Motor Home Insurance - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Roy · RV-Dreams Community Member

Motor Home Insurance

RVDude · RV-Dreams Family Member

I too am in the throws of getting quotes for full time coverage. Will make a decision by mid April.

This is for full time motor home only coverage. Basically the coverage is: liability at $100,000/$300,000, property damage $100,000, deductibles $1,000, personal effects $15,000, agreed value, and full timer. Virginia is the home base. I will keep my current carrier GEICO for the toad.

Here's the list of quotes and full year premiums for identical coverage from these agencies. I will update as I get more info.

Any thoughts on others to contact please post!

AGENCY	CARRIER	PHONE	YEARLY
Miller	Progressive Direct	800-622-6347	$4,300
Camping World	GMAC	877-406-9245	$3,062
Gilbert RV Insurance	Progressive Direct	888-784-6787	$3,385
Explorer RV	no quote yet	888-774-6778	tbd
RV Advantage	Progressive Direct	800-331-1520	$3,039
RV Advantage	National Interstate	800-331-1520	$3,878
RV Advantage	American Modern	800-331-1520	$4,500+

If these premiums seem high it is due to the rig value - not my flawless driving/accident record. I will update and add to this list as I get more information.

I am surprised at the Miller quote, seems to be quite high and I will have them revisit the information.

bjoyce: RV Advantage was exceptionally helpful and extraordinarily thorough in terms of coverage options and coordination with other insurance I have.

Added RV Advantage re: bjoyce-- Edited by RVDude at 19:16, 2007-04-09'
Added gilbert and RV advantage quotes

-- Edited by RVDude at 12:42, 2007-04-10

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

We use Farm & City Insurance which also goes by "RV Advantage" at 1-800-331-1520 and they have been great to work with. Their website is http://www.rvadvantage.com/ .

bago40 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hello everyone, I also have a couple of questions about insurance. I went with National just to get something right away that wasn't too expensive. This year and next my RV will be permanently parked except for two vacation trips; one to New England and one out west. My agent said that I had to have fulltimers coverage or the carrier wouldn't insure it. A good friend says I do not have to have it, so I thought I'd see if any of you wise folk had the bottom line on this topic. Thank you and happy camping!

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

We were told full-timers coverage is needed when you are using your RV more than 5 months a year. The is Progressive's definition and we were told it is what others use.
We are true full-timers so we have full-timers insurance from National Interstate through Farm and City Insurance. Our tow car is insured by Progressive also through Farm and City Insurance.

Bill

ahoweth · RV-Dreams Family Member

Insurance? Now there is a good question!

I don't know much but I do know that buying the wrong kind of insurance is one of the major causes for bankruptcies in our country today.

Howard has had some really good posts on this issue in the past. His prospective from having been a lawyer is really helpful especially to and engineer like me. You might get some insight from reading how they made their decision on insurance. I know I sure did!

I know that you should buy something called and "umbrella" liability policy to protect yourself. These policies usually have requirements for vehicle insurance that exceed most states minimum requirements. We insure our motor coach for a specific dollar amount in the event of a total loss. Many times insurance will cover only NADA book value which goes down every year but you premiums don't. If you are a full timer and your "home" gets totalled out, NADA value is not enough in many cases to do much more than pay off the remaining note if you are financed. Unfortuantely it seems that most insurance is written to protect a lean holder or a mortgage company not the property owner. Picking insurance that will protect you isn't so easy. This takes a lot of research to get it right and it takes a lot of research to keep it right.

I don't know whether you are a member of the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) but if you are they are offering insurance throught the parent company of National. It may be a little less expensive.

-- Edited by ahoweth at 08:21, 2007-04-10

wmalefyt · RV-Dreams Family Member

We're not full-timers yet so our coverage is different. However, if you are AARP members checkout The Hartford. They have RV insurance which is very reasonable in my opinion. They came in much lower for us than anyone else and the coverage even includes emergency roadside assistance with towing, etc. They also have full-time insurance coverage.

A lot depends on the value of your RV, but I would recommend checking them out for a quote by calling 888-808-5254.

Howard · Host

Obviously, we don't have a motorhome. But the question "What should it cost for motorhome insurance?" is a difficult one for anyone to answer. There are just too many variables.

Perhaps you will get enough people with a motorhome in the $100,000 to $200,000 price range that will fess up on what they are paying. That should help, but insurance rates vary quite a bit by state, zip code, your age, rig value, model, year, deductible, etc. So unless all those details are included in the posts, the info may or may not be valuable to you. smile

As far as full-timers coverage, it is basically like homeowners coverage and I highly recommend it for all full-timers. With that said, I don't think it is necessary for vacations and I'm a bit skeptical of the statement that a carrier won't insure an RV without it. smile

Check out our insurance pages at RV-Dreams.com Main Insurance Page. Also consider an umbrella liability policy. We pay $128 a year for $1 Million in coverage. And that just might have an effect on your RV insurance premiums. Check with your agent.

