rv insurance how much is to much

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crazycanuck

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Joined
Sep 1, 2011
Posts
32
Location
Gatineau Que. Canada
i have coverage in case i hit someone, but not much on my own motor home hoping the other guy hitting me will pay!
question is : i use it 3 months in summer and park it the rest of the time the three months are touring ,this year we plan to see our boys in alberta from quebec by way of the usa,about 7000mi round trip.
I am not worried about cost of items in vechicle only having home fixed or repaired to get me home or scrapping it and flying home (hotel & flights)hopfully not medical involved.
do they have basic insurance amounts and 3 or 6 month policies.
My motor home is a 1988 fleetwood pa and with new tires this summer before i go i will have a total of $15000 in it and several small trips of pure joy.
any ideas or suggestions , i will be checking ins. companies come march
Crazycanuck.
 
Most if not all insurers will cap the amount they'll pay to repair the rig (comprehensive coverage) at the book value of the motorhome.  A 1988 coach only has a book value of a few thousand dollars, so any repair that costs more than that will make the insurance company declare the rig a "total loss" - they'll scrap the rig and give you a check for it's stated value.

Check carefully the cost vs. maximum payout for any comprehensive coverage.  Paying an extra $500 or $1000 per year doesn't make sense if the motorhome only has a book value of a few thousand dollars.
 
There is one insurance that many people forget or ignore. Off premis theft.  If someone breaks into your RV, the contents aren't insured.  Your home owners ins. has a Ryder for off premis theft.  Check with your agent.

Start adding up your contents.. Cameras, laptops, GPS  clothes you get the picture.

Jim
 
How much is to much with regard to insurance bill.......  Mine that's for sure... 3 cars, the beast and the RV... I have a huge headache thinking about the premiums we pay.....
 
That is a problem with me too.  Before with the 2005 I had full coverage.  Hubby said its a waste of money to do the same with this old pusher.  But the book on it from what I see is still right at $20k.  But just liability and basic coverage uninsured motorist and that is $400 a year.  If I get full coverage its $800 a year.  But then I'm thinking if I have to replace a windshield that would pay the premium for the whole year.

Right now its in the yard uninsured because I'm not driving it.  But I need to do something soon.  I think I'm going to put the skylights in and take it to an RV place and get the 2 roof AC's installed.  That way the top is closed in.  I really don't trust those guys on our new roof.  I'm going to get up there to do the other, I assume the liquid roofing is durable, and I let it cure for over 2 weeks before I've even got near it.

Hubby also wants me to take the vent lids off and get new ones.  He said then all that plastic on top will be new, makes sense.

But I'm still not sure which way to go.
 
Most RV insurance packages include personal effects coverage, but it is typically a low amount by default. $2000 is typical in my experience, and that isn't much to cover cameras, computers, clothing, and numerous other things you may carry with you that are not physically part of the coach. And many policies consider anything hooked to the coach but not part of the structure, e.g. awnings, to be personal property as well.

GMAC has RV insurance that you can suspend while the RV is not in use, e.g. in the off season. A few others offer that as well, but I don't recall who. Only the liability and collision is suspended - the fire and theft coverage remains in effect in case of damage while in storage.

As Lou says, the most you can collect on either collision or comprehensive coverage will be the actual cash value (ACV) of the RV. The insurer gets to determine that and it is based on market value, not what you have invested in it. The market value may be negotiable based on condition and local market prices, but it won't be far from the NADA average retail value, no  matter how good the condition is.
 
"But the book on it from what I see is still right at $20k."  That's a lot of coin out there.. If you can afford it, the $800 year seems prudent, I personally would not want to lose $20k worth of property in the event of an accident.
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
Most RV insurance packages include personal effects coverage, but it is typically a low amount by default. $2000 is typical in my experience, and that isn't much to cover cameras, computers, clothing, and numerous other things you may carry with you that are not physically part of the coach. And many policies consider anything hooked to the coach but not part of the structure, e.g. awnings, to be personal property as well.

GMAC has RV insurance that you can suspend while the RV is not in use, e.g. in the off season. A few others offer that as well, but I don't recall who. Only the liability and collision is suspended - the fire and theft coverage remains in effect in case of damage while in storage.

As Lou says, the most you can collect on either collision or comprehensive coverage will be the actual cash value (ACV) of the RV. The insurer gets to determine that and it is based on market value, not what you have invested in it. The market value may be negotiable based on condition and local market prices, but it won't be far from the NADA average retail value, no  matter how good the condition is.
Click to expand...
This brings a question to my mind Gary, do you full timers have some type of 'home owners' options available for your ... significant effects?  I've actually never thought about that before, full timing means your carrying significant personal things that are with you in the unit vs living in a stick house.  I understand different situations with home bases and all, but do full timers without storage or home bases have options available with regards to insurance? 
 
