Fulltime RV Insurance – What’s the Difference?

You might feel very much like this when you think about insurance..

While I’m out gallivanting around on a paradise island in the Atlantic I thought I’d leave you with a post on insurance. I know, I know…it’s rather mean of me and you may want to stick your head in the sand rather than think about it (I sure know I do), but it’s one of those inevitable things that come up and just need doing. So, I thought now would be as good a time as any.

Now I should say up-front that I have no particular allegiance to any one insurance company and I rather suggest that you shouldn’t either. Insurance companies compete for business and regularly go through rate-raises (those “vanishing deductibles” always come back in $$ somehow). So, once a year I go out and shop . I stick with well-known companies, but I don’t discriminate as long as I get what I want. Our RV & car policy is currently with Geico and we’re happy with them, but if I got equal coverage at a better price from one of the other many reputable companies I’d be just as happy to leave them.

Is my baby covered?

But I DO want fulltime RV insurance, it IS a slightly different beast than regular car insurance and for those of you considering this lifestyle it’s worth understanding the difference. I’m not an insurance broker so I won’t give you detailed info, but I’ll outline the general facts so you can go off a-happy insurance shopping on your own:

1/ Liability – When you fullime your RV becomes your home, so things that might have been covered under a “homeowners” insurance now needs to be covered under your RV insurance. With liability that usually means a higher value so that, for example, if someone slips and falls inside your RV you’re covered. Ask your insurance if you’re covered in camp (while parked) as well as on the road. Some insurance companies call this “fulltime” insurance.

2/ Personal Property – Since you carry everything you own in your RV you might want to look at the $$ of property coverage in your policy. Most standard policies come with some token amount (maybe about $5,000) of coverage, but if you’ve got a bunch of expensive stuff (computers, TVs, tow-bar, satellite dish, GPS, solar etc.) that you want to cover consider increasing this value. Ask the insurance whether coverage includes stuff attached to the RV which you’ve added after-market.

Negotiating insurance company quotes can be a prickly business

3/ Replacement Coverage – If something catastrophic happens and you manage to total your RV, you should be really clear on what kind of $$ you’ll get from your insurance. Some offer purchase price replacement, but this is usually only on new coaches. Most companies will cover the NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association) fair market value of your RV.

4/ Towing - My stance is that the majority of insurance companies really don’t know much about towing bigger rigs. So I always recommend ditching whatever they offer you and getting a separate towing package from one of the “experts”. CoachNet and Good Sam’s are the most-used companies and both get decent reviews from long-time RVers.

5/ Discounts and Deductibles - Of course you should always ask for discounts (good driver, anti-lock brakes, multiple vehicle etc.) and you always want to look at deductibles. My personal feeling on insurance is that it’s there to cover catastrophic events so I want the highest deductible I can afford. Remember that every single claim you make through your insurance company can potentially increase your coverage costs (sometimes by several magnitudes!) so you have to ask yourself if it’s really worth it. Our policy is never to claim the stuff we can  afford to pay ourselves.

Rather than do all the work yourself I highly recommend going through brokers who are experienced in RV insurance and “talk the RV talk”. Here’s a couple of good names that make the rounds on the RV forums on a regular basis:

• Farm & City 800-331-1520
• Gilbert RV Insurance 888-784-6787
• Miller RV Insurance 800-622-6347

And with that I think I’ll take a tall drink by the pool overlooking the ocean….oh wait…I’m already there

10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Fulltime RVing…

Our svelte 32,220 lb monster. How little we knew when we first started out…

One of the beautiful things about aging is you carry along the wisdom of years of experience (that, and your wine gets better of course). By many standards you could easily call me but a pup in the great dog-park of life, but as our multi-year journey in RVing progresses I have managed to gleam a few gems of sageness which I can happily pass along. In that spirit, here are 10 things I wish I’d known before we went full-timing:

1/ Bigger is Not Always Better

Sometimes things are not as they seem. A fiery and dusty sunset in NM

I always imagined that you should try to buy the biggest RV you could afford. After all, who doesn’t want lots of space? Our travels over the past years, and perhaps more specifically the kind of travel we like to do (camping in public campgrounds, forests, state parks, off-the-beaten-track spots) has taught me that bigger is not always better. Our “beastly” size is super-comfortable but requires me to do quite a bit of detailed planning to make sure we can fit into the kinds of spots we like to visit. In retrospect, I would have wished for a smaller RV. For those camping mostly in private parks this is not a consideration, but for our kinda camping it sure would be nice with a few less feet.

2/ Hard-Mounted Satellite Dishes are Mostly Useless

When we first got the RV the thought of a hard-mounted, fully-automatic Satellite TV dish on our roof seemed just the ticket. Push a button and off you go….fabulous! However camping as we do in lots of spots with trees and obstacles we have line-of-sight perhaps only ~50% of the time making our dish mostly useless. In retrospect a movable dish would totally be the way to go.

