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.

Towing and Roadside Coverage for your RV

This is an area that I want to touch on because it seems that alot of my RV clients are either unsure if they have a Towing and Roadside plan, or if they do, are unsure if it will actually tow their RV, or think they have some coverage on their policy and don't.

I will explain what is offered by some of the companies that I represent.

Progressive has a nice towing and roadside plan. I get very few complaints, if any, about their service. If you have some stories to share, I would love to hear them because if I don't get complaints, I generally don't hear any of the good stuff either. The cost is about $40 per year and is available as a "sign and drive" service. It is available on auto, motorcycle, RV and Travel Trailer policies. The company provides a separate Towing and Roadside phone number for you to call.

National Interstate contracted with Continental Car Club for many years at a cost of $50 per year. I had more complaints than good comments on this service, but it varied from year to year depending on who the got the contract to service these clients as I believe Continental Car Club contracted with several independent services over the years. I am excited to report that National Interstate has chosen to contract with CoachNet now. Any exisisting Continental Car Club clients will automatically renew with the new CoachNet program at a cost of $65 per year. There is a Premier program available for $109 per year that provides the RV Technical Assistance Hotline with ASE, RVIA/RVDA and Master Certified Technicians on staff to help you over the phone or in person if necessary. Since this is a new program to National Interstate, I will be interested to see how it does.

GMAC offers towing on their auto and RV policies. I always found it confusing that the limit of coverage is $75 and the company was charging sometimes as high as $22 per year for it. I called my GMAC rep to question why so high for so little coverage? I was informed that GMAC will pay unlimited Towing and Roadside FOR THE RV ONLY on the policy. Any auto's will have the $75 maximum. This would be a reimbursement type of claim where you pay the bill and GMAC reimburses you with a copy of the receipt. You use their standard claims phone number to report the claim.

I know many RV clients use Good Sam RV Towing and Roadside and have good things to say about it. Several have AAA, but I have also heard that AAA will not tow an RV unless you have purchased a special higher priced program.

Hope that gives some useful info on what is available for Towing and Roadside. If you have comments about these programs or any that I may have missed, let me know!

GPS and Cell Phones

My sister-in-law in Alburquerque NM recently had her car stolen with her purse in it. The thiefs wasted no time attempting to rob her home. She happened to be home when they simply walked in her front door. She chased them off by yelling at them to get out of her house! She's a brave (or crazy) girl!

Thanks to my client Judy Harding for sending me this post and giving us something to think about today:

GPS
A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had
their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was
parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and
specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included
a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been
prominently mounted on the dashboard.

When the victims got home, they found that their house had been
ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.

The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then
used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain
entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football
game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so
they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would
appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home
address in it.. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you
can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know
where you live if your GPS were stolen.

MOBILE PHONES
I never thought of this...

This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on
her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which
contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet.. Etc....was stolen.

20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling
him what had happened, hubby says 'I received your text asking
about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago.'

When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the
money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen
cell phone to text 'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the pin
number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their
bank account.

Moral of the lesson:
Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in
your contact list.

Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad,
Mom, etc...

And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts,
CONFIRM by calling back.

Also, when you're being text by friends or family to meet them
somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came
from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places
to meet 'family and friends' who text you.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON
I never thought about the above!
As of now, I no longer have 'home' listed on my GPS or cell phone.

RV Replacement Cost Settlement

There can be quite alot of confusion among the RV community about this subject so I want to just do a review on what your options are when purchasing RV insurance.

I am going to base this information on how the big 3 companies (Progressive, GMAC and National Interstate) describe this coverage.

Total Replacement Cost:

This coverage is available on new RV's with all 3 companies. (Some will allow the RV to be a couple years old). In the event of a total loss, this coverage replaces the current RV with a brand new untitled RV that is as close as possible to the same make and model you had with comparable equipment. Even if it cost more than you paid for yours. This is a no-brainer and is inexpensive. If you buy a new RV make sure you have this coverage!!

Purchase Price Guarantee:

Once the RV you purchased new is 5 model years old, the 3 companies will revert your Total Replacement Cost coverage to Purchase Price Guarantee automatically. This means that in the event of a total loss, you will receive your purchase price back. Therefore, I cannot stress how important it is for you to always keep your original purchase invoice. I always try to have my clients send me a copy for safekeeping.
I have asked all 3 companies how long this coverage will remain. All three said either 20 years or forever and since no one seems to keep their RV's for that long, we have never had to put that to the test.

Agreed Value:

Progressive is the only one that offers this coverage and I think it's also a no-brainer if you have purchased your RV within the last 2 years. They will insure the RV based upon your purchase price and agree to pay you that amount in the event of a total loss. It doesn't matter if the RV is not brand new at the time of purchase. Again a copy of your purchase invoice is required. In South Dakota, they have allowed this coverage to be added even if you purchased your RV over 2 years ago as long as you provide a current NADA print out showing the value. www.nada.com. National Interstate offers this coverage on bus conversions but will require a qualified appraisal.


Actual Cash Value:

If you do not see any of the above three coverages listed on your policy, then most likely you have an Actual Cash Value loss settlement. This means that the company will depriciate the RV and take into account the condition, mileage, existing damage etc. I'm not a fan if you can get one of the above. Especially on your higher valued RV's

I want to make mention that if you have an RV that has had Total Replacement Cost and it is now 5 years old, you may want to consider dropping the Replacement Cost/Purchase Price Guarantee and just insure the RV for it's current value. This amount will need to be adjusted based upon market conditions and should be reviewed at renewal time to make sure it is accurate. The plus side to this is that insurance premiums are based upon the value of the RV. So, if you have an RV that has depriciated significantly, you could reduce the value on the policy, insure it for Actual Cash Value and pay less for your policy. Personally, I am OK with this if your RV is under $50,000 in value AND if you do not owe money on it.