Seeking RV Insurance for 4WD New SMB

[Ketcham]

In two weeks I am picking up my new SMB after a year long project, design build.

USAA does not take RV insurance and appropriately considers this an RV. They send me to Progressive and Progressive says they will not insure a van conversion and will not insure a Sportsmobile.

I want a policy that will give replacement value in say 5 years and pro-rated thereafter. It must also include off pavement use as well.

Hate to have this process delay my pickup.

All thougths welcome.

-j

 

[Angel-SMB]

I have National Interstate Insurance. I have the 5 year total loss replacement.

Angel

 

[Roonie-KEY]

I have progressive for my Sportsmobile and it was no problem getting it and they knew all about it. If you go online and fill out all the info you can clearly see they have Sportsmobile listed and all the features. Mine was used however....

 

[surfgeek33]

We had State Farm.....same deal as angel's.

 

[Aldercrest]

That's strange. I just insured my SMB through Progressive after North Pacific/Liberty Northwest consolidated all their retail business into Safeco, and Safeco's cost for the stated value policy on the van was out of sight.

 

[Roonie-KEY]

That's strange. I just insured my SMB through Progressive after North Pacific/Liberty Northwest consolidated all their retail business into Safeco, and Safeco's cost for the stated value policy on the van was out of sight.

ditto.... we have safeco for all our other auto policies but it was way too much for our SMB and our boat when we had it prior. We went to progressive for both and had a great price. Cheaper than our auto policy through Safeco.

 

[jage]

I have stated value with Progressive as well, and I've posted extensively about Progressive (search with author: jage).

Your problem is likely in the termonolgy, and the fact you're dealing with an army of "agents", not all of which can be the sharpest tool. I wouldn't use the word "conversion" as a "conversion van" is something totally different, and really until you start talking "stated value" insurance with Progressive they'd just bite you on everything that's not factory installed anyway.

The last time I wanted to switch, Farmer's couldn't come near their price for autos and had stopped covering "RVs".

PITA, but call again and talk to someone else.

 

[hemiwin]

If you (anybody) dosent mind, What is your monthly premium for your Sportsmobile? I'm looking for an estimate for a new fully loaded Rb50 4x4 valued at 100k+

I have no idea, just curious. THANKS

 

[Aldercrest]

Slightly less than $50/month for a 2002 E-350 EB with 4wd based on stated replacement value of slightly more than a third of what yours will cost. Would have been closer to $40/month without my wife's speeding ticket last year. I don't ever speed. :b1:

 

[Angel-SMB]

My stated value is $112,019 and the premium is and has been since Dec. 2008 $933 per year. 2:

Angel

 

[saline]

We have Progressive as well and we pay $500 a year. Full replacement coverage. We purchased ours used for $62,000 and are covered for $68,000.

 

[Roonie-KEY]

We have Progressive as well and we pay $500 a year. Full replacement coverage. We purchased ours used for $62,000 and are covered for $68,000.

Ours is the same slightly more at 550 a year.

 

[Ketcham]

I did not state any type of conversion. Progressive will not cover anything SMB does since SMB does not get their vans directly by Ford. I made the argument that Unicat, Earthroamer, Winabago and Streamline do not manufacture their own chassis. He looked into it further...for 90 minutes. Since SMB gets their vans through a dealership, everything is not manufacturer installed. He was very specific stating that any Progressive policy regarding a SMB was made with determination’ manufacturer installed’. SMB is not Ford and therefore the policy will not be honored when a claim occurs. Call Jasvir at 1800 289 7704 ext. 374 0085.

My quote for $139,000 plus $1,000,000 liability coverage was $168/mo or $2016/yr. Off road use was OK.