3/ Most Camping Clubs Are Not Worth It

Most of the places we go don’t taking club passes. This is gorgeous Eagle Nest State Park, NM

When we first started RVing we signed up to just about every camping club out there, Sam’s Club, Escapees, Club USA etc. In retrospect (again because of where/how we like to camp) these were not worth it. The only camping club I currently consider is Passport America, mostly for short stops and I do like the Escapees Days End list, but even these have mostly been replaced by overnight “freebies” when we need them. The rest of the time we’re out in nature/boonies where club memberships do not go. For some people clubs are great and they can certainly be cost saving if you make use of them, but for us they’ve simply not made the cut.

4/ Beware Heavy Slides

I love the slides in our motorhome because of the massive amount of space they give internally, but it seems some manufacturers go overboard. Our “beast” has a massive front drivers-side slide with refrigerator in the slide, something I now understand is an engineering no-no. The weight of the slide has been the cause of the only real issues on our home in 2 years. I love slides and will always want them, but in retrospect I would never buy another home with a fridge in a slide-out.

5/ Finding Great Public Campgrounds Can Be Easy

Finding great campsites can be easy. Soaking in the view at fabulous Elephant Butte State Park, NM

The first year of RVing I struggled to find the kinds of campgrounds (natural, green, spacious) that we like to visit. It was a constant battle of going to one website, through a ton of clicks, then another website, then to a map, then to another spot and back again to try and figure out which one matched our route. Early this year I discovered uscampgrounds.info and my planning life changed. If you like public camping there’s simply no better resource out there and I use it as the base for all our travel planning now.

6/ You Don’t Have to Sign Any Internet Contracts

When we initially looked at internet solutions we knew we wanted a Verizon-based system since it was simply the best coverage out there (and our experience has proved that true). We ended up w/ a 2-year 5GB/mo contract which is a little tight for our needs. What we didn’t know was that you can get a Verizon-based coverage using no-contract resale partners such as Millenicom. It’s the same coverage, but simply without the contract! You can boost it just like any system out there too. Millenicom resells both Verizon and Sprint and they won’t/can’t tell you (directly) who they’re using, but you can easily narrow it down via the device (the Verizon-based contract is currently offered on the 20GB/mo deal using the Novatel U760 Device). For more info check the forums.

7/ Take Your Time On the Road

Take your time to smell the roses..or in this case the sea. Boondocking for 10 days at Sea Rim, TX

When we first started on the road we rushed like crazed animals on stampede to see as much and as far an area as we could possibly see within the timeframe given. It took several months before we realized none of this was necessary. In fact taking more time to enjoy our surroundings not only saved us money, but we’ve met more people, seen more local gems, created a sense of community and felt more in-tune with the journey. Our 2-month trip through New Mexico earlier this year was a great example of how this attitude has really made sense for us. We are progressing more and more into “sitters” (RVers that spend several weeks in one spot) rather than “movers”. It may not be for everyone, but I sure recommend giving it a try.

8/ You Really Don’t Need Much Stuff

I spent months trying to figure out what to take on the road before we started out. I already knew (instinctively) that we wouldn’t need much, but  I wanted to try to cover all the bases. The truth is that we needed even less than that. I took ~10% of my then-wardrobe with me, and I currently use about 10% of that. We brought along tents and other equipment we never use.  We ALSO ended up buying a bunch of nifty (so we thought) “RV stuff” before we’d really spent any time in the rig on the road, another thing I’d now consider a no-no. In retrospect spending some time on the road before loading up would have made alot more sense. We’re planning a major cleaning-out when we get back to our storage in San Diego this winter and will end up much lighter for it (no doubt). If we keep this up the storage might end up going too…

9/ Follow the Weather

My kind of view….hanging out in perfect weather at The Forgotten Coast, FL

This kinda makes obvious senses, but when we first started out we really didn’t pay too much attention to weather. In our first year we ended up travelling through the Mid-West in very hot and buggy conditions, not ideal for a natural-born bug magnet (such as myself) in a metal home. Since then we’ve paid closer attention and the beauty of being mobile is that you can do exactly that. I launched my flip-flop barometer early this year and we managed (mostly) to stay right on it. We’re wintering in the SW this year and will be back to cool and gorgeous coast & mountains by next summer. Most definitely the flip-flop way to go!

10/ RVing Costs Are Manageable

We agonized over the cost of full-time RVing for a long time before we jumped in. The truth is costs are flexible and totally manageable and our experience has certainly proved that to be so. There are great options for saving money both on camping, gas, health insurance, taxes, car/RV registration and other areas. You can take your time and boondock, workamp along the way or run around and stay in pricey resorts. All can be great experiences, but the real beauty is that the choice is there.

Well that wraps up my list…got any good ones of your own?