RV Insurance

blacklabbob

Member
Looking to obtain unbiased information on insuring my Big Country 5th wheel. When I purchased it last October I called my auto insurance company (Liberty Mutual) and added it to my auto policy which increased my premium by about $140/yr. The company informed me that I was insured for up to the purchase price, Liability, Comprehensive, Collision, etc. On my previous trailer I had a separate RV policy through Progressive with a premium of $500/yr. for a trailer worth 40% less than my present one. I am at a loss to understand what advantages a separate RV policy with a higher premium would provide. Literature from GOOD SAM points out a few minor advantages, but seemingly not worth the extra expense. Does anyone know of a reliable unbiased source that offers advice and explanations on insurance coverage for RV's?
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi blacklabbob,

$140/year is a great price, but you left out some key info for comparisons. What are the deductibles, and does "insurance up to the purchase price" mean actual cash value, or replacement cost? If you paid $50K and total it next week, replacement cost might give you $50K. With Actual Cash Value the insurance company might say that the depreciated value is $40K (just making up numbers to illustrate). Also, a policy with a $2500 deductible is going to cost a lot less than a $250 deductible.

So if you want unbiased info, you really need to fill in the blanks so comparisons are apples to apples.

Btw, liability coverage for our trailer is part of the truck's liability insurance and I'm pretty sure that's the only way it comes - if the agent told you otherwise, it would make we wonder what else he has wrong.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
The Progressive RV insurance is very similar to a "Homeowners" policy. It covers many things including liability for your guests or anyone on your site. If someone trips over your awning tie out or something along those lines, you are covered. Progressive also has full replacement coverage for the 1st 5 years then for the next 5 years you get back your purchase price if it's totaled. This includes while being towed or parked at your RV site or at home. The full timers package includes this plus disappearing deductibles. My Progressive policy is $536 and my current deductible is zero.
I think if anything happens to your rig in an RV park, you might not have the coverage you think you do if it attached to an auto policy.
 

Mizmary

Well-known member
We have ours thru progressive as well. When we went from our tiny SOB toy hauler 5er to the 4100king we did notice a drastic price increase in insurance -- but we full time so I consider it like a homeowner policy. It covers more than your standard car insurance.

When we bought they tried to get us in with hi-mark, but they just did the same thing we did - called progressive. Which is also the same thing USAA does. ;-P progressive must love the kick back they are getting from all of these other companies.
 

donr827

Well-known member
Dan, I believe that your truck's liability only covers the trailer while it is hooked up to the truck. You still need liability insurance when the trailer is not hooked to truck. Your policy might cover but mine will not. So many differences between policies.
Don
 

jassson007

Founding Louisiana Chapter Leaders-Retired
Dan, I believe that your truck's liability only covers the trailer while it is hooked up to the truck. You still need liability insurance when the trailer is not hooked to truck. Your policy might cover but mine will not. So many differences between policies.
Don

You are correct but to add to this if you also have a homeowners policy on your home the liability portion of coverage from that policy will extend to you and your invited guests in and around your RV when you are unhooked from your tow vehicle. I no longer own a home so I needed the liability coverage when unhooked so I chose a separate policy for my sob that is tailored for full timers so I would have appropriate coverages.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Dan, I believe that your truck's liability only covers the trailer while it is hooked up to the truck. You still need liability insurance when the trailer is not hooked to truck. Your policy might cover but mine will not. So many differences between policies.
Don
Don,

Yes, you're correct. When unhooked at the campground or in storage, most tow vehicle policies won't cover any liability exposures. There are risks like someone tripping over your sewer hose, that may be covered by the RV policy, depending on the policy provisions. Some policies might cover it under medical payments. Others may have vacation liability.

There are three ways to know what coverage you have: ask the agent, read the policy, wait for something to happen and take your chances.
 

ParkIt

Well-known member
USAA covers ours and they use Fleet Services which is also who Progressive contracts through as well. You do have to ask about content/personal items and Gap coverage as that can be higher, ours is $320 a year regardless if its in storage or being used since they are still covering the entire unit from anything and everything.
It also covers the towing rig regardless of who is towing it though it crosses over the truck policy which is lower when combined with the trailer.
Do some research on the net and make a list to see who has the best coverage for you and what kind of deductible you want, we went with $250 which makes the premium higher but its been worth it.
 

beasleyrl

Well-known member
Blacklabbob - we made a mass switch to Liberty Mutual in January from Progressive and saw significant savings all around. In our case, our truck (F450) and trailer were separate Progressive policies. The truck was actually written as an "RV" by itself which had certain limitations on use that I was never completely comfortable with on Progressive but my only other option was a commercial policy on the truck at a significantly higher premium. In addition, we had other policies for our house, cars, and golf cart.

After talking with the agent and looking at the policies, we consolidated the truck and trailer (savings of about $500 per year) to a single combined policy. This eliminated the Progressive "RV" limitations on the truck coverage. In addition, we also saved money on the new LM car policy and golf cart policy. It was also interesting to note that the agent actually didn't recommend the separate golf cart policy because technically our home owners policy would cover it since it isn't used on public streets. The downside is that so many parks require the separate coverage, it wasn't worth the hassle to not go ahead and cover it ($55/year). The only loser (on cost) was our house policy but the coverages under LM were much better than Progressive. As others have noted, your home policy (at least ours from LM) covers the liability (umbrella) issues on the trailer without the cost of duplicating the policy (ie house and RV).

Bottom line, our coverage is as good if not better than Progressive at a lower cost (total package savings was about $750 per year including higher cost for the house). The other big difference is that LM policies are all 1 year rates (vs a mix of 6 months and 1 year with Progressive).
 

mobilcastle

Well-known member
I guess you really find out how good your insurance is when you have a claim-best thing is to be lucky enough not to have one:angel:
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
Guess it pays to shop around. I recently shopped around and found a reduction of $180 a month by changing from Safeco to Progressive. Amazing. What is really amazing is the difference in insurance costs from state to state.
 

TXTiger

Well-known member
I have Safeco on everything. My Ford F-350 and Cyclone on one policy. My Harley on a motorcycle policy. Homeowners and an Umbrella each on individual policies. I get a multi vehicle, multi policy, and good driver discounts. The Umbrella covers all liability that the other policies don't. Safeco also includes road side assistance at no extra cost.
 
Top