Stated Value Ins, An Example of how it works

[Bob Miller]

Here is an example of how stated value insurance policies work. The writer is a good friend of mine on the Toyota Campers group and owns a 4x4 Toyota Sunrader (molded fiberglass of course) mini motorhome. As there were less than 35 of these 4x4's built between 1984 & 1987 they are rare and command a huge premium. Here's what he posted just this morning in a thread on the topic.
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From: toyota-campers@yahoogroups.com [mailto:toyota-campers@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2015 7:46 AM
To: toyota-campers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [toyota-campers] Re: Insurance Coverage


I have first hand experience with"agreed value"policy's with my insurance company AARP the Hartford and I think it gives people a false sense of security. I had a agreed value of $30,000 on my 87 4x4 Sunrader and last year I was involved in a accident while on vacation in California I was parked and got rear ended which caused $22,000 damage. I thought it would be covered because of my "agreed value" policy but not at all, Even though I was paying premium amount for this policy (more than twice of what I was paying) the insurance company refused to pay the for repairs and wanted to total my 4x4 Sunrader saying it was only worth $12,000. Long story short a professional RV appriser was flown out from the Bay Area by State Farm insurance and saw all the work I did on it and all the time and money I had into it and appraised it way more than the damaged amount. This took months of copious amounts of arguing with the insurance company. When you have a "agreed value" policy all that means is they will pay that amount ONLY IF IT APPRAISES FOR THAT AMOUNT. I spent 6 months in California for a 1 month vacation because of all the fighting with both my insurance company and the person who hit me who was 100% at fault insurance company which was State Farm insurance who was fully insured. Bottom line you have to prove that it worth the amount your insuring for by an appraiser, not just your receipts or what you paid for it. I showed both insurance companies my receipts which were several times the damage of the accident but they both said it didn't matter. It was only worth what the blue book value was period! It was the independence RV appraiser that made the difference. What also helped a lot was Linda brought to my attention that a same year and model Sunrader just sold on Ebay for $22,200 just a couple of months before my accident and it was pure stock, not at all modified like mine. That combined with my receipts and showing the appraiser all of the thousands of hours of work and upgrades I performed on my Sunrader

Dave high in the Rockies

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Dave’s example hits the nail on the head. The often unseen caveat in these policies is the phrase “Up to $xxx”.
As Dave points out, it’s imperative to keep not only your own records, but also records of recent sales (Especially off of eBay), as well as pics of those sales if possible.
It will be up to the owner to prove value above what the ins co wants to pay, and that’s almost always NADA book value when that exists.
Thank for reminding everyone of your experiences Dave.
Sunrader Bob


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[FRED SMAILES]

I wonder how this translates to trailers?
The Sunrader is a motor vehicle,,not?
Fred

[Bob Miller]

It "should" translate in exactly same manner.


When you take a stated value on a policy it is always left up to the policy holder to prove the value. Otherwise, what would prevent someone from taking a ultra high stated value only to intentionally wreck the trailer to collect on the insurance.


But be sure you ask your ins. company what their policy is. The most common answer is usually something like "Actual Value" up the stated amount, and you have to prove the value as did Dave.


It's not like life insurance.....

[WaltP]

This is relevant for all of us. As I think we all know, our FG trailers, especially older ones, routinely sell for much more than any book values, often twice or more.

Walt

[MarieC]

There is really no "book" value available for my 1972 Boler 1300. I cannot find ANYONE to insure it for more than my purchase price, but I have made over $12000 of improvements refurbishing it. Can anyone suggest an insurance company???? thank you!

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by MarieC

There is really no "book" value available for my 1972 Boler 1300. I cannot find ANYONE to insure it for more than my purchase price, but I have made over $12000 of improvements refurbishing it. Can anyone suggest an insurance company???? thank you!

Have you ever had a professional appraisal done? I'm a member of a vintage trailer group. Seems they all say that in order to insure for 'agreed on amount,' the trailer first needs to be appraised. Reading some threads insurance carriers are from State Farm, Farmers, Geiko, USAA, Hartford, Safeco... well you get the idea. Good luck!

[Al and Cindy K]

Some companies offer 'agree upon value' coverage which differs from 'stated value' and is usually more expensive but can prevent these types of problems. https://www.hagerty.com/insurance/in...aranteed-value

[MarieC]

Thank you, Donna. I do have Devin working on it, the Traveler's agent in WA State. He was mentioned on a couple of other posts. I'll see how it goes!

[MarieC]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I understand that now. Seems like no matter what, if something catastrophic occurs, you're going to have to prove the current 'worth' of the vehicle. Not easy to do when you can't even find a similar make/model for sale or recently sold.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by MarieC

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I understand that now. Seems like no matter what, if something catastrophic occurs, you're going to have to prove the current 'worth' of the vehicle. Not easy to do when you can't even find a similar make/model for sale or recently sold.

The big difference with an agreed value policy is you establish the higher valuation when the policy is written with receipts and/or an appraisal, rather than at time of loss. Given your investment, I’d want that.