Insuring RV's on Consignment

Did you know that if you put your RV on a consignment lot, you have likely just voided your insurance coverage?

Most RV policies will not cover an RV on consignment. Up until recently, Foremost was the only company that would still cover your RV in this situation.

Now National Interstate has added an endorsement that you can purchase that will cover the RV while on consignment for liability and physical damage.

Both Progressive and GMAC have exclusions for RV's on consignment. The RV lots do not cover your RV while on consignment. If potential buyers are allowed to test drive your RV, you could have a huge liability exposure. What would happen if the test driver hit someone while driving your RV? Who would pay for the damage? What if there is a fire, hail, tornado or a break in? Don't take the chance, call your agent and make sure you have coverage before you sign that consignment contract.

Power Surge in your RV

I was asked the question by one of my clients, Kathy A, if Power Surge is covered on the RV policy. After researching this with the companies I represent, I found that no one addresses this specifically because a Full Timer RV package basically just modifies a traditional Auto Policy to include some contents coverage and personal liability. Power Surge is not normally something associated with Auto Insurance. It's more of a Homeowners coverage.

Every policy covers lightning under Comprehensive Coverage and since the majority of claims that I have seen have been lightning related, Power Surge has really never come up. Kathy's husband Lou is an electrician and they are Work Campers so they travel to many different parks. She informed me that they have seen all kinds of electrical "issues" in the RV parks they travel through. Since we all travel with some sort of electronics whether it be computers, cell phones, camera's etc, we need to be aware if the outlet we are plugging our RV into is in good working order without power fluctuation.

I asked Kathy what they do to make sure they aren't hooking up to an unstable power source and she told me about this gizmo called a Circut Tester. This is a very inexpensive item and it looks like even I could figure it out. Kathy also mentioned that they keep it plugged into an outlet near the door to their RV and so she is used to glancing at it as she goes in and out and if the wrong light is lit up she knows she has a power issue right away.

If you don't have one of these, get one and use it!

RV Contents Coverage

If there is one area of the Full Timer RV policy that needs special attention, it is coverage for Personal Effects or Contents Coverage.

This coverage pays Replacement Cost for your belongings located in your RV. Items that came with the RV like TV's, Microwaves etc are considered part of the RV and are covered under your collision and comprehensive coverages.

Examples of RV contents would be clothing, dishes, computers, dvd's and cd's, jewelry, lawn chairs, grills, hoses etc. Since the coverage is Replacement Cost, when deciding how much coverage to buy, you should consider the cost to replace the items and not their current worth.

The biggest misconception of this coverage is that the coverage applies no matter where your items are, but that is not always the case. If you purchase $5,000 of contents coverage, that is the most the insurance coverage will pay for items damaged while they are inside the RV.

Once you take your items out of the RV, your coverage can be reduced to 25% of the total you purchased. If you purchased $5,000 then you would have $1,250 of coverage for items out of the RV.

An example of a typical coverage limit I would write for a full timer would be $10,000 of Personal Effects coverage giving $2500 for items outside the RV. The average cost of this would be around $80 per year.

Canadian Non-Resident ID Cards

It's February 1st! Some of you will be starting to finalize your plans for moving North during the summer months. Many of you will be heading to Canada or Alaska.

In the past we have provided Canadian Non-Resident ID cards for your RV's, motorcycles or autos that will be going through Canada. This helps speed the process along when going across the boarder. Many of my clients say that when they have presented these cards, they have flown right threw while their friends who did not have them were stopped and searched. Whether the cards had anything to do with that or not, I can't say for sure, but why not, they are free!

If you have a policy with me and plan to travel to Canada this year, please give me plenty of advance warning. After 9-11, the companies have put a crack down on handing out these cards for us agents to print up and give out. Now we have to call the companies, order the cards and they print and mail them to you (usually to the address on the policy ie: mail forwarding) and that can take a couple of weeks not to mention then has to be forwarded to you wherever you may be.

Last summer, I had a heck of a time getting cards to one of my clients going on a 5 week motorcycle trip through Canada. I thought I was going to have to go to Ohio and pick up the card from Progressive's home office and fly it to him in North Dakota. Not that he couldn't have crossed the boarder without it, he could have, but didn't want to. He too had heard that he would have a much easier time of it if he had the card. Anyway, we got it done and he got there and back without any problems. Just remember to give plenty of advance notice. Even if you are just contemplating going at this point, why not get the cards anyway? They are good for your full policy term. Just give me a call or shoot me an email.