I have renter's insurance to cover the contents of my RV.  I've had State Farm for over 15 years, and one of the women in my agent's office arranged it somehow.  So I have $20K for the contents plus coverage on the 5th wheel plus regular coverage for my truck. 
;)
 
I'm not a fulltimer - just a "long timer", so we have homeowner coverage from our house that will cover most personal property while away from home.  But I also increased our "personal property" coverage on the coach insurance to provide some extra there as well. It only added a couple dollars a year to the coach premium.

Fulltimers should also consider getting a personal liability "umbrella" policy to get the kind of liability coverage that others typically get with homeowner or renter policies.
 
My insurance is an agreed value policy that was set at the time of purchase at the purchase amount.

Also Gary mentioned the umbrella policy, mine for $1,000,000 is only $99 a year. Small price to pay for that much coverage.

Also keep in mind that if you have a mortgage on the unit, your lender may require coverage even if its not being used.
 
We have personal experience with an injury while working on the RV and recommend you get maximum medical coverage.  As soon as my medical bills were paid for emergency care, three surgeries, and physical therapy, we increased the medical coverage to the maximum on all our vehicles.  When we checked into the emergency room we were asked how my elbow got broken.  The answer was that I fell off a ladder while cleaning the outside of the motorhome.  As soon as the word "motorhome" was mentioned the lady told us that our RV coverage would handle the first medical bills and then our regular insurance would take over.  The first $5,000 was paid by the RV's medical coverage no questions asked and hassle free.  Then the regular insurance took over and paid the remainder.  Trust me, in today's environment of high medical costs, $5,000 doesn't begin to cover an injury like mine.  And mine wasn't even a horrendous one like it might have been.  We had no clue that RV insurance would cover an exterior accident like falling off a ladder while working on the motorhome.

ArdraF
 
Years ago when we were just into RVing again, I found myself parked at a red light.  I looked around when my wife pointed out the Rolls Royce along side of us.  I did and there were several Merdedes, another Rolls and a Prevost MH.  When we got home, I increased the umbrella to 3.5 million.  These things are expensive and if you find yourself on 101 in CA that is not unusual especially in the Newport to Mallibu stretch or for that matter in many other places in the US.

It has proved to be valuable for other reasons as well.
 
thanks for all the info & input,my house and vechicles are insured seperate at the moment but i will sure be looking into combining them as one method.
I pray we don't have any accidents on our trips,none in 40 years,but if it happens i hope they hit me.
crazycanuck.
 
We have thankfully only needed to make one claim with the RV insurance (Geico) last year the freak windstorm at Bristol destroyed our electric awning... Although we have a $500 deductible (same as the vehicles) it still saved us a few hundred $'s making the claim.
 
Just a add on, I try not to use the same ins company for cars and RV.. Years ago I caught our awning on a tree, replaced by ins company, and next year my rates went up for car and RV for filing a claim under collision.

Jim

 
Tin man said:
Just a add on, I try not to use the same ins company for cars and RV.. Years ago I caught our awning on a tree, replaced by ins company, and next year my rates went up for car and RV for filing a claim under collision.

Jim
Click to expand...
You know, this was my thought as well.  However, so far, they have not raised the rates due to multiple 'acts of god' or what ever they consider them, feeling lucky.  We have had multiple deer hits and this storm damage, no increase so far.  My son did have another accident with an ice covered road, again we were worried, waiting.... Geico has been frankly an unbelievable insurance company for the years we have been with them.
 
In Georgia, the insurance company can check your record with the state and raise your rates if the accident was your fault even if another insurance company pays.

As a matter of fact, if applying for new coverage, one of the first questions asked is if you've had an accident that was your fault in the past 3 years.
 
Regardless whether homeowners or MH and fulltimers, I carry an umbrella policy equal to our networth..on a separate note we recently were involved in a hit and miss and run  because the other driver crossed our lane but I swerved and avoided a collision.  Unfortunately our coach was damaged considerably when it scraped along some rocks..the other driver just kept going.  The insurance never quibbled about repairs but they did classify our accident as "my sole negligence" because there wer no witnesses and no third party they could go after.  Luck of the draw I guess and our rates did go up about 10%.  Guess the moral of this tale is when in doubt don't duck <g>
 
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