Insurance & "Garaging location"

Strawb1207

Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2024
Posts
16
Location
Alabama
I am getting conflicting information from the internet (shocking!). Does the term "Garaging location" have to mean a physical garage? At no point have I had my motorhome in an actual garage, yet that is the only wording option I can see listed to say where it is kept. A google search tells me that Garaging location is simply the address it is kept. I can see why they might give a lesser rate to an RV (or car for that matter) that were kept in a physical garage. I want to be sure I am insured properly as I live in Florida and (knock on wood, but) I expect a hurricane this year.
Also, I keep my RV at my dad's house which raises one more question. I was asked to confirm that I am the only driver, and I am the only person in my household. That is true of my mailing address. But as I stated, I park the RV at my dad's. He does not use the RV - He just lets me park it there due to my neighborhood having an HOA, while his does not.
Any input?
 
The garaging location simply means, where it is when not in use. If the address where the RV is stored is in the same county as your mailing address, then most insurance companies are happy to simply use your mailing address. But since the rules are made by the company that is underwriting your insurance, ask your agent to be sure how to handle it. I would be very surprised if there were any issues form this. Where it does make a difference is when the vehicle is kept in a different state than where you actually live. Some people have an RV that is kept on a long term RV site in the south, while they actually reside in a northern state but go south for the winter. In such case the "garaged" location is very different from the residence/domain address of the owner and insurance rates should reflect that. The issue is not if it is inside of a garage.
 
It’s a different county, but it’s only one county over. I was prompted to update/confirm my information today when logging into my account online. I updated the garaging address to my dad’s. All else was kept the same. Initially it was my address listed. I likely listed that when I first got insurance bc initially I wasn’t sure where I’d keep it.

Thanks for the confirmation on the fact it doesn’t require a physical garage.
 
Garage location is as described above. But there is another consideration.

Insurance companies base their rates and premium on several criterion. One is vehicle location. While it's unlikely there would be a major difference in premium from one county to the next, it's possible. If so, you are either paying too much or too little for your coverage. Conversely , the insurance company is either not getting adequate premium or too much premium.

If the difference is material and to your benefit, the insurance company would have a reason to deny a claim. While that's unlikely, why take the chance.

Like location, insurance companies also base their premiums on who is driving the vehicle. A youthful driver pays more for insurance. If any live in the household where the vehicle is garaged, the insurance company will want to charge for that youthful driver. Alternatively, they will exclude coverage for that driver while operating the motorhome.
 
The only people living in the household of the garaging location are my father and stepmother. Neither are listed as drivers because they do not use the RV. Should I change this?
 
Unless there is the possibility that. your father and stepmother would drive the motorhome, I would not list them.
 
The only people living in the household of the garaging location are my father and stepmother. Neither are listed as drivers because they do not use the RV. Should I change this?
Not unless they will actually operate the RV from time to time.
Don't overthink this - if you kept it in an RV storage lot you would not identify every driver in the neighborhood! Just be honest about where it is normally is and who drives it.
 
insurance fraud with day-to-day auto insurance is common - live in NYC but use your grandma's address somewhere in upstate NY as the "garaging location" for a lower premium. With an RV, though, it's common to store them away from the house so it's probably not something insurance companies even think twice about.
 
The only people living in the household of the garaging location are my father and stepmother. Neither are listed as drivers because they do not use the RV. Should I change this?
Don't you have an agent that handles your insurance? I do - and I always ask him ANY and ALL questions I have, so I don't have to guess or take the advice of (no offense to anyone) total strangers who may be simply guessing.

My Texas Farm Bureau insurance agent tends to be very pro-active, always has (or gets) correct answers and often comes to me with money-saving ideas/hints.

And, unfortunately, when there is going to be a rate increase like pretty much all Texas insurance companies (home and auto) had this year...he reaches out to me to give me a heads up before the sticker shock when I get my bill.

Maybe that's why I've been with Texas Farm Bureau for the past 44 years. (Well, that and how well they paid off after I lost 100% of my workshop and woodworking tools in a fire 10 years or so ago).
 
Don't you have an agent that handles your insurance? I do - and I always ask him ANY and ALL questions I have, so I don't have to guess or take the advice of (no offense to anyone) total strangers who may be simply guessing.

My Texas Farm Bureau insurance agent tends to be very pro-active, always has (or gets) correct answers and often comes to me with money-saving ideas/hints.

And, unfortunately, when there is going to be a rate increase like pretty much all Texas insurance companies (home and auto) had this year...he reaches out to me to give me a heads up before the sticker shock when I get my bill.

Maybe that's why I've been with Texas Farm Bureau for the past 44 years. (Well, that and how well they paid off after I lost 100% of my workshop and woodworking tools in a fire 10 years or so ago).
Side note; I just switched my auto insurance from Farm Bureau to Auto-owners Ins. for DW's Jeep and my Silverado, exact same coverage for $800/yr. lower premiums. I asked my FB agent and he said I recommend switching we cannot come close to matching them. Then had them quote our homeowners policy, That too saved us approx, $700/yr. for same coverages. DW and I had FBI for nearly 40 years.
 
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