Just bought my first RV!!! any advice on insurance?

[cnq50b]

I signed papers today - after much discussion, research, consulting with brothers & kids. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. It's a 2004 Airstream Interstate - a class B - just perfect for what I need. Looks like new - it's obviously been very meticulously cared for & loved.
I'm going to pick it up Thursday, Aug 16th in Florida. Trip home will be 1200-1700 miles depending on how the spirit moves me.
Need to line up insurance for it - any recommendations?
Any & all advice for the insurance and/or the trip is greatly appreciated...
Just sign me 'all smiles' - a real dream about to come true!

Thanks!
Catherine

[Cougarfan]

BIG CONGRATS TO YOU!!!! WOOHOOOOO!!!

I just bought a small travel trailer myself so went through the same issue with needing insurance. I have State Farm for my truck and renters insurance so just gave my agent a call and asked how much it would be to add the trailer. Turns out its only $91/year. Yup, $7.58/month. My truck's liability insurance covers the trailer so that's why its so cheap.

I did some research on what other people did and it seems most went with the company that insures their home, car, etc.

Best thing to do is try to get a few quotes from several companies so you can get the best deal. You can also go to http://www.rv.net and just search "insurance".

Good luck and congrats again!!!

Laura

[cnq50b]

Thanks, Laura.
That will be tomorrow's project. So far I'd only looked at Progressive - I didn't know that State Farm even offered RV coverage. That's what I have my house & cars with now. My primary concern is coverage that will be there when I need it. I'll probably consider road-side coverage also. Even though it's only a class B & I'm pretty self-reliant, I'd still probably need some help changing a tire, etc.

So is this where the fun starts?

[kdmac]

I shopped all around and discovered the best premium was with AARP and the Hartford. AARP has chosen Hartford to be the insurance company they provide for their members. I was greately impressed so I insured both my truck and trailer with Hartford. But, an interesting side note is that when I made the initial call to AARP and was connected to the Hartford representative he was a bit aloof and a snotty kid with pert and "short" answers to my questions and I just knew he was rolling his eyes to the person next to him. So, once I got the "quote" from him I said I would give it some thought and call back. When I did call back twenty minutes later (hoping to get another representative, which I did) I got a really sweet gentleman that gave me a quote $175 less than the little upstart did. So, maybe it's worth calling twice to compare just to see what happens.

[cnq50b]

AARP - Hartford is on my list to contact so thanks for the heads up. Good thinking on your part to call back- I may have just gone on to the next company on my list.

[ellenw]

Woo hoo!!!! Let the fun begin! How did you find it? And how did the whole shopping process work for you with a long-distance purchase? I'd. like to broaden my search horizons.

[Redetotry]

I'm wondering, when you buy from a dealer or someone on eBay sight unseen, do you have the option of declining the sale if you find it not to be as described. I've seen eBay ads that ask for a deposit and offer the right to refuse when you see it. Also with eBay I believe there are buyer protection rules.

I went with Progressive but when my home/auto insurance comes due I am going to get estimates from AARP for everything. And yes, I'll talk to two different agents as I've dealt with them before. Seems like you have to change every two years to get the costs down.

[JudyJB]

I went with Good Sam, which uses GMAC, and found it very reasonably priced. I made sure I got an RV-owners policy that covered full-timers because it is better coverage. Make sure they cover your belongings and also things like a place for you to stay for several days if you have an accident.

You might want to check Coach Net for roadside assistance or even insurance. I got 6 months free with my new purchase, but will be renewing it because with a Class C, I cannot change tires and need special towing.

The special towing coverage is important because with most rigs, those regular tow vehicles cannot manage rvs.

[oregonrambler1]

We live in Oregon. I shopped around for best price for home / car / RV and found for us Country Financial gave us the best bang for our buck. We had to join the Oregon Farmer's Bureau ($15.00 a year) and this gave us other unexpected discounts on other items like cell phone (T-Mobile). As for roadside assistance, we learned our lesson when we had a 36' Cls A. I was told by a representative that RV's were covered but when our alternator broke and we needed assistance the company said they didn't handle "long" RV's. geez... we got stuck with a $900.00 bill to be towed 2 blocks. (later I thought it would have been totally easy for me to go buy a new starter battery, install it, and drive the two blocks! oh well, hind sight). After that incident we changed to Good Neighbor Sam and have had nothing but great service. They even rescued our son who was house sitting his sister's house, driving her car and broke down on the Balboa exit in San Diego! I was home in AZ, called GNS and they towed him to safety and a repair facility -no charge. Oh, if you get a GNS VISA card and accumulate points, you can redeem the points for GNS membership and roadside assistance. We haven't paid cash for either since that first year membership.

