RV insurance

[jmowrey]

Does anyone have recommendations for an honest company that writes RV insurance? (maybe an oxymoron here). We're new to RV's and will be purchasing our Dolphin in May. We have had great success with Progressive for our autos. But they have a different division for RV insurance and it was like dealing with a whole other company. Neither friendly nor confidence inspiring and the rate seemed high. I tried Good Sam (GMAC) and got a friendly guy who gave me a good quote. Surprise. When I called him back three days later to bind the policy the rate went up by 20%. He told me "Our rates change daily." Right. AAA won't insure an RV unless we insure our autos with them. Their auto rates were much higher than Progressive, for less coverage.

Also, what do most people do about the fact that we only use these half the year? Do you cancel the policy over the winter?

[linda s]

I'm suprised about Progressive. They are the most frequently mentioned on the toy sites as a good insurer. Were they giving you any discount because you insure your cars with them. What kind were you asking for. Liability only or full insurance with comprehensive. Might help to check with an independent agent and see what they can find for you. They have to be a little more competitive to stay in business.

Linda S

[Derek up North]

I'd tell the Good Sam guy to call you back on a day the rates are lower!

[zero]

Does anyone have recommendations for an honest company that writes RV insurance? (maybe an oxymoron here). We're new to RV's and will be purchasing our Dolphin in May. We have had great success with Progressive for our autos. But they have a different division for RV insurance and it was like dealing with a whole other company. Neither friendly nor confidence inspiring and the rate seemed high. I tried Good Sam (GMAC) and got a friendly guy who gave me a good quote. Surprise. When I called him back three days later to bind the policy the rate went up by 20%. He told me "Our rates change daily." Right. AAA won't insure an RV unless we insure our autos with them. Their auto rates were much higher than Progressive, for less coverage.

Also, what do most people do about the fact that we only use these half the year? Do you cancel the policy over the winter?

Seems to me it's hard to tell if you've got good insurance unless something goes wrong and you need it. Neither my wife nor I have been in an accident or had any insurance claims for 40 years. So, I have no idea how good our insurance is,

Cheap is all we look for and we have minimum liability on 5 vehicles at a time. We have three roadworthy RVs (soon to be four), along with various cars and trucks. We swap plates and insurance by seasons, ad hoc, or by where we are living. We are in New York most of the year but live in Michigan in the summer. We keep an RV and a truck up there in storage. When we get there, we transfer insurance and plates from rigs in NY. We have Travelers Home and Marine Insurance (company based in Tennessee). Every vehicle is $150 every six months, regardless if a small car, 1 ton truck, or an RV. We've checked around and Travelers has been the cheapest here in central NY. In northern Michigan, Progressive is a little cheaper but also less convenient to someone who swaps plates and insurance a lot.. I've been thinking about trading my NYS license for a Michigan license and getting Michigan plates with cheaper insurance and NO annual motor vehicle inspections. Michigan also has a one-time lifetime trailer registration which I like.

I wish some insurance company offered "sunny day" insurance for RVs like for motorcycles. They have one annual fee and basically the charge assumes they are garaged and not ridden in the winter except on a few warm and rare "sunny" winter days. I also wish some company based the insurance on the amount of drivers instead of the amount of vehicles. We have over a dozen cars, trucks and RVs that we'd prefer to keep registered even though many rarely get driven. There are only two drivers here and there's no way we can drive them all at once. Yet -if they are insured, they are treated that way.

On the same subject (sort of) - we DID have Triple A roadside insurance for towing, car rental in case of a breakdown, etc. It was my wife's policy. After many years of never needing it - we had our RV breakdown 120 miles from home with our dog, little kid, my wife, and me in it. We quickly found out just how worthless the coverage was. They were willing to flatbed the RV and give transport to two people. Not three and NO dog. That pretty much made their help useless to us. We got a motel room, I bought some tools and fixed the thing myself and then we all drove home and cancelled out Triple A membership.

[jmowrey]

I'm suprised about Progressive. They are the most frequently mentioned on the toy sites as a good insurer. Were they giving you any discount because you insure your cars with them. What kind were you asking for. Liability only or full insurance with comprehensive. Might help to check with an independent agent and see what they can find for you. They have to be a little more competitive to stay in business.

Linda S

I was surprised about Progressive too. Like I said, they've been insuring our vehicles for many years. Their reps are always courteous and professional. (We deal direct with them, avoiding an agent). When we did have a claim some years ago, they honored it, no problem. They even called us and raised the amount they were willing to give us. The rep said the appraisal was too low. Imagine that! But they won't insure an RV on the same policy as our autos. They don't consider RVs to be automobiles. That's why we wind up dealing with an entirely different division of Progressive. So we don't get any multiple vehicle discounts or long-term customer discounts or ratings. Go figure.

