Insurance - again....

[aknavy]

So, background - I'm currently a resident of Florida, and we can't register HDT's as RV's here.  Truck I have been pursuing is a 2001 Volvo 660, converted/singled/currently titled as motorhome in Ky.  Can only register in Florida as a truck for personal use.

Also explored registering truck in South Dakota with a few insurance companies. 

Have talked to Miller, FCIS, Good Sam, Dougherty and Associates, and several others in my quest to get insurance.  I'd prefer to get insurance that allows bobtail use, and thought I had that solved thru Good Sam/National General.  Until I actually called to start the policy earlier this month, only to be told that National General would not give more than liability coverage to a truck over 20 years old.  In December, I could have got the policy, but not now.  And the coverage would not have been renewable.

Back to the drawing board - all other companies want to do the typical insurance that covers the truck when towing the fifth wheel, but no bobtail for anything other than maintenance/gas.

A couple companies offered Commercial for personal use, but the cost is quite a bit higher - over $2k/year.  I've also been told that if I had a commercial policy on other vehicles, it would be easy/cheap to add a personal use policy. 

I'd be ok with liability + comprehensive coverage I think, but not just liability.  Too many things that can go wrong.

So, it seems that either I find a newer truck, or I just accept that I can't drive bobtail with this truck.  You guys that have bobtail coverage, I'm jealous!  I can't seem to get it done, and I'm tired of talking to insurance agents.

 

[rickeieio]

Call Lazy Days RV near Tampa.  That's who we went with for Progressive insurance.  No bob tail restrictions, and I can pull any non-commercial trailer.  They did require both truck and trailer on the policy.  Been with them 10 years so far.

BTW, no other agent could match this policy.  Miller said no bob-tail and was a bit higher, quoting Progressive.

Edited January 15, 2021 by rickeieio

[aknavy]

I'll have to give them a call. 

[Danandfreda]

Try herrmann Ins agent in rapid city South Dakota. It’s nationwide insurance and no bobtail restrictions. 

[Parrformance]

FCIS Insurance  1-800-331-1520

 

[lappir]

I am always on the way to some sort of service every time I drive Bobtail. Sometimes the service I need is 1000 miles away. My unit is unique and not just any service area can work on it. I usually cannot pull my trailer until it's fixed too. 

That's my story and how I justify. 

Rod

[aknavy]

19 minutes ago, lappir said:

I am always on the way to some sort of service every time I drive Bobtail. Sometimes the service I need is 1000 miles away. My unit is unique and not just any service area can work on it. I usually cannot pull my trailer until it's fixed too. 

That's my story and how I justify. 

Rod

I like it.  Might be the way to go.

[aknavy]

4 hours ago, Parrformance said:

FCIS Insurance  1-800-331-1520

 

They said no bobtail.

[Star Dreamer]

If you are registering as an RV, can't you just insure as an RV? Tell them it will also be used as an RV and maybe pull a trailer on occasion. Just like a class A motorhome would be that has a hitch on it. Ours is insured with State Farm as an RV and can be used bobtail.

[Jaydrvr]

11 hours ago, Star Dreamer said:

If you are registering as an RV, can't you just insure as an RV? Tell them it will also be used as an RV and maybe pull a trailer on occasion. Just like a class A motorhome would be that has a hitch on it. Ours is insured with State Farm as an RV and can be used bobtail.

Because... It's FL?? You can't register as RV in FL. That's his point. It would be nice if you could, then I could do it too. Jay

Edited January 16, 2021 by Jaydrvr

[Lance A Lott]

On 1/15/2021 at 10:48 AM, aknavy said:

I'd be ok with liability + comprehensive coverage I think, but not just liability.  Too many things that can go wrong.

 

It is my understanding that comprehensive insurance covers the glass, my new windshield 2012 VNM was under $200, and damage if a tree or building should fall on it or similar non driving event occurred. Comprehensive is usaly cheap I am surprised that they dont want to sell it to you with out all the restrictions considering it is usaly for parked vehicles. You didn't say how much the truck cost but a 20 year old truck I probably would only have liability on it anyway, the insurance company will usaly only give book value no matter what its worth.

