Travel Trailer Insurance ???

[Mr Lynn]

Originally Posted by Triker

You could try Good Sam Insurance, and they broker several companies so you'll get a couple quotes. You may want to consider Good Sam Roadside Assistance if you plan on going off the beaten path; I've heard AAA has a lot of 'exclusions' in their coverage. Also check to see if your particular AAA plan includes your trailer; I think they've got two plans for RVs.

I went to the Good Sam Insurance website, and put in my Zip Code (01701). That took me to a page which said,

Thank You for Considering National General Insurance

National General is not able to provide you a quote at this time. To assist you in your search for an auto insurer, we have provided results from a popular industry search page below.

So I clicked on the 'Quote' button, and that took me to Progressive. I don't like Progressive (because I can't stand their annoying 'Flo' ads, and their former CEO's history of funding leftwing organizations), but I put in my Zip Code again and then learned that they don't offer RV/Trailer insurance in Massachusetts.

Guess I'll do a search to see who else does, besides Foremost.

Good tip about AAA. I'll have to ask them if my membership includes my trailer.

/Mr Lynn

[mary and bob]

Good Sam called me one day, asked if I still had my motorhome (never had one). Told them no, we have a trailer. They asked what year, told them 1996. The person said OK, have a nice day, bye. I take that as they only want to insure new or almost new big dollar rigs. My homeowner / vehicle insurance company won't insure our Casita either, other than we are covered for liability at no extra cost. We figure if anything happened where the trailer is a total loss it would cost near $10,000 to replace it. Not a huge amount, but not exactly pocket change for us. As for road service, AAA added the RV option for about $20 to our Premier policy. We also have the Good Sam roadside policy. GS usually will offer a deal for the first year, at renewal it goes up. MR Lynn, I understand your wanting some kind of insurance for loss or damage, hope you are successful. Did you try State Farm ?

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Mr Lynn

...
One thing I did learn from this thread is that an Umbrella Policy might back up liability if you have your RV insured. The rep says that "Umbrella policies do not cover Travel Trailer policies," but she is not super-competent (originally tried to register our Casita as a 'utility trailer'). So I'll have to ask her about that.
....

100% the opposite of what I was told... I have Eire for home, auto and umbrella liability. I have a Progressive policy for the camper. There is a small increase in my Erie Umbrella policy cost to include the camper. Of course, in the case of a huge liability claim related to the camper, the Progressive policy has to be exhausted first, but then the Erie policy kicks in to a limit of one million dollars.

I think it is important to know and trust your insurance agent. Thats why I changed Erie agents about a year ago. The original guy had moved further away from me so I could not just drop in to see him, and he missed a cost savings for me. I found an Erie agent locally that really seems to look out for my best interests.

[LyleB]

I got a State Farm Travel Trailer policy for $78/year. Covers replacement cost up to original purchase price for theft, fire, natural disaster, etc. Liability is covered by tow vehicle policy while hooked to the tow vehicle. I asked about liability when the trailer is not hooked to the tow vehicle and gave the example of someone falling if a step failed when entering or exiting. The agent could not answer, said they had never been asked that, and had been insuring a fair number of trailers for years. They did contact State Farm and were assured that my homeowners policy liability extends to the trailer when camping.

I must say, I was never sure about State Farm as a company, until last year, about this time. I hit a deer at highway speed in my Ranger Pickup. The damage was estimated to be $7800, which was slightly above the limit for my truck. They suggested and encouraged "totaling" the truck, but gave me the option to take the $7800 settlement and keep the truck. They would not, however, cover any additional cost in repairs if it went beyond the estimate.

Since it was an older truck, with moderately higher mileage, I did agree to "total" it. They gave me the option to remove the cap from the bed, which I sold later.

When I received the final check for the Ranger I was quite shocked. $10,600. They explained that this included the $7800 payout, $2000 for what they expected to get from salvage for parts from the Ranger, plus tax and transfer fees I would spend when getting a new, replacement truck. I was quite happy with the settlement, as the blue-book value for the Ranger was between $6400 and $7000, depending on options (mine was VERY basic). I was expecting a payout of about $6500 - $6800.

This was my only experience with a vehicle insurance claim, and I was pleasantly surprised after all the horror stories I had heard.

[Mr Lynn]

I looked up State Farm on the Web. Here's what I found:

"State Farm does not actively market new business in this state at this time."

Massachusetts is a desert in more ways than one.

/Mr Lynn

[Uplander]

Insurance gives me a headache and most policies seem to protect the insurance company more than the RV owner.

AAA offers a RV upgrade (we have that). Our Travelers insurance (home and Auto) has an additional one million dollar liability insurance rider that covers everything we own in the event our coverages are consumed in a law suit. This is something everyone should have as it is cost effective back-up protection.