[BobBeery]

At the Midwest Toy rally 2-3 years ago one of the attendees said she gets a very good rate with road service through AARP. I am not in AARP at age 65 but this may be something you can look into.

[linda s]

Try them again. Website clearly states they offer multi policy discounts.

http://www.progressive.com/rv/rv-insurance-discounts/

Explain that you were very unhappy with the service you recieved previously and you don't need to use them as your insurer but thought they might want to keep you as a customer. You are relaying this information to your Toyota motorhome club with more than 5000 members and many of them are concerned that maybe progressive is not the insurance company it used to be. I would be happy to trash them on several sites if they don't behave

Linda S

[Skydancer2992]

My cars are insured through USAA. When I tried to buy RV insurance, they referred me to Progressive. The first year, Progressive was almost $400 for full coverage or $100 liability only. With each year, the price has dropped and now I'm paying slightly over $300 for the year.

I tried Good Sam's quote and it was above $400, so I stayed with Progressive.

[sdboltdude]

I have 21st insurance and really like them for my car

for my rv I used 21st and they subbed-out insurance to farmost insurance

I save $17 for a 2 car police not to big of a deal their

I talked to 2 reps and the customer service was good but of course they were selling me insurance..

no claim yet...

the coverage seemed good year round thieft vandalism medical at camp ground tow and hotel & rental car

plus the basic full coverage for cars for $450 a year...

the roadside sold me I might of got a policy little cheaper but if rv ever breaks down the tow alone will cost the $450

and like the peace of mind of having roadside..

they quote for a total loss for rv was $7500 for my 1987 mini cruiser 21ft

was happy with loss quote rep asked for what rv was worth I said $7500 she looked on craigslist said that was what their selling for...so if they ask how much rv is worth stay in the high range don't under quote yourself..

[waiter]

I have Allstate on my cars and house - For the Toyhouse, Liability is about $250 a year, but we turn it on and off, so its really only about $50 a year.

JOhn Mc

88 DOlphin 4 Auto

[linda s]

If anyone reading is in California I use Mercury Ins. Per year I pay

Toyota Sunrader with full coverage- $176

Nissan Sunrader liability only- $150

Tiger Provan liability only-$178

Could not afford to keep all these vehicles without my super cheap ins but I don't think it's available in other states. Funny cause Cal is usually more expensive for most stuff

Linda S

[Totem]

JDE, like waiter said there is sunny day insurance, (as in take it in and out of insurance seasonally or whenever). I think waiters plan is better than mine in that he can do it to the day; I am with GMAC and they go by month. I call to turn it on and it will be on for a month, then off etc. everything is pro rated; when "off" it is underwritten by homeowners. Be careful here that the homeowners policy is under the same roof and clean; in my case all my stuff is GMAC. I can say right now, that their automotive claims are awesome, I always got paid legit value after storms destroyed cars recently, but their homeowners policy isn't worth the paper its printed on and really is only good for keep your mortgage in good standing but very cheap. There was a time when homeowners policies covered things in and on the home very well; that time is gone and is now replaced by whats known as the "Rider" or a separate policy for crap over $1000 per item; which gets pretty not so funny when your deductible is $1000.

I am with JDE, go for cheap but with whom you know will pay.

I am a big fan of GMAC, they give discounts for multipolicy but give really nice discounts for a couple things that others won't : Finance discount (if your loan on a vehicle is with them) and Preferred Dog Breed discount. (in my case German Shepherds).

Eventually I got my homeowners policy to honor a good deal of what i wanted covered but no where near what i had thought they would from the storm damage.

Still the overall package as a whole is great. I am just regular GMAC, not Good Sam but yes they are under one roof.

[83 SunRader]

When I was looking at insurance for my RV 6 months ago I was disturbed to find out that your credit rating has more to do with how much your insurance rate is than your driving record or time spent with the company.

[Totem]

Not distrurbing to me; it makes sense. They know that someone that has money in the bank most likely wont need money and wont make a claim as much. someone whom is overextended missed payments etc is more likely to be desperate enough to burn down or accidentally have an accident to get a pay out length of time with a company is purely emotional and will only amount to something if you are in a union. Its not how long you have been here; its what you do , whom you are. Alas the more disturbing thing is that people can also have a bad credit report due to constantly paying off credit cards in full and collecting cash rewards points. In other words they will black ball you for not carrying a balance and eating rewards...

hehehehe I have baaaaaaaaad credit.

