Insurance inquiery

[HD_RIDER]

Unintended consequences.... I have sold my 5'er, and before I even signed the title over today I was contacted by Farm & City Insurance, who has insured my rig since 2007. The agent informed me that Allied would not insure the Volvo by itself, although it wasn't clear if the insurance would be cancelled immediately, or upon renewal in July. A follow up phone call revealed that Progressive, who had the policy for the first couple of years, would not insure it without an accompanying trailer, either. That left Farm & City without any options unless I were to immediately purchase a replacement trailer.

 

I also learned that Allied will no longer write policies for trailers longer than 30 ft. Mine was grandfathered, but the new owner had to switch to Progressive.

 

I believe there are some members of this community that have conversions with extended sleepers, etc that don't pull a 5'er, so I'm looking for some options as far as other Insurance companies. I had learned before contacting Farm & City in 2007 that my local agents were unable to offer any coverage other than commercial.

 

I wasn't able to reach a deal on a package price upon selling the camper, but didn't expect this to become an issue this quickly. I don't intend to buy a replacement trailer, but thought I'd have at least some time to try to sell the Volvo by itself before running into this situation. Indiana requires insurance coverage to issue license plates, which also expire in July, so I'm in a short window to resolve this. I wouldn't even be able to allow a test drive before a sale without tags & insurance.

 

I've had a couple of inquiries in the past about selling the Volvo to local small trucking firms, but that was before I installed the ET Hitch. It looks like that was a bad decision to add that now, as it would make it more difficult to return to commercial service. I may have a viable option with the auction services, but that wasn't going to be my first choice. Any ideas??

 

Jess

[Star Dreamer]

Every state is different but we have State Farm insurance on the HDT. All of our other vehicles are thru them so that may help. It did take them some time but it sounded like the local person had done it before.

Dave

[chooseopen]

I am not sure I am in the greatest situation insurance wise... I just called my agent on the day I bought the truck. The conversation went like this:

 

THEM: Hello thanks for calling Country Insurance.

 

ME: Hi, this is Jason. I am an existing customer and I just bought a motorhome that I would like to add to my policy

 

THEM: ok. What is the make, model, VIN, and length?

 

ME: Volvo VNL670 -20ft long

 

THEM: Ok you are all set. We will email you a temp insurance card.

 

Literally , that was it. I really feel like I should get a copy of the full policy to make sure I am covered decently but in my case, they didn't ask a bunch of questions and I didn't offer any extra detail.

[steiny93]

I'm with http://blueskyrvinsurance.com/index.html been with them for a few years.

 

The Volvo is insured as an RV; I've always referred to it as such. They do want to have a trailer insured with the truck; when I bought the Volvo we were between trailers (had traded in the existing and waiting on the new one to be built). To solve the issue they had us provide the intel from a different RV trailer I own.

 

Couldn't you just insure any trailer with it?

[HERO Maker]

I'm also with Blue Sky Ins. It is insured as medium duty truck.

With the situation I'm in currently, if I decide to not buy back my fiver for salvage value, my truck will be insured for a 1 year period. I must get a fiver on the policy sometime in the one year time frame.

But if I buy back the fiver, I have to insure with someone else. Blue Sky will not insure the same vehicle that they paid off on a total loss.

[Nuke-E]

Rocky--You might clarify that point. A similar comment was made when I dealt with USAA on a total loss. A little digging revealed that they would cover it, but only after repairs were made and documented.

 

Since I did the work myself, I set up a camera on a tripod taking a still shot every 30s while I was working. I have a video now that shows all of the damaged stuff coming off, and new parts going on.

[HERO Maker]

I'm all for staying with Blue Sky, but they are the ones telling me that they won't be able to insure something that they had already insured and paid off on.

But it was Blue Sky who found out that Texas does allow for a clear title if hail damage is the reason for the vehicle being totaled.

 

I will have them check with underwriting again, if they ever give me a response to the challenged value I sent to them.

[SuiteSuccess]

Rocky,

 

Off topic a bit. I am also with Blue Sky but interestingly State Farm contacted us (we did not call them) recently about covering our truck and trailer which they had previously declined. We have our homeowners, autos, and umbrella with them. When we spoke to agent he said underwriting is more and more aware of what we HDTers are doing and apparently interested in getting into the game. We'll see, but would give another choice. Market competition is always a good thing. BTW sorry to hear Blue Sky dragging their feet.

[JPL]

Rocky, I'm w/State Farm and they have insured the truck for 5 years. I don't know if they would carry it W/O the 5er but I will find out. Pat

 

 

The Old Sailor

[steiny93]

more on BlueSky, when I talked with them two weeks ago they also stated that Progressive would cover the HDT and the 5er as well. They were checking comparable costs but Progressive was a bit higher.

 

But its another option

[HD_RIDER]

Originally I wasn't sure that I would sell the Volvo if it didn't go as a package deal. I have a cargo tow-behind trailer that I pull with it occasionally, so I had some use for it. The agent indicated that wouldn't qualify, it apparently has to be a manufactured 5'th wheel camper to keep the insurance. I thought I would at least have time to list it for sale before getting into this mess. Buying another camper just isn't an option now.

