How are you insuring your Shasta?

[joek]

Just wondering how people are insuring their trailers. I am insuring mine through Progressive, where I insure my daily drivers, but they just told us that they will only give us appraised value in case of total loss. I'd prefer an agreed upon value, like I have on my collector car thru Grundy. We'll probably call Grundy to see if they'll insure the Shasta, but I thought I'd ask what others are doing.

[Shasta Bea]

Joe,

I insured mine for an agreed upon value, but since there is no Kelly Blue Book, the value is more sentimental than realistic. The real test will be if I ever need to make a claim.

Best,

[betsy99669]

I insured mine through AARP for an agreed amount.

[safetybruce]

Hmm, I destroyed my AARP membership card in protest and did not renew my membership when it appeared they changed focus from being strong advocates for retired persons and became "just another Insurance Company". Now where did I dump those ashes.

[hesterfoster]

Mine is insured along with my home and car with AARP (through The Hartford). They’re good. You can check their RV insurance section.

[joek]

Well, I've still got to work for another 25 years or so before I get to retire so AARP benefits aren't in my near future. Thanks though.

[B.Tal]

joek, YOU'RE GONNA GET TO RETIRE??!!! I figure I'll be working until death and beyond....wonder if anyone has ever been interred in their shasta? (will be using allstate)

[betsy99669]

Yikes!!! I thought I had insurance for my camper, but now at renewal time, I found out that AARP will not insure vintage campers. They are going by the original sale price for my 1961 Airflyte. Then subtracting about $500.00 per year for depreciation. Which brings us to a value of $0 in 2010. I am so bummed!!

So I tried Good Sam RV insurance and they also don't insure older campers. This is bad, bad, bad.

What is everyone else doing for insurance. It seems I'm up a creek....HELP!

Betsy

[diamondrelics]

my insurance co. told me that my car insurance covers whatever is being towed. My car is insured through Haggerty . They insure collectors cars , boats and motorcycles. I will call them one of these days and make sure. I too still have alot of years before the whole AARP thing. Will let you all know what haggerty says.

[betsy99669]

Diamond,

Thank you! Good Sam RV mentioned another insurance company that insured collectable cars and said they might also insure campers. I was so upset after the conversation that I couldn't remember the name of the other company. I wrote it down, but promptly lost the paper.

Now that you said it, the name was Haggerty. You have helped so much. Thank you for responding to my post. I will look into Haggerty. I hope they insure in Alaska (some insurance companies won't cover Alaska... I don't know why-it IS STILL part of the United States)

Betsy

[Shutzee]

I have my trailer insured with Farmers Insurance where we have the cars and house insured. My agent just added it to my tow vehicle policy with a value of $5000. It's only $6 a month and then when I put it in storage it goes down to almost nothing.

[effierover]

Auto insurance will cover your trailer while it is being towed (attached to your vehicle) for LIABILITY ONLY. Do double-check if you think its otherwise, but it basically covers any damage the trailer will do to OTHER people's property. The trailer itself is not covered.

I had no trouble insuring through State Farm and got an agreed-upon value to the trailer, pre-restoration, based on my bill of sale. Post-restoration, they tell me they're going to need to see receipts to increase the value, so I'm saving them. SF insurance covers damage to the trailer from everything except flood. Other "Acts of God" like earthquakes and forest fires are included.

My rates are similar to Shutzee's, but we also have auto, home and personal liability with SF. Hope that helps

[joek]

Yeah, we've been towing done this road for a while now. Different states have different laws, but here is California we are not allowed a declared value on a travel trailer. Odd, since you can declare value for a car.

Hagerty told us they will not insure travelt trailers. They originally thought they would, but after talking to their underwriters, they said no.

We insure with Progressive. We are in the process of getting the trailer professionally appraised, which Progressive will accept as a max value. In the event of a total loss, this is what they would pay.

[ndhel]

I have my auto with USAA and they will add a trailer valued at $5000 for around $6 a month. But as was mentioned above that is for liability only. USAA is partnered with Progressive and with them a 1969 Shasta valued at $5000 will run between $450 and $550 a year depending on your estimate of how often you use it and other variables.

[effierover]

Looking at responses, I think I have not been clear. Your tow vehicle's insurance should cover liability on any damage the trailer causes at no extra cost ... unless you have one of those discount insurance companies. Separate camper/RV insurance covers damages, theft, loss, etc. on the trailer. That is what I'm paying a little extra for.

[diamondrelics]

I think we need to start an insurance company for those of us with classic campers. Its not like were hard on them. We pamper our kids. I'll check some of the other classic insurance co's

[Red Dirt]

X2 on Farmers.

We use them for the fleet, house and camper. I gave them a declared value when I bought it, for the drive home and the first few months of ownership. I then raised the value after I got most of the work done. They have never looked at it, but I trust that I will have no problems, if I ever had to make a claim. We have a lot of hail here and I have had no problems with damage claims for both our vehicles or our roof. I also like having a local rep to talk to. I don't remember how much it costs us exactly, but it isn't even 3 digits for the year.

