Vehicle insurance

[Sculptor]

On 7/13/2021 at 8:38 AM, Danandfreda said:

Try herrmann insurance agency

rapid city 18002821446. We have all ours with them and reasonably rates

I’m having trouble with this agency this year.  Last year no problem.  This year there appears to be a huge problem with the VIN number.  Are you still with Herrmann?

[Danfreda1]

4 hours ago, Sculptor said:

I’m having trouble with this agency this year.  Last year no problem.  This year there appears to be a huge problem with the VIN number.  Are you still with Herrmann?

Yes we are still with them. Just renewed everything with them right before the rally. also added a side by side no problem at all. We do have an address through escapees in South Dakota. Don’t know if that helps

[Ray,IN]

On 2/5/2022 at 11:36 AM, Kirk W said:

You must have come a fair distance since leaving Rapid City? I used to travel the Nebraska panhandle as part of my job and there are some areas that get really bad wind conditions. 

There's a reason trees don't grow vertical in Nebraska.

[Sculptor]

10 hours ago, Danfreda1 said:

Yes we are still with them. Just renewed everything with them right before the rally. also added a side by side no problem at all. We do have an address through escapees in South Dakota. Don’t know if that helps

Yes that helps.  It sounds like the only difference is our mailing address.  Now I’m really puzzled.  The original agent I used is gone.  I’m talking to another person who claims to have researched this inside out, and there’s no way.  But you just renewed.  Somethings not making sense.  Our soon to be dropped policy is an RV policy through Nationwide.  Can you pm me what yours is?  Commercial or RV through which carrier company?

[rfkavanagh]

Thanks to this thread, I just got a policy from National General - full-timer Class C RV policy, 12 months, for less than $1k.  Not too bad!

 

I tried various other insurance companies, but they all fell apart for various reasons.  Progressive mandates that you have a second vehicle that you tow, or else they won't insure an RV full-time - which is kind of absurd and defeats the whole point for me.  A couple of other companies won't let you go any further in quote generation without providing a garaging address, which again is kind of antithetical to the idea of full-timing in an RV.  And any company that can't give me a quote online doesn't get my business - I was surprised how many of the RV specialist companies mentioned up-thread require you to call.

 

I'm a total newbie to RV-ing, and I didn't expect it to be so challenging to get an RV policy, so thanks for all the input in this thread.  Surely RV-ing full-time without a permanent garaging address and no other vehicle can't be that unusual!

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, rfkavanagh said:

Thanks to this thread, I just got a policy from National General - full-timer Class C RV policy, 12 months, for less than $1k.  Not too bad!

 

I tried various other insurance companies, but they all fell apart for various reasons.  Progressive mandates that you have a second vehicle that you tow, or else they won't insure an RV full-time - which is kind of absurd and defeats the whole point for me.  A couple of other companies won't let you go any further in quote generation without providing a garaging address, which again is kind of antithetical to the idea of full-timing in an RV.  And any company that can't give me a quote online doesn't get my business - I was surprised how many of the RV specialist companies mentioned up-thread require you to call.

 

I'm a total newbie to RV-ing, and I didn't expect it to be so challenging to get an RV policy, so thanks for all the input in this thread.  Surely RV-ing full-time without a permanent garaging address and no other vehicle can't be that unusual!

You did well. Back in 2008 Progressive sold us a full timer's policy even though we told them we had no other vehicle. Fortunately we read the fine print when we received the policy and found that exclusion. They gave us a full refund without argument.

Linda Sand

[rfkavanagh]

1 hour ago, sandsys said:

You did well. Back in 2008 Progressive sold us a full timer's policy even though we told them we had no other vehicle. Fortunately we read the fine print when we received the policy and found that exclusion. They gave us a full refund without argument.

Linda Sand

I only noticed because when I'd got through the entire process and was about to purchase, they asked me to confirm various statements about the vehicle, and one of them was that it wasn't the only vehicle in the household.  There was no option to question or change any of the statements - just a "check this box to confirm all of the above" - so I chatted with an agent and they eventually informed me they would only cover an RV when there was another vehicle as well (so that you're not using the RV for errands, groceries, etc.).  As I said to the agent, it would have been nice if they'd stated that somewhere up front before going through the entire quote process.

[Danfreda1]

Was not that hard to find insurance for full timers. We had our address through escapees that we use for garaging place have an hdt , smart , and fifth wheel and was no problem getting insurance. We are not new to rving but hdt shouldn’t matter. I hear a lot of people that say hey have a hard time getting insurance but we have not found that “ yet”

[Blues]

On 7/5/2022 at 8:28 PM, rfkavanagh said:

A couple of other companies won't let you go any further in quote generation without providing a garaging address, which again is kind of antithetical to the idea of full-timing in an RV. 

Are you saying you were able to get quotes without providing any address whatsoever?  Insurance rates are based on zip code, and if you didn't give them one, I'm curious how they would be able to quote a premium.

If fulltiming, I've always thought it's a good idea to use a company that specializes in fulltiming because they understand that the "garaging address," which every policy I've ever gotten required, is a legal fiction in the case of fulltimers.  I figure if they sell me the fulltimer liability coverage, then they're acknowledging that I don't have a "real" garaging address, but they need something to set my rates.

I suppose companies insuring fulltimers without an actual garaging address could come up with a nationwide average for insurance premiums and charge fulltimers that, but they haven't chosen to do that, and still base everyone's rates on the Ip code for the garaging address that never actually garages the RV.

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, Blues said:

If fulltiming, I've always thought it's a good idea to use a company that specializes in fulltiming because they understand that the "garaging address," which every policy I've ever gotten required, is a legal fiction in the case of fulltimers.  I figure if they sell me the fulltimer liability coverage, then they're acknowledging that I don't have a "real" garaging address, but they need something to set my rates.

