Tips on Buying RV Insurance for Your Motorhome, Travel trailer or Fifth Wheel
by Steven Fletcher
Buying RV insurance for your motorhome, fifth wheel or travel trailer, doesn't have to be as complicated or expensive as you may think. You just need to do a little homework. You don't necessarily want the least insurance necessary at the lowest price. Your goal instead is to get the most coverage for the best price.
RV Coverage for Collision and Liability
Of course you want to have collision coverage for your RV but you need to know what kind of collision coverage is being offered. For instance, if the entire motorhome, fifth wheel or travel trailer is destroyed or damaged too badly to be repaired at a fair cost, how much will you receive for it? If you don't have a policy that provides for replacement cost, you may wind up receiving a much smaller settlement that will be inadequate for buying a comparable RV to replace it. Your premium may be more if you get this kind of total replacement coverage, but it may be worth having anyway.
Another important coverage RV owners should consider is personal liability insurance that covers not only a personal injury claim resulting from an on the road accident, but also an accident that may happen while you are parked in a campground. Most RV insurance policies have the former, but many lack the latter kind of insurance. Suppose someone slipped and fell coming out of your RV while it is parked, or was injured in some other way on your campsite. In many cases your homeowner's insurance will cover this situation but you should know for sure that it does before you elect not to have this coverage added to your RV policy.
Special Insurance for Fulltime RVers
Keep in mind that many RV insurance policies are not written with the fulltime RVer in mind. In fact there are special policies just for full time RVers that cover contingencies usually covered by one's home owner policy.
Typically the amount of personal property damage coverage in a RV insurance policy is very small and may not cover all of your valuables and other possessions in the case of a major accident. Especially in today's modern RVs with computers, plasma TVs etc. So if you carry a lot of expensive things with you as you travel, you may need to increase your personal property insurance coverage to an amount that will replace them if they were destroyed. Oftentimes increasing this kind of coverage is not very expensive, so check to see what is offered?
Again, if you are a full time RVer you do not have a homeowner policy to fall back on, you will certainly want to have a good property damage rider on your RV insurance policy. And since fulltime Rvers usually carry more stuff it's even more important to know the limit of the property damage rider compared to the value of the personal property aboard the RV.
Discounts? Doesn't Hurt to Ask
Finally, be sure to inquire about any and all discounts that are available to you as an RV owner. Many insurance companies will offer discounts for good driving, non-smokers,anti-theft devices, multiple vehicles insured by them and more. It never hurts to ask and see if you can get quality coverage for less.