Post by John Palmer on Oct 7, 2020 17:46:23 GMT -8
I recently spoke with a fellow vintage trailer owner that we camped with last year, at a rally. At 4 AM (last year) while sleeping a tree she was camping under had a "very large" rotten limb break off and fall on her trailer while she slept. The tree limb punctured the trailer roof, broke some framing, and stopped about a foot from her body. She was shook up but happy she had no injuries.
So, One Year Later......I asked her how did she maneuver the insurance process after the tree accident. Did the RV park insurance cover her loss? What was her experience with this incident. Here's some bullet points of her comments to me.
The RV park (note, this is a five star place, at $100 per/nite) and the parks insurance company just gave her the run around on her loss claim. They did nothing, except remove the limb from her trailer with chainsaws.
The Park told her that the Vintage Trailer Rally Host was liable for the RV Parks tree failing on her trailer. The Rally Host called her to ask at what time did the tree fall. Since it fell at 4AM on Sunday morning, and The Rally officially ended at midnight on Saturday night, he was off the hook.
She ended the run around by making a insurance claim on her own trailer's insurance policy. She had previously had her trailer professionally appraised by James Polk and Associates, and it had a Agreed Value insurance policy issued from FCIS in Iowa, and it was underwritten by Progressive Insurance. They handled the claim, and she had her trailer repaired. She assumes that Progressive will be going after the Park, and the Park's Insurance company to recover the trailer repair cost from the liable parties.
Bottom line, you need to have insurance on your trailers. You need to have appraisals completed before the loss occurs. You need to have Agreed Value policies, NOT similar sounding ACV (Actual Cash Value) or Stated Value policies which will not cover your loss on a vintage trailer. Agreed Value policies are not depreciated like they do on ACV, and Stated Value policies.
It does not matter if another insured vehicle rear ends your restored trailer on the highway, or a tree falls on your trailer in a commercial RV Park, you will need to go to court to recover your loss without an Agreed Value policy.
I'm not a insurance agent, or a insurance broker, but if you have a investment of money and time in your trailer you need to properly insure your trailer. Make sure you take the time to actually research the many kinds of insurance and purchase the type that will give you the coverage you expect. Make certain you know the insurance terms before you talk to an agent, because they tend to use the three terms interchangeably which is totally wrong.
John
So, One Year Later......I asked her how did she maneuver the insurance process after the tree accident. Did the RV park insurance cover her loss? What was her experience with this incident. Here's some bullet points of her comments to me.
The RV park (note, this is a five star place, at $100 per/nite) and the parks insurance company just gave her the run around on her loss claim. They did nothing, except remove the limb from her trailer with chainsaws.
The Park told her that the Vintage Trailer Rally Host was liable for the RV Parks tree failing on her trailer. The Rally Host called her to ask at what time did the tree fall. Since it fell at 4AM on Sunday morning, and The Rally officially ended at midnight on Saturday night, he was off the hook.
She ended the run around by making a insurance claim on her own trailer's insurance policy. She had previously had her trailer professionally appraised by James Polk and Associates, and it had a Agreed Value insurance policy issued from FCIS in Iowa, and it was underwritten by Progressive Insurance. They handled the claim, and she had her trailer repaired. She assumes that Progressive will be going after the Park, and the Park's Insurance company to recover the trailer repair cost from the liable parties.
Bottom line, you need to have insurance on your trailers. You need to have appraisals completed before the loss occurs. You need to have Agreed Value policies, NOT similar sounding ACV (Actual Cash Value) or Stated Value policies which will not cover your loss on a vintage trailer. Agreed Value policies are not depreciated like they do on ACV, and Stated Value policies.
It does not matter if another insured vehicle rear ends your restored trailer on the highway, or a tree falls on your trailer in a commercial RV Park, you will need to go to court to recover your loss without an Agreed Value policy.
I'm not a insurance agent, or a insurance broker, but if you have a investment of money and time in your trailer you need to properly insure your trailer. Make sure you take the time to actually research the many kinds of insurance and purchase the type that will give you the coverage you expect. Make certain you know the insurance terms before you talk to an agent, because they tend to use the three terms interchangeably which is totally wrong.
John
