Update of my education about the ever changing market of Auto vs. RV insurance: And first a disclaimer, I am only passing on what I have learned from hours of phone calls trying to solve my insurance problems, and results appear to vary greatly based upon which state you are in, which agent / employee you happen to get to talk to, and what words you use in describing your Sportsmobile.
This year I ended up in a similar situation to Beth's, except that I have two other daily driver vehicles. Back in April I received notification from my State Farm agent that their corporate office was going to "non-renew" my "Annual RV Policy" on my Sportsmobile when the coverage period ended in August, "because they were unable to find a State Farm '6-month Auto Policy' for any other (daily driver) vehicle."
This situation occurred because I formerly had all of my vehicles insured with State Farm until they refused to write a policy on my new BMW motorcycle (at the time I didn't have my motorcycle training and license completed, and I was just trying to truck the motorcycle from the dealership to my garage in the dead of winter). So I called Geico and not only were they happy to insure the motorcycle, they also gave me quotes on my two daily drivers that would save me about $350 per year, and offered me a $1 Million Umbrella liability policy for about half of what State Farm wanted for similar coverage. All seemed well, but then when the renewal date for the Sportsmobile RV Policy with State Farm was approaching, I called Geico back to switch over the policy and they "declined to cover it as an RV" and were only willing to write a "6-Month Auto Policy" covering it as a Ford van. Oh well, I renewed my RV Policy for another year with State Farm and there was no issue until this spring,
Back to my "new hobby" of shopping for RV insurance,.. here is what I found:
-No company will write an "Agreed Value Policy" on a Sportsmobile that is over 10 years old,.. (Progressive will on new vehicles, until their 11 year at which point the policy is converted to an "Actual Cash Value" (ACH) policy. FMCA RV Insurance (w/ membership in Family Motor Coach Association) will write an "Agreed Value Policy" for total replacement loss on a new Sportsmobile, or on a used one up to 10 years old with an appraisal.
-Premium prices varied greatly by company, who you talked at the agency, and the phase of the moon, for apparently the same coverage. Examples for Annual ACH RV policies starting at $80K value: I was paying State Farm $432; Foremost/Farmers wanted $1019; Progressive initially quoted me $539 in April, but then wanted $840 to write it this August; and Geico declined as mentioned.
-When you are talking to the agent / employee, do not describe your Sportsmobile as a "conversion van" or "van converted to a camper", those are apparently dirty words in the auto insurance industry. Instead, refer to the Sportsmobile as a "Class B Motorhome", and if they start asking lots of questions about the "required equipment" you are probably going to shop for a different agent.
-Realize that the "Actual Cash Value" (ACH) RV policy that you are probably going to end up with begins at the initial "stated value" (supported by sales invoice or appraisal) and begins depreciating immediately, per the company's schedule (i.e. You pay the same annual premium, but the amount that the insurance company will pay you in a total loss is ever declining, supposedly related to the "market value" of similar vehicles (age and mileage wise),... and you will likely have to haggle and supply many "comparables" to them to get any satisfactory settlement).
-If you buy a new Sportsmobile, get that "Agreed Value Policy" (full replacement coverage) while you can for the first 10 years of vehicle age.
-An ACH RV Policy (annual) is still better than a standard "Auto" Policy (6-month),.. while both are depreciated similarly, the "Auto" policy is only using the "book value" of the van as a starting point (without any of the SMB modifications).
-Lastly, don't believe anything that the agent / employee is promising you, unless it is stated in the policy,... and read the fine print!
So, my coverage was about to expire this August, my State Farm agent came up with a creative work-around. They wrote a "$2K Comprehensive Only" Auto policy with a 6-month premium of $12 for one of my daily driver vehicles already insured for liability by Geico,.. this apparently satisfied the corporate office that there was in fact a "daily driver" vehicle, and State Farm renewed my Sportsmobile annual RV Policy for another year.
Sportsmobile (AKA Money Pit)
Linear Mode
