Can't get insurance on our motorhome?

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romtim

Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Posts
8
Hi everyone. I am from Canada, Ontario.
So we've purchased our Class A Motorhome tonight, and two insurance companies already declined to provide insurance for it.
We are getting worried, because we can't drive it anywhere without license plates, and those can't be issued without a valid insurance.

First company's reason - Need a minimum of 8 years driving experience in Canada (I have only 4). - Aviva insurance
Second company's reason - Need a minimum of 2 years motorhome driving experience (have none, like anyone else who starts to drive an RV...). - CAA insurance

Has anyone encountered similar issues and how did you get over them? If so, please let me know.

I have no tickets or offenses, my driving record is clean, I'm over 25, I am the new owner of the motorhome, and it's fully paid for, it is not older than 20 years, it has not been in crashes, and it is not over 40ft - which are all typical reasons for denial. But me, I just ran into driving experience issues?

UPDATE
Thank you for the suggestions, guys!
We found a broker that has access to different insurance companies, and we had it done within 30 minutes over the phone at the fraction of the hassle and at half the price of what we were quoted with other companies! To whomever will find this thread in the future - don't give up, keep calling, and don't deal with insurance companies directly :)
 
Thanks for the advice, I'll take a look at that link.
As for Wayfarer insurance, I looked into it and called it earlier today, but it is apparently with Aviva General insurance, which is the first company that declined for the reason that I didn't drive 8 years in Canada...
Also, when going through the quote on their site, this question pops up again - https://www.screencast.com/t/BGCwZrgEh91A
 
What province are you in? Here in BC we buy our basic insurance with the plate through government controlled ICBC. Mind you, we pay a hefty premium for it, the highest in Canada. A good broker should be able to find someone for you.
 
Roy M said:
What province are you in? Here in BC we buy our basic insurance with the plate through government controlled ICBC. Mind you, we pay a hefty premium for it, the highest in Canada. A good broker should be able to find someone for you.
We're in Ontario. We're actually going to head to BC once we do get insured...
Ok, we will try to reach out to more brokers, maybe we just haven't found the right one.
 
Thank you for the suggestions, guys!
We found a broker that has access to different insurance companies, and we had it done within 30 minutes over the phone at the fraction of the hassle and at half the price of what we were quoted with other companies! To whomever will find this thread in the future - don't give up, keep calling, and don't deal with insurance companies directly :)
 
When I was buying my motorhome (US, not Canada) 6 years ago, I called my then-current insurance company, State Farm, that I had had for 30 years.  I was shocked when they quoted me $5,000 per year!  Apparently, they just did not want to insurance motorhomes, hence the ridiculous price.  Calling around got a quote from National General of $1,200 per year for full-timer insurance.

So, it really does pay to check multiple carriers.  Some just set up rules and high quotes because they do not want to deal with you.  Glad you got reasonable insurance.
 
darsben said:
If you take the road service that most insurance companies offer make sure it covers you on dirt road. Camp grounds etc.
I would and did opt for a RV road side company

I think the key language you are looking for is "maintained roads" instead of "paved roads".  Lots of interesting places have roads that are maintained by the county, National Park, Forest Service, or whoever.  They just aren't PAVED.
 
JudyJB said:
When I was buying my motorhome (US, not Canada) 6 years ago, I called my then-current insurance company, State Farm, that I had had for 30 years.  I was shocked when they quoted me $5,000 per year!  Apparently, they just did not want to insurance motorhomes, hence the ridiculous price.  Calling around got a quote from National General of $1,200 per year for full-timer insurance.

So, it really does pay to check multiple carriers.  Some just set up rules and high quotes because they do not want to deal with you.  Glad you got reasonable insurance.
Wow! And we've been insured with State Farm since 2010, on the motorhome. much longer on house and cars, and are not paying a lot more than you say for National General. But we're not full timing.
 
Interesting, well when we go full-time, we will probably need to ask our insurance company. They didn't ask us the question, so we didn't give them the answer :).
Any Canada/USA service that someone would recommend that could cover for potential issues, like darsben said to make sure they offer dirt road assistance?
 
Good Sam does
Coach - net does
AAA does not always and since you will be in the USA you will have to deal with the various clubs here. Some offer RV road side and have a good network of providers. Some AAA clubs do not offer RV roadside insurance and have little or no RV providers in their area ( you are covered but may not get good or timely service). Like Canada's CAA, AAA  is  many clubs under one name and is the  the same for the U.S.

Allstate Is silent As far as I can discover on the subject. I found the brochure here and have not read all the fine print so peruse it and figure it out
http://www.allstatemotorclub.com/amcc/handbook/amcguide_rvroadhelp_US.pdf

NB on rereading Allstate brochure I found this in fine print;
Expenses which are not covered include, but are not limited to:Recovery expenses due to accident, fire or flood; parts, products, storage, or gasoline; service(s) performed in a dealership, garage, or service station; service(s) performed in areas not regularly traveled (such as sand beaches, open fields, forests and areas not passable due to construction); service(s) needed due to an act of nature,

I emphasized the pertinent part and the emphasis is not part of the brochure
 
darsben said:
There are 3 levels of Good Sam make sure you select the one that covers motor homes.
One question how old of a motor home and what kind did you buy?
Its a 2000 Monaco Diplomat 38a
 
Just to be clear, Coach Net isn't vehicle insurance, but it's an excellent road-side service outfit -- in fact much more than just road side, since they have techs on 24-hour call that can help you trouble shoot problems, and can help you find mobile techs if needed, even if you don't need to be towed. There's more too, of course.

And I think the Good Sam roadside service is a separate product from vehicle insurance.
 
Larry N. said:
Wow! And we've been insured with State Farm since 2010, on the motorhome. much longer on house and cars, and are not paying a lot more than you say for National General. But we're not full timing.

We were the same way with State farm. We have had all or insurance with them for over 25yrs. House, Vehicles, Boats, rentals, autos.  On the Motorhomes they were over twice as much for the same coverage. Had to go elsewhere.
 
romtim said:
Its a 2000 Monaco Diplomat 38a
Did you make sure the tires are good to go?
The tires should not be over 5-6 years old. No matter how much tread, how good they look or what the seller said.  RV tires usually age out not wear out.  Tires need to be covered from the sun which is one of the things that deteriorate tires. Since RV tires are not rolling every day they are more prone to this deterioration than your daily driver. A blowout in the wrong place can cause thousands of dollars of damage. I had one take out my fresh water tank and a lot of wiring. I repaired it all myself and it still cost $700- 800 dollars (U.S.) to repair.
I know of people who drop down to the U.S to buy their tires and save a big buck  PM me if you want details.
 
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