I disagree with the assertion that insurance will not pay if there is no evidence of forced entry. A few years ago our sticks and bricks was burglarized, while we were asleep in bed. We left a patio door open with just a screen door closed.

No forced entry. Essentially, we let them in. Our homeowners insurance, Nationwide, paid over $8,000 for stolen items.