The folks at Good Sam send me insurance offers by mail every week...they sure know how to spend money on direct advertising! I have never read any of them.
I'm thinking of saving them and using the massive pile of paper to heat my home by burning them in my wood stove! I figure there must be a lot of surplus profit dollars in the insurance game to afford all that direct mail expense!

If all this insurance info makes you crazy you are normal.

[sokhapkin]

Originally Posted by Uplander

Insurance gives me a headache and most policies seem to protect the insurance company more than the RV owner.

Why do you expect something else? Insurance is for profit business, their main goal is to keep shareholders happy.

[Mr Lynn]

I meant to update this discussion but never got back to it. In a nutshell:

- Our auto insurance with Safety (a Massachusetts company) will cover the trailer only when it is attached to your tow vehicle.

- The only company that seems to insure (unattached) travel trailers in Massachusetts is Foremost.

- Our Umbrella liability policy will add liability insurance (up to $1 million, I think), depending on the amount of your 'Underlying' insurance. So to get the maximum we had to insure with Foremost for $500k. Cost: $479.

This is a very expensive state, in more ways than one.

But let us be grateful we can celebrate our Independence and freedom today, July 4th.

/Mr Lynn

[Robert Reighter]

Thought I'd add my experience...
We specified a replacement value for our 2014 Liberty Dlx because we added numerous mods and upgrades (solar, shocks, etc.).

We use MetLife in Colorado. We have Auto & Home with them. Annual cost for full coverage is $148. This includes replacement value of $21,000, Comprehensive and Liability.

[emij]

Originally Posted by LyleB

I got a State Farm Travel Trailer policy for $78/year. Covers replacement cost up to original purchase price for theft, fire, natural disaster, etc. Liability is covered by tow vehicle policy while hooked to the tow vehicle. I asked about liability when the trailer is not hooked to the tow vehicle and gave the example of someone falling if a step failed when entering or exiting. The agent could not answer, said they had never been asked that, and had been insuring a fair number of trailers for years. They did contact State Farm and were assured that my homeowners policy liability extends to the trailer when camping.estimate.

This is what we have, with State Farm, as well. We also have an umbrella liability policy ($168 per year) that covers us in any situation,up to one million dollars. Our agent also said to keep receipts for any improvements that we do and any comps that we see that are similar to ours. Those would be used in order make sure we receive actual replacement value instead of purchase price should the camper ever end up totaled.

[Darwin Maring]

Go to Good Sam and get camper insurance and Forgetabout.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

Go to Good Sam and get camper insurance and Forgetabout.

That is pretty much the worst advice I've seen on this forum since I joined.
You need to shop around and you need to know what you are getting for your money. Compare policies.

[Darwin Maring]

Good Sam sells Camper insurance that covers the camper and will cover replacement costs and so on. Motorized Vehicle insurance simply does not cover the camper like Good Sam does. Check with your vehicle insurance agent, ask that person all your camper related questions then talk to good Sam. The insurance posts throughout the years have shown that vehicle insurers just don't cover the camper adaquately.

http://www.goodsamrvinsurance.com/?mc=WW

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

Go to Good Sam and get camper insurance and Forgetabout.

I believe Good Sam has an age limit, they won't insure anything over 8 years old. They called me one time trying to sell insurance. When I told them our trailer was a 1996, it was "thank you, goodbye". I think they want to insure the new big rigs mainly.

[Mr Lynn]

Good Sam doesn't sell insurance in Massachusetts.

/Mr Lynn

[Darwin Maring]

There is a full replacement age limit. It does not cost to get a quote. Try it out and let us know.

[Joyce H]

State farm added to our coverage for $120/6mos valued at our purchase price. Collision, comp & awning. Liability covered by tow vehicle policy.

[Roy in TO]

We just reviewed our insurance since they said my truck was too old for comprehensive. Which meant the trailers were not insured while towing with the truck any more.

We were able to add the trailers separately for comprehensive and all perils. Bear in mind we got a multi product discount for having 2 vehicles, the house and 2 trailers all insured. 30 something years with the same insurer and no major claims.

Our broker could not add the trailers through his online system because of their age. I gave him a reasonable value of $7G each and a link to Greg A's site https://www.fiberglass-rv-4sale.com/ He sent that off to Wawanesa in Winnipeg and they came back with a quote of $89 each per year. (plus taxes)

I'm thinking Greg's site and the ins. co. being from the land of the boler were all it took to bypass some of the issues others face. (namely valuation)

I really did not want to go through the appraisal process every few years. I did that years ago with an antique car and that was a real pain.

[Karen L.]

I have State Farm Insurance for my "Burrito"! (1982 13" Burro) I have paid $28.00/yr since purchasing it in 1988.. I had a blow out on one of my tires that put a hole in the lower area but they totally fixed it! I couldn't be happier with State Farm!

[thrifty bill]

State Farm on our 2013 Escape was over $400, and they couldn't figure out what trailer it was. They thought it was a cheaper KZ Escape (stick built). Will be pricing out other companies ASAP.