[Jaydrvr]

1 hour ago, Lance A Lott said:

It is my understanding that comprehensive insurance covers the glass, my new windshield 2012 VNM was under $200, and damage if a tree or building should fall on it or similar non driving event occurred. Comprehensive is usaly cheap I am surprised that they dont want to sell it to you with out all the restrictions considering it is usaly for parked vehicles. You didn't say how much the truck cost but a 20 year old truck I probably would only have liability on it anyway, the insurance company will usaly only give book value no matter what its worth.

I have full coverage with stated value for my 21 year old truck in FL., with Progressive. It's a little high, but well worth it. They paid to put my truck back together after a blow out. Very painless claim and much better than the gossip I've heard about Progressive. But then, maybe that's just my random memories from many years ago. Jay

Edit: Comprehensive also covers fire, theft, anything other than collision. I drop collision when the truck is parked for a significant time, but never comprehensive.

Edited January 17, 2021 by Jaydrvr

[rickeieio]

1 hour ago, Lance A Lott said:

the insurance company will usaly only give book value no matter what its worth.

I have stated value on some old motorcycles.  If anything happens, I don't want to have them offer me stupid short $ because there are no comparables.  That said, most of our trucks wouldn't justify that option.

 

[Darryl&Rita]

We're running liability only insurance, with a 21 year old truck. If it hits hard enough to be written off, we'll look at the costs to get the remains back to a place where we can strip the carcass, and start over. Maybe in a COE.

[Lance A Lott]

I also keep comprehensive on my vehicles and remove everything else when I park them, my agent said it keeps the policy active and makes it very easy to put what ever else I carry back on that vehicle if I want to put it back on the road. I have never hat trouble getting insurance for my HDT but its insured  as part of my farm as are all my vehicles, the HDT is only on the road 1 or 2 month a year so not very expensive. 

[aknavy]

On 1/15/2021 at 11:35 AM, rickeieio said:

Call Lazy Days RV near Tampa.  That's who we went with for Progressive insurance.  No bob tail restrictions, and I can pull any non-commercial trailer.  They did require both truck and trailer on the policy.  Been with them 10 years so far.

BTW, no other agent could match this policy.  Miller said no bob-tail and was a bit higher, quoting Progressive.

 

On 1/15/2021 at 7:32 PM, Star Dreamer said:

If you are registering as an RV, can't you just insure as an RV? Tell them it will also be used as an RV and maybe pull a trailer on occasion. Just like a class A motorhome would be that has a hitch on it. Ours is insured with State Farm as an RV and can be used bobtail.

Cause it can't be registered as an RV in Florida, and the insurance companies don't seem to care what it's registered as.

[aknavy]

On 1/17/2021 at 10:34 AM, Darryl&Rita said:

We're running liability only insurance, with a 21 year old truck. If it hits hard enough to be written off, we'll look at the costs to get the remains back to a place where we can strip the carcass, and start over. Maybe in a COE.

I'd like to get a declared value policy, but that doesn't seem likely to happen.  So, I'd probably settle for liability and comprehensive, if I can find it.  Not terribly worried about collision, but comp covers all the acts of God/nature out there.

[RandyA]

(If Florida is your domicile and you want to keep it that way and register a HDT as a RV there)

 I think the deal registering in Florida as an RV is the "Weight Bearing Hitch".  It has been a few years since I looked into it but at one time you could register as an RV if you were going to pull a ball hitch trailer or build a box on the frame and did not have a fifth wheel hitch - like the unit I saw in Tampa with a PU slide in camper mounted behind a large dom box.  The fifth wheel hitch of any kind on or between the frame rails (goose neck, aftermarket, OEM) was the deal killer.  I have seen some HDT's while in FL pulling a fiver with one of those dolleys (two extra wheels) that attach to the pin box and then are pulled by the ball hitch.  That gives you your full bed plus gets around the weight bearing hitch issue.  One of the regular attendees at the ECR has one of these rigs but I cannot remember his name.  Though probably illegal but able to "slide by" would be to remove the fiver hitch, register as a RV, and then .... well, you can guess the rest.  Someone with more experience would need to share the potential outcome of such an action with insurance companies and a possible inspection by a LEO.  Going the private truck route, even if not commercial, may legally require you to enter weight stations and may change your driver license endorsement.   Brainstorming an idea a while back I envisioned a goose neck ball coming up from a bumper hitch (which actually welds or bolts to the lower part of the frame) with strong steel tubing or a boxed beam sporting brackets to the frame rails and a goose neck pin box on a fiver.  Maybe an idea to explore?  What I have found that often kills any insurance deal is the HDT VIN number.  As soon as the DMV or ins company sees the first three numbers/characters at the beginning of the VIN that all commercial HDT's have,  games over - no go. 