 

[billwilson-THOR]

I am in the insurance biz, although on the Life side
HOWEVER, i know how these things work

These companies are in the "monthly premium" business
NOT the "insure cars" business
be clear on that
Same holds true for Life ins and health insurance
they do not want to pay a claim
if they do, it has to be the lowest possible

comp and liability they know how to deal with
they do not know how to "rate" a hybrid like a SMB
if it is not in thier "drop down box" on the software, they have a problem

I use state farm
i gave up after a while as it was too time consuming and frustrating
i am However going to get a Full Appraisial on my rig
THEN, i can do stated value, with depreciation

I am not worried about a fender bender
I want Full Replacement at $80,000 not $1,800
for theft, fire, on and off road destruction

None of the policies i read CLEARLY state that


on my to do list to find a solution

To the best of my knowledge, we dont have any first hand info here
of a SMB being "totaled" on or off road and what the check was written for
and how easy it was to get

Yellow Fellow was stolen, dont remember the check her carrier wrote
I believe she got close to what whe was happy with and moved on
(someone will check this, i would but have 4 other boards to pester now

bw out

 

[calclimber]

I have always used Poliseek who is an agent for several insurance companys. My original company they set me up with was Progressive for the first five years with full replacement. At the end of the first five years my agent called me and told me she could save me money by moving me to National Intersatate and they would offer me everything that I was getting with Progressive plus five more years of full replacement. I think I pay about 900 a year with one ticket.

 

[billwilson-THOR]

not to beat a dead horse

does not matter what your agent tells you

"full replacement" on my rig is maybe $3,000.

you need in writing on your policy the dollar amount
of replacement and the depriciation schedual


when my rig was hit (look at my gallery)
USAA (the isurnace company of the girl that hit me) offered me $1,800 to "total" my rig
thier software showed thats what the value was

pictures, phone calls and my attorney getting involved
to get the repair done

the rate you pay is a moot point
if the company does not pay off what is the Real Price of the rig

i believe Cell Steve (think is was you buddy) did not break even on his deal at the dealer

 

[durangatangs]

Thanks to everyone for the great information on this thread. We are taking delivery of our SMB in a couple of weeks as well and have the same questions as Ketchum.

We first had our regular auto policy company (Liberty Mutual) give us a quote, which was $1,430 per year with a replacement value of $78k and $1,000 deductible on comp and collision.

We shopped around, got quotes from Progressive ($727), Poliseek ($617), and RVAmerica ($571). All of these are $250/500k for bodily injury, $100k for property damage, $5,000 medical, $250/500k uninsured motorist. The personal property coverages vary slightly, but all are at $1,000 deductible and $78k replacement value through model year five.

We sent the quotes to our Liberty Mutual agent, with whom we have a long and trusted relationship, and asked her to look them over. We expected her to come back and remind us that if something seems too good to be true it probably isn't, but instead all she could say was "I see why you're looking around." She could find no traps or loopholes, so at this point we are planning to go with the lowest bidder, RVAmerica, whose quote is for a company called Blue Sky.

If anyone knows of any reason we should not use RVAmerica, please speak now or forever hold your peace.

 

[Angel-SMB]

I have a porta pottie and some insurances are not O K with no bathroom. I made sure I had in writing the required systems to classify it as a motor home

Angel

 

[Ketcham]

After many phone calls, and help from Jonny Feld the Progressive agent approved the insurance policy. I am looking into other options as well, such as Blue Sky previously mentioned. However before comparing like policies, how much liability is enough? 1 million each for property/bodily/uninsured as well as replacement/purchase for comprehensive and collision? I would hate to find myself in modern day indentured servitude having my wage garnished over lack of coverage. I know of real events where an auto accident involving a teenage child resulted in the parent’s losing their assets and having wages garnished to retirement.

I favor Progressive because my experience with USAA has been no hassle claims and they recommend progressive for similar customer service. I have not had any direct dealings with Progressive. Saving a few hundred on a policy that is deemed void on a claim would be somewhat frustrating.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions and will address those key points.

 

[Angel-SMB]

You can get a 1million dollar blanket insurance policy which will pay after auto/homeowners insurance pays.

Angel