It sounds like I'm not going to resolve this before my insurance is cancelled, At most, it will be cancelled when the policy expires in July, but most likely will be cancelled when the 5'er drops off due to being sold.The agent for Farm & City can do nothing for me, unless I was in the process of buying a replacement. Not his fault, company policies. The best solution for me is to sell the Volvo ASAP, and even then there won't be opportunity for allowing a test drive, as it will likely be landlocked due to insurance issues within the next two weeks. The really sad part is that I would likely get more for it if I took a cutting torch to it & started parting it out. I don't have the facilities to do that properly, so it looks like it will be a roll of the dice at the auction block. This sucks. Henry's hitch was only used twice after installation, and then only as far as the RV dealership at the edge of town....

[GlennWest]

Progressive insured mine as a motorhome. It is registered as such and they stated Texas says it motorhome we insure as motorhome. It is on our same policy as our 5ther though. http://www.twinpeaksrvinsurance.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=local&utm_campaign=google-local. Give them a call and mention my name if you think it will help.

[HD_RIDER]

Progressive insured mine as a motorhome. It is registered as such and they stated Texas says it motorhome we insure as motorhome. It is on our same policy as our 5ther though. http://www.twinpeaksrvinsurance.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=local&utm_campaign=google-local. Give them a call and mention my name if you think it will help.

Farm and City originally had me through Progressive, then switched me to Allied. The agent said that neither company would insure the toter without a trailer on the same policy. He had no solution available if I wasn't in the process of buying a replacement trailer.

[HD_RIDER]

I'm with http://blueskyrvinsurance.com/index.html been with them for a few years.

 

The Volvo is insured as an RV; I've always referred to it as such. They do want to have a trailer insured with the truck; when I bought the Volvo we were between trailers (had traded in the existing and waiting on the new one to be built). To solve the issue they had us provide the intel from a different RV trailer I own.

 

Couldn't you just insure any trailer with it?

I told the agent that I had a cargo trailer that I could add living quarters to, but apparently that won't do it either. He indicated that I had to be "purchasing a 5'th wheel/camper" to keep the coverage. It seems that they only consider the Volvo as an insurable RV when you are pulling a 5er with it, regardless of what the title says. This wasn't a problem for me before, since I bought the camper before I bought & converted the Volvo.

[steiny93]

I told the agent that I had a cargo trailer that I could add living quarters to, but apparently that won't do it either. He indicated that I had to be "purchasing a 5'th wheel/camper" to keep the coverage. It seems that they only consider the Volvo as an insurable RV when you are pulling a 5er with it, regardless of what the title says. This wasn't a problem for me before, since I bought the camper before I bought & converted the Volvo.

 

I vote for you buying a $500 5th wheel; insure it as a pair until you dump the truck.

[Jack Mayer]

You could put commercial insurance on it. That does not require a secondary insured vehicle. Look at Geico Commercial. They quoted me a somewhat reasonable price.

[HD_RIDER]

 

I vote for you buying a $500 5th wheel; insure it as a pair until you dump the truck.

That has crossed my mind, but it was due to budget restraints that I decided to sell the camper in the first place. I actually mentioned that to my girlfriend, and got the kind of look a recovering alcoholic gets when he says "one little drink won't hurt"... Besides, until the buyer of my 5'er comes for it, I'm out of room to park anything else.

[HD_RIDER]

You could put commercial insurance on it. That does not require a secondary insured vehicle. Look at Geico Commercial. They quoted me a somewhat reasonable price.

Jack, Before I got hooked up with Treese at Farm & City (2007), my local agent couldn't do any better than $600/month for commercial coverage back then. I haven't checked on any commercial policies since. I'll look into the Geico just in case.

I'm not sure that would even be an option with an inactive CDL, since my medical card expired15 months ago. While it would have been convenient to keep the Volvo available to me if needed, it's not worth the extra expense. My plates expire at the end of July, and I thought I'd have until then to dispose of it. Perhaps I should have taken the hit with the low offer I had from the fellow that bought the camper, but I thought 8K was too little. I didn't realize at the time the mess I'd be in over the insurance. Live & learn, huh?

[HD_RIDER]

For anyone who has been following this, I have decided that the best way for me to resolve the issue is to take a chance on the auction block, as anything else will require incurring more expense. Chances are, someone will be getting a great deal on a converted HDT. It will be added to the items listed for the June 1'st sale at: http://www.fwata.com/.

 

I thank the members who have contributed to this and the many other questions that I have posted since 2007 when I started the conversion process. Although I never got the chance to meet you guys in person, I enjoyed being a part of the "on line" family. It was interesting and very educational. I will still check in occasionally to see what the topics are and see where the gatherings are. Maybe I'll show up at a rally yet, it just won't be with a big rig.

 

Jess