[Parrformance]

I am registered in FL as a motorhome, but I pull a bumper pull camper.

I too have thought about adding a tongue to a fifth, boxing it in for strength with the fifth hitch and tugging it from the bumper hitch.  Enclosed it would add quite a bit of storage.

[Steve from SoCal]

43 minutes ago, Parrformance said:

I am registered in FL as a motorhome, but I pull a bumper pull camper.

I too have thought about adding a tongue to a fifth, boxing it in for strength with the fifth hitch and tugging it from the bumper hitch.  Enclosed it would add quite a bit of storage.

I had an old Excel 35' fifth wheel that was converted to a bumper pull with a cargo bay as noted.     It actually worked quite well as a bumper pull trailer.

 

Steve 

[RandyA]

I'm getting off topic here, but I do want to share what I saw in a campground in Michigan when there in 2015.  It was an older Jayco 5th wheel with aluminum siding, probably around 34 feel long and having 2 slide outs.  The owner had built an extension to the under hitch area (doghouse) by welding additional steel to the fiver frame that he had salvaged from a wrecked TT.  This gave him the steel and the A-frame to make the fiver into a bumper pull.  Additional vertical steel beams were welded from the TT frame to the fiver Z frame so that he could enclose the space under the front of the fiver.  This gave him considerable extra storage space.  He retained the electric landing jacks that were OEM to the Jayco.  The 5.2K trailer axles had been replaced with 7K axles sporting 8-lug rims and G rated Goodyear tires.  He was a full-timer and pulled his modified trailer with a roll-back wrecker that was built on a Ford F550 dually.  He carried a Honda Civic and a Moped on the roll-back that had a 14' aluminum Jon boat mounted over the Civic.  His work was extremely neat and the aluminum siding he salvaged from the wrecked TT to enclose his new space was a close match to the Jayco.  At a glance most folks would not have noticed what he had done.  I did make pictures but alas, I cannot find them.  BTW, a photo of the dolly to convert a fifth wheel into a bumper pull.

[Darryl&Rita]

Randy. What would a travel trailer with the pin-weight of a 5th wheel handle like? Never mind the storage area. Were the axles moved forward?

[Moresmoke]

5 hours ago, RandyA said:

Going the private truck route, even if not commercial, may legally require you to enter weight stations

I have not entered a weigh station. Just drive on by. HDT is registered as a truck. Same as my F350. I figure if no one would bat an eye at the F350 pulling a RV, what is the difference?

1 hour ago, Darryl&Rita said:

What would a travel trailer with the pin-weight of a 5th wheel handle like? Never mind the storage area. Were the axles moved forward?

As long as the truck is big enough, it won’t care. You will hit a limit though of what a ball hitch can carry. May need to go to a pintle hitch.

[RandyA]

14 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Randy. What would a travel trailer with the pin-weight of a 5th wheel handle like? Never mind the storage area. Were the axles moved forward?

Not that I was aware of. He did have a big (heavy) military style generator mounted on the very back Oh, I found this on-line.  This dude put the ball hitch on the rear of his fiver and pulled it backwards.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT6Hd9mS79g&feature=youtu.be

This one is pretty cool too:   https://intheditch.com/FW2_ITD1253.php

OK - enough of OT from me.  Just getting stir crazy cooped up inside out in the boonies this winter (Home - Covid avoidance).  Missing Florida but getting a lot done in my shop.  My next winter project is replacing the rear hydraulic pump inside my 1955 Massey-Ferguson TO35.  That one is going to be messy.

[JPL]

Randy   Hope everything is fine down in Fla. Its cool up here. They say we may see a snowflake Thursday but I doubt it. Take care and be safe.   Pat

 

 

The Old Sailor