Many full timers spend one season in a single area traveling only during the other seasons. If they choose a mail forwarder from that area, it makes sense to use that as their garage address.

Linda

[jperry29]

On 7/6/2022 at 2:46 AM, Danfreda1 said:

Was not that hard to find insurance for full timers. We had our address through escapees that we use for garaging place have an hdt , smart , and fifth wheel and was no problem getting insurance. We are not new to rving but hdt shouldn’t matter. I hear a lot of people that say hey have a hard time getting insurance but we have not found that “ yet”

Would you mind sharing who you were able to get full timers insurance on an HDT and, I think, a New Horizons or Razor toy hauler?

[Danfreda1]

Herrmann insurance agency in rapid city South Dakota 

[Danfreda1]

4 hours ago, sandsys said:

Many full timers spend one season in a single area traveling only during the other seasons. If they choose a mail forwarder from that area, it makes sense to use that as their garage address.

Linda

I think it’s best to use the address that is on your drivers license as the garage address. 

[sandsys]

4 hours ago, Danfreda1 said:

I think it’s best to use the address that is on your drivers license as the garage address. 

True. But some people have garages in more than one place--a lot of snowbirds have one north and one south and fly or take a train between them.

Linda

[rfkavanagh]

On 7/7/2022 at 2:44 PM, Blues said:

Are you saying you were able to get quotes without providing any address whatsoever?  Insurance rates are based on zip code, and if you didn't give them one, I'm curious how they would be able to quote a premium.

If fulltiming, I've always thought it's a good idea to use a company that specializes in fulltiming because they understand that the "garaging address," which every policy I've ever gotten required, is a legal fiction in the case of fulltimers.  I figure if they sell me the fulltimer liability coverage, then they're acknowledging that I don't have a "real" garaging address, but they need something to set my rates.

I suppose companies insuring fulltimers without an actual garaging address could come up with a nationwide average for insurance premiums and charge fulltimers that, but they haven't chosen to do that, and still base everyone's rates on the Ip code for the garaging address that never actually garages the RV.

Apologies - I just realized I hadn't replied to this! 

I gave them my mailing address as part of the process, but that's a mailing service, not a house or garaging address, and not a location that I own or at which I live.  That's why I was so surprised when the whole "garaging address" issue came up - I'm living and traveling in the RV full-time, so I don't have any permanent home/garaging address to give them.  My mailing service address is literally the only option I had to provide. 

Seems like that would be a common issue when insuring full-timers and that they'd have come up with a workaround by now.  While it may be commonly accepted that "garaging address" is a bit of a fiction for full-timers, I just don't like that it's the legal terminology used in the policy - I have nightmares of an insurance company denying payout because the garaging address on the policy is not literally a garaging address for the vehicle.

[Blues]

On 9/4/2022 at 4:13 PM, rfkavanagh said:

Seems like that would be a common issue when insuring full-timers and that they'd have come up with a workaround by now. 

I think the workaround is what they're already doing--using whatever address you can give them.  For regular people, it's obvious--it's where they reside and use the vehicle. 

Issues with garaging address typically come up when people who live in an urban area where insurance is expensive claim a garaging address in a rural area, even though they use the vehicle like normal at their house in the urban area.  There is an intentional misrepresentation in the application for insurance.

That's not what is going on when a fulltimer uses the only address he has to get a fulltimer RV policy.  There is no misrepresentation on the part of the insured, and the insurance company issues a policy designed for people with no fixed address.  (Or actually a policy designed for RVs on which they have grafted fulltimer coverage--hence the use of "garaging address.")  With these facts, it would be hard to see how an insurance company wouldn't be estopped from declaring the contract void at its inception based on material misrepresentation.

From a practical standpoint, there is a whole subspecialty of insurance for fulltimers, and there are millions of people who have had or currently have fulltimer insurance and if the way garaging address is applied to them caused denials of claims, we would have heard about it by now.  And the companies would have no product to offer to fulltimers.

[sandsys]

I suspect the problem arises when full timers buy products for RV owners that are not full timers then buy an extra policy to cover contents instead of buying a policy that is intended to cover the unique situation of full timers. Sure companies will sell you those policies--they will sell you anything whether or not it is the right thing for you. For instance, our first full timer policy said it was void if the RV was our only vehicle even though we told them before purchase that it was. Fortunately, Dave reads documents so he quickly discovered that then got our payment refunded so we could buy a policy that actually covered our situation.

Linda

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, Blues said:

From a practical standpoint, there is a whole subspecialty of insurance for fulltimers, and there are millions of people who have had or currently have fulltimer insurance

And that is the reason that adding a full-time clause to policies of the companies that offer them makes the cost increase substantially. Most standard RV policies even limit the number of nights that you can spend in the RV, commonly 180 nights or less.  My current RV policy on our travel trailer has a limit of 120 nights but you have to dig to find where it says that. 

The fulltimer clause is the reason that so many insurance companies do not cover fulltime RVing.

[Blues]

About 5 years ago I had Geico quote me a fulltimer's policy and only because I made them send me a breakdown of the premium for all of the individual coverages included in the policy did I notice that there was no premium for fulltimer's personal liability.  When I called back to get them to correct it, I was told they didn't offer that liability coverage in Texas.  I said without it it's not a full timer's policy, and the guy countered that it covered the RV 365 days a year, so they considered it a full timer's policy, and how did I want to pay the premium.  Uh, I want to pay the premium to a company that's issuing me a true fulltimer's policy, with the liability coverage I need if I don't have homeowner's or renter's insurance.

People say Geico now offers real fulltimer's insurance in Texas, but I haven't looked at a policy to verify it.