Red Dirt

[betsy99669]

We have State FArm and Progressive here in AK. I want to stay with someone local so they can understand what I want in coverage(ie. snow, earthquakes, volcanic ash, etc).

Joe- where do you go to get a "professional appraisal"?

I agree with effierover that I have insurance when I am in tow, but I am looking to insure the camper itself.
Thanks everyone for your great ideas!!

Betsy

[diamondrelics]

Please make sure you look at the fine print when insuring through a regular insurance company. I had state farm and farmers on my GTO. They made me pay for what the appraised value was on the car but in fine print on the bottom of my policy it said they only had to give me blue book value not what it was appraised at. I had both companies for years. Thats why I have Haggerty on my classic cars now.

[joek]

What the folks ay Progressive told me was that since there was no blue book value, or other standardized value system for vinatge trailers, they would accept an appraisal. If we do not have an independent appraisal, they would send there own appraiser in the event of a claim. They could not tell me what resources or guidelines their appraiser would use.

Also, speaking of fine print. My vintage car was stolen from my garage. At the time, it was not insured. My reasoning was that since I was not using the car, I didn't need road insurance and my homeowners would cover it. Boy was I wrong. If you can drive it, it is not covered by your homeowners unless you specifically add it as a rider to your policy. I would think a trailer would fall into this same category, which would mean that if you don't have your trailer insured specifically, it's probably not insured at all even if it is on your property.

[effierover]

joek: you are correct. At least at SF and it seems to be an insurance industry standard - vehicles on your property (whether road-worthy or not) are NOT covered by homeowners. Trailers count. So do ATVs, cargo carriers, flatbed trailers and vintage cars.

[diamondrelics]

That is so true. Thats why mine are all insured either through Haggerty (8 cars)or Hartford (for my non collector cars) Its ugly come bill time

[Gone Kayaking]

Nationwide standard liability coverage covers whatever is being towed. I picked up comprehensive and collision for a whopping $80 per year with a 250/500 deductible. They took the value as what I paid for it....which since I bought refurbished and will not have tons o' dollars invested beyond what I paid, I feel fine about.

[rimsvet]

Ahh, the insurance issue. I've been struggling with this for years. I have a restored 70 Loflyte with a restored 70 chevy tow vehicle. I've used antique/classic insurance for years to cover my collector cars but none will cover the wagon or shasta. I've looked into Haggerty, Grundy, Heacock and American Collectors. All said no way. When you send in pics of your vehicle and they see a hitch on it you are immediatly declined coverage. I insure the wagon through Erie for a declaired value of $5000. That's the highest I could get. If it were damaged or total loss, I'd get $5000 for wagon and 0 for Shasta. I have way more than that into it. It does cover all liabilty while driving and towing. Chance I take for a cool rig I guess. I'll be watching this thread if someone else has something worth looking into.
Bryan

Attachments:

[carolann]

I've been crunching numbers, trying to determine when I can leave my job and hit the highway. You have all been so helpful about the insurance. At least I know where to start looking and what to ask about.

Do any of you spend all/most of your time in your vintage trailers? I'm wondering what effect, if any, that has on your insurance...

Thanks for all the tips!

Carol
(Still looking for my Astrodome)

[Dee in NC]

Had this discussion with my husband just a few days ago. We were wondering if it's possible to get a "rider" on our homeowner's policy, just as we would get a rider policy for jewelry. Has anyone done this? I was thinking that it would only cover the trailer while on the property, which would make it a bit useless, but still worthwhile if we can't get a policy to cover it on the road.

We're documenting our resto-renovation with photos, receipts, etc. Thanks for the tips on saving them just in case.

What are the names of any other insurance companies that will insure vintage trailers for their real value? I see Progressive, and will check them out when we're ready to roll. Any others?

[flashmastr]

Jul 18, 2010 23:25:20 GMT -5 joek said:

Just wondering how people are insuring their trailers. I am insuring mine through Progressive, where I insure my daily drivers, but they just told us that they will only give us appraised value in case of total loss. I'd prefer an agreed upon value, like I have on my collector car thru Grundy. We'll probably call Grundy to see if they'll insure the Shasta, but I thought I'd ask what others are doing.

[kto17]

Just an FYI. I spoke to Hagerty about my Shasta, because I insure my 65 Riviera with them and have for years. Not only will they not insure trailers, this is important, THEIR CLASSIC CAR POLICIES DO NOT COVER TOWING!!!

They did however imply that they insure teardrops..... that seams really fair.

[Hamlet]

We got ours through AAA. They asked us how much it was worth, we gave them the after-restoration value going by what it cost us to restore. It's about $100 a year, but if anything happened to Hamlet, it would be well worth the thousand bucks over ten years.

[militarymedic]

I just insured my compact through USAA for $3.00 a month.

They will require a statement (or document) of value incase of a payout. Where would I get such a thing..?