[Bob C]

My wife and I have not paid interest on a credit card in over 25 years. Every month it is paid in full. we have about 5 credit cards (only use 2 of them regularly) and our credit score is over 800. It definitely affects your insurance rates and interest rates on loans. We refinanced our daughter's college loans and got a rate of 2.99%. The government backed student loan rate is up to 6.8%.

I have American Family Insurance for all of my vehicles. We currently have 4 vehicles (1 car, 1 Ford Ranger, 1 Goldwing motorcycle, and the '88 Escaper RV) Am Fam gives us good service and pretty good prices. The RV has liability and comp which cost me about $150 yr. Claimed value on the RV is $6000.

[Derek up North]

My wife and I have not paid interest on a credit card in over 25 years. Every month it is paid in full.

I believe I read that in the Credit Card Industry, you're what they call a 'Deadbeat'!

[Totem]

yeah he wouldn't be getting very good rewards card offers with that history.

his score is 800 on equifax/transunion, but they also have another score. Still the insurance rates are much better with anything 760 +.

Bob C, have you ever had to make claims with American Family? how was your experience?

[DanAatTheCape]

I have had Progressive & Geico. Geico cost me less. I also have had a claim against Geico & was satisfied with their handling of the claim.

I recommend Geico.

[linda s]

I have had Progressive & Geico. Geico cost me less. I also have had a claim against Geico & was satisfied with their handling of the claim.

I recommend Geico.

My girlfriend had Geico and when a woman ripped her door off in a parking lot, my girlfriend was getting out of her car, Geico paid the other womans claim like my girlfriend had done something wrong. Then they raised her rates. Came very close to ripping her legs off but Geico didn't want to fight State Farm

Linda S

[DanAatTheCape]

cannot imagine geico hangon up on anybody. Did you call an agent or did you call the geico number. I have dealt with geico for years including a rather significant claim when I totaled my 1st camper & nearly killing myself in the process. They have always been quite professional with me.

[jim0123r]

i have insured with progressive for 10 years and now have five toyota rvs. no claims at all over those years. they just sent me an email saying the vehicles are too old (1987-1992) and they will not be renewing. i need another company!! thanks for any help anyone may be able to provide. 

[mustrmrk]

We use Erie for everything. No big national ad footprint, no tv ads, just really good insurance. Had a house claim and they were incredibly easy to work with and did not raise my rates. Never had an auto claim, but I expect they'll treat me right there, too, if the need ever arises.

 

The way I see it is, if a company spends a ton of money on advertising, somebody's got to subsidize it. 

Edited June 24, 2021 by mustrmrk

[fred heath]

Progressive has some unusual underwriting. After insuring my RV with them for over 5 years I received an updated underwriting form. My home has no toilet (factory). Because I had no toilet they refused to continue my policy for the RV. I’ve been with Progressive for about 15 years at that point with no claims and prompt with policy payments. USAA will not insure motorhomes at last check. Ended up going with local insurance company. You may have to search, but they’re out there.

[linda s]

Progressive does have classic car insurance but that has limitations on driving miles. The strange thing is they say if your car is your daily drier your classic car needs a standard car insurance policy. They do not say they won't insure it. That means they do insure cars older than 5 years with a standard policy. Maybe just not RV's? That sounds odd. I'm going to ask on another Toyota site

Linda S

[fred heath]

19 minutes ago, linda s said:

Progressive does have classic car insurance but that has limitations on driving miles. The strange thing is they say if your car is your daily drier your classic car needs a standard car insurance policy. They do not say they won't insure it. That means they do insure cars older than 5 years with a standard policy. Maybe just not RV's? That sounds odd. I'm going to ask on another Toyota site

Linda S

Linda,

Progressive had no issue with the age of my toy. Just the fact it had no toilet.

It made absolutely no sense to me. This was about 10 years ago so maybe they’ve changed since then. I doubt it. 😂

Edited June 24, 2021 by fred heath

[john*thomas]

 My 87 is covered by Erie also. ($10 a month). They did tell me (because I asked) they do not offer things like towing on a vehicle this old so I added Good Sam for that. 

 

 It's still less than $200 a year.

[linda s]

Unfortunately Erie Insurance is only available in 12 states on the east coast. No luck for the rest of us. I have State Farm. No guarantee on value but they will look at recent sales from large online retailers like eBay and Toyotarvsforsale for an estimate and prices have been very high. Since I haven't been using my RV's lately the insurance has been at storage price, can drive it to gas station or for work done, That only costs me 40 dollars a year each. 

Linda S