RVDude, I'm also surprised at the Miller quote and the large spread in quotes from Progressive. Something doesn't seem right. By the way did you tell Miller you were referred by us? They don't send us girl scout cookies every year for nothin'. biggrin

bago40 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks everyone, I am using my rig fulltime now for a primary residence though permently parked, so I have to have fulltimers coverage - thanks bjoyce. I was going to purchase a stick house when I moved from Cleveland, OH to Florida until I found out the expences down here are outrageous! Living in my rig is my best option biggrin

. I'm going to do more research though to see if anyone has a better rate even though I doubt it. I'll also check out (FMCA) as to that benefit and since so many of you belong it must be worth while. I'm not quite mature enough AARP at this time smile

. ahoweth - yeah your right about insurace companies!

Well guys you've all been a real help. Now I have more research to do hmm

- specific dollar amount - umbrella coverage sounds right - and most importantly Howard's insurance page! I'll let you know where I get with this. Bago.

-- Edited by bago40 at 11:23, 2007-04-14

-- Edited by bago40 at 11:28, 2007-04-14

jomago · RV-Dreams Family Member

Have used USAA for many , many years and for our coverage nothing has even come close.
$$$ is tied to your coverage.

wmalefyt · RV-Dreams Family Member

jomago wrote:

Have used USAA for many , many years and for our coverage nothing has even come close.
$$$ is tied to your coverage.

USAA must be good since our son works for them! Only problem is I think you must be active or retired military in order to be insured by them.

Coyatee · RV-Dreams Family Member

Does USAA have a stated "Full time" coverage?

jomago · RV-Dreams Family Member

USAA is available to anyone who is or has been in the military. Also available to all family members, close and distant.

If interested you can find out oll the requirements and services offered at---

usaa.com or 1-800-531-6095

I use the auto, homerowners, and banking services (visa) .

I'm not saying it is right for everyone but most people I know are very satisfied.

-- Edited by jomago at 10:49, 2007-04-18

Tim & Robyn · RV-Dreams Family Member

Here's what the USAA website says about elegibility requirements:

Membership is open to:

Children of USAA members.
Active-duty officers and enlisted personnel.
National Guard and Selected Reserve officers and enlisted personnel.
Officer candidates in commissioning programs.
Recently retired or separated military personnel.
Former USAA members.

Since I got out of the military in 1972 I guess that puts me out of luck... cry

wmalefyt · RV-Dreams Family Member

Tim,

Thanks for clarifying as I didn't think I qualified for USAA coverage since I got out about 10 years before you did!

Tim & Robyn · RV-Dreams Family Member

USAA is one of the things they didn't tell us about when we mustered out... They didn't have time. I remember they hustled me through my exit physical so fast the ink on the papers I had to sign at the beginning hadn't dried yet!

Well, I'm off topic, so I'm outta here...

jomago · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think youl are reading (?) something that isn't there.
I got out of active in 1946 and I had no problem. My son belongs thru my duty.

bago40 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hey guys, I found that when it comes to being former military sometimes they change the rules without actually updating all their paper work. For example, I thought a guy had to have a health problem that originated while in the military to qualify for medical care at the VA hospital. That isn't the case. I left the Navy in 1989, and in 1999 I went to the VA hospital in Cleveland, Ohio and found I could get whatever medical care I needed. I've been a member since that time. I think I'd research this a little further before counting myself out of a good insurance plan. Two for one here - health benefits and RV insurance. Can't beat that!

Bago.

rvjon · RV-Dreams Community Member

We are looking to change Insurance carriers and
were wondering what some of you more experienced RVer's pay for full
time motor home coverage. We currently pay $2300 a year for full
replacement value up to 5 years and $1000 deductible for most items on
a 2007 Fleetwood valued at $170,000. This seems a little high. I just
got quoted by Miller Insurance Company for $1500 for about the same
coverage. The only down side is they want $1100 a year for our 2007
Saturn Vue which we are currently paying $700 for in VA. Anyone have
any ball park figures for what coverage should cost?

I think $1500 is a great price for rv insurance coverage. I recently signed up for my rv insurance on my new Class A and it's costing me about $1400 with a clean record. If you find anything better please let me know.

RVDude · RV-Dreams Family Member

Particularly with insurance, you have to shop around. Far too many variables to compare apples with apples. The various agencies (Miller, RV Advantage, CampingWorld, etc...) build in differing fees and the actual underwriters (Progressive, USAA, Allstate, etc.) all have differing strategies for rating/pricing the risks. You WILL get different quotes from different agencies for the exact same underwriter with the exact same limits. Where you declare residency has a huge impact. Shop around it's all quick phone calls or on-line now.

Howard’s insurance page is a must read as well. Howard has had favorable experience with Miller. For my rig, Miller was completely uncompetitive and bjoyce’s RV Advantage (aka Farm & City Advantage) recommendation was a slam dunk for my specific case. Both even quoted the same underwriter (Progressive). Go figure. See my previous post above.

A key point to remember is that your car/truck current carrier may be giving you some form of a "no cancel" option on your toad/truck for being with them so long. Ask them. Because of this I kept my toad on that policy (Geico) and went with a different underwriter (Progressive) for an RV specific policy for the rig. I will have to deal with the different carrier coordination if I have a claim involving both the rig and toad - oh my.

BTW my experience indicates Progressive is very aggressively pursuing the RV market and that Geico will not touch larger or more expensive rigs.

Another point is if you carry excess liability insurance (I and Howard both recommend) there may be some savings by having it bundled with your rig and or toad insurance if available. Your rig/toad coverage limits can also be dictated by an excess liability policy and should be coordinated.