[Lopo]

I upgraded my AAA not just to RV Plus, but to Premier. If you're a Premier member, you go to the head of the line when you call for service, and that sounds good to me!

As for ebay purchases, I happen to have just dealt with that. I bought my Class C on ebay, and sent a deposit immediately, and then even sent full payment because I asked him to deliver it to me (400 miles) so of course he wanted to make sure it was sold before he did that. The seller had done about $4,000 worth of mechanical work to it, and with only 42,000 miles on it, I wasn't too worried. He had described it as good to excellent. However, I think it had been sitting and perhaps he really didn't know, but of course the cabover is full of dry rot and even has standing water in it. And the rear wall isn't too great, either. The spare tire has been mounted directly to the body, not to the bumper - surely not a factory job! So water got in either around the bolts of the mount or the window or who knows.

If it were no more than 10 years old, the ebay warranty program would've covered it, but because it's older (1994), it won't cover it. (Read the fine print on their protection plan for vehicles.) So BUYER BEWARE for me. This week, instead of hitting the road, I take her to the shop to have them peel back the front and see how bad it is. The base has some rot, too, so I imagine I'll have them remove the base (or floor, or whatever you call where you put the mattress of the cabover) and replace all the framing in the front part, at least, plus in the rear. And I'll get before and after photos so if I sell it one of these days, the buyer will know that it's been repaired and newly sealed.

[Getupngo]

Wow! I didn't know Airstream made motor homes. Congrats on your new home on wheels.

Check out GMAC insurance. If you wreck your RV during the first year or two (I can't remember now) of purchase, they will reimburse you for WHAT YOU PAID for your rig, not the depreciated value. They have been great with me.

Be sure to send us photos from your travels home. And pix of your new RV. MUST have pix of new RV. you'll find we are a bunch of RV voyeurs!

[ellenw]

... you'll find we are a bunch of RV voyeurs!

[Redetotry]

I upgraded my AAA not just to RV Plus, but to Premier. If you're a Premier member, you go to the head of the line when you call for service, and that sounds good to me!

As for ebay purchases, I happen to have just dealt with that. I bought my Class C on ebay, and sent a deposit immediately, and then even sent full payment because I asked him to deliver it to me (400 miles) so of course he wanted to make sure it was sold before he did that. The seller had done about $4,000 worth of mechanical work to it, and with only 42,000 miles on it, I wasn't too worried. He had described it as good to excellent. However, I think it had been sitting and perhaps he really didn't know, but of course the cabover is full of dry rot and even has standing water in it. And the rear wall isn't too great, either. The spare tire has been mounted directly to the body, not to the bumper - surely not a factory job! So water got in either around the bolts of the mount or the window or who knows.

If it were no more than 10 years old, the ebay warranty program would've covered it, but because it's older (1994), it won't cover it. (Read the fine print on their protection plan for vehicles.) So BUYER BEWARE for me. This week, instead of hitting the road, I take her to the shop to have them peel back the front and see how bad it is. The base has some rot, too, so I imagine I'll have them remove the base (or floor, or whatever you call where you put the mattress of the cabover) and replace all the framing in the front part, at least, plus in the rear. And I'll get before and after photos so if I sell it one of these days, the buyer will know that it's been repaired and newly sealed.

Lopo, I would have the whole rig, especially the engine gone over and get an estimate, with any RV that old and especially if it has been sitting you might have a lot of other issues and you could be looking at more than it is worth to repair. Maybe you could sell it to some do-it-yourself person. Also if you are not good at repairs it could continue to be a money pit.

[MsJane]

For the time being I opted to go with Allstate, my auto company. Not all policies are created equal - know what you are actually getting and paying for. I was surprised to learn that the RV is covered by dad's homeowner policy instead of my RV policy when my TT is in storage. The good thing about insurance is that it's not a life committment - you can switch if necessary.

I would recommend some type of roadside service - never know when you will need help.

[Lopo]

Redetotry, I do have records of the work that's been done on it recently. The seller spent $4,000 on mechanical stuff this summer. If I didn't know that, I wouldn't put the money into the reframing, that's for sure. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on something newer; wouldn't want a newer one that I felt I couldn't make changes to. I will alter this to make sure it's accessible for my husband and his wheelchair when he's in the U.S. because he will leave his own motorhome in Mexico. I do have my vintage travel trailer, a 1964 Frolic, that's being restored for me by a gal friend who is as mechanically inclined as I'm not. When it's ready, that's going to be my "go to" trailer for traveling, I suspect!