John Palmer
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Hi, From a vintage trailer guy located in Santa Ana, CA. It's good to see lots of activity here.
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Post by John Palmer on Jun 18, 2014 21:37:16 GMT -8
This thread has been a very interesing read for this newbie! I called State Farm today to get a policy on my 68 Shasta. She said I needed to provide them with the original MSRP $$. So I've beeen searching the internet with no luck trying to get the info (anyone?). Now I know more of what to ask for in a policy rather than just blindly giving my money to State Farm because they insure everything else I have. The only reason they asked for the original MSRP Amount, is they are going to write you a normal "stated value" policy like you would have on your new car, and they are going to depreciate the value for length of time since it was new. How much do you think they would pay you for a 46 year old camper that was totaled that might have sold for thousand bucks when it was new? The only reason to buy that kind of coverage is for liability coverage.
You want to have a type of policy that is written for a "collector type vehicle". Then they will "correctly" ask you for a current written appraisal from a certified appraiser that documents the true current value based on condition and the strength of the resale market to establish a value for insurance purposes. That type of policy is called Agreed Value. It's not any different if you took out a ten million dollar life insurance policy, they would ask you for a copy of your most recent physical to limit their losses.
To my knowledge, the common collector car insurance companies (like Grundy, Haggerty, Chrome, etc.) that write the majority of the collector car Agreed Value car policies, do NOT write Agreed Value policies for travel trailer's, at this time.
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jodybitzz
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1968 Shasta 1500
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Post by jodybitzz on Jun 21, 2014 16:42:14 GMT -8
I have a client that owns a Nationwide agency. I spoke with him about this very issue of an "agreed amount" policy. He has antique cars so he knew exactly what I was talking about. I need an appraisal, but to cover my camper for $9,000 he quoted me $150 per year. I hope this isn't too good to be true!?
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queenofdarts
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1962 Metzendorf 15
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Post by queenofdarts on Aug 23, 2014 3:37:22 GMT -8
This thread has been helpful for not just my new (to me) Metzendorf, but for my '64 Dart as well. Thanks for all the info. My State Farm agent never told me anything about agreed value. I can't even get them to call me back about the trailer.
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coloradoan
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1959 Shasta Airflyte 16
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Post by coloradoan on Sept 22, 2014 16:07:51 GMT -8
I found this information on getting an "Agreed Upon Value" insurance policy. I will be calling them tomorrow (it's after hours right now) and will check back in here with what I find out. This even has a list of people across the country who are authorized to do the certified appraisal required. www.nationalserroscotty.org/resources/insurance.html
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John Palmer
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Hi, From a vintage trailer guy located in Santa Ana, CA. It's good to see lots of activity here.
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Post by John Palmer on Sept 22, 2014 19:21:42 GMT -8
So..........Much has been discussed about this subject.
Who has "actually purchased" an AGREED VALUE (NOT a STATED VALUE, or ACTUAL CASH VALUE) policy for their vintage travel trailer?
How did you obtain your "certified appraisal"?
Who wrote the "certified appraisal"?
What insurance broker, and underwriter did you select for the policy?
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coloradoan
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1959 Shasta Airflyte 16
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Post by coloradoan on Sept 23, 2014 11:10:35 GMT -8
Back to the Mobius Strip! They want a "Certified Appraiser", but the only one on their list in Colorado is hours away and doesn't know a darn thing about travel trailers. I did find a guy who restores travel trailers and does insurance appraisals, but he is not "certified". The agent I spoke with is looking into whether or not they will accept an appraisal from him. Stay tuned!
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Post by bigbill on Sept 23, 2014 18:53:57 GMT -8
John I recently sold one of my trailers so called the insurance company today to cancel the insurance on it, while talking to them I thought the Shasta is going to be done someday so why not insure it now. I ask for an agreed value policy they ask for the Mfg., vin #, year, and how much I wanted it to be worth. She sent it to the underwriter and about 5 minutes or so later it was insured. I am with Cincinnati Insurance and have been for almost 40 years. They insure everything I have (house, cars, trucks, wife's jewelry, trailers, and all) and have always been fantastic to work with, I currently have three agreed value policies with them. They told me that I only needed a certified appraisal if the value I placed on it appeared to be ridiculous.
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John Palmer
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Hi, From a vintage trailer guy located in Santa Ana, CA. It's good to see lots of activity here.
Posts: 1,625
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Currently Offline
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Post by John Palmer on Sept 23, 2014 19:35:40 GMT -8
John I recently sold one of my trailers so called the insurance company today to cancel the insurance on it, while talking to them I thought the Shasta is going to be done someday so why not insure it now. I ask for an agreed value policy they ask for the Mfg., vin #, year, and how much I wanted it to be worth. She sent it to the underwriter and about 5 minutes or so later it was insured. I am with Cincinnati Insurance and have been for almost 40 years. They insure everything I have (house, cars, trucks, wife's jewelry, trailers, and all) and have always been fantastic to work with, I currently have three agreed value policies with them. They told me that I only needed a certified appraisal if the value I placed on it appeared to be ridiculous. BigBill, I'm confused. You "asked for" an Agreed Value policy, but you "stated your value"?
So did you receive an Agreed Value Policy, or did you get a Stated Value Policy?
I find many agents that do not understand the difference between the two kinds of insurance. The simple question to ask is,.......will the trailer's value be depreciated, if a total loss claim is made in the future?
The reason this all comes up again, is that I have been patiently working with AAA for the past 90 days, and I still do not have a policy, they are "working on it". I'm getting ready to go POSTAL! It's not any big deal to them, just one policy on a trailer. But I have been with them for thirty years, and have all of my vehicles, and home with AAA, I'm waiting for them to make the correct choice, I'm Pissed.
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John Palmer
Senior Member
Hi, From a vintage trailer guy located in Santa Ana, CA. It's good to see lots of activity here.
Posts: 1,625
Likes: 575
Currently Offline
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Post by John Palmer on Sept 23, 2014 20:06:59 GMT -8
Back to the Mobius Strip! They want a "Certified Appraiser", but the only one on their list in Colorado is hours away and doesn't know a darn thing about travel trailers. I did find a guy who restores travel trailers and does insurance appraisals, but he is not "certified". The agent I spoke with is looking into whether or not they will accept an appraisal from him. Stay tuned! You are in a catch 22 situation. Just because someone knows vintage trailers, and how to restore them, does not make them a certified appraiser, or even a qualified appraiser. You want to establish a undisputable value for legal reasons. It might be used by the IRS, any Court, in a Divorce, or like we have been discussing recently, to obtain a Agreed Value insurance policy. You need more than just a dollar value, based on one man's opinion. You need to find what are called "comp's". When you have a piece of real estate appraised, they used comparable "recent" sales to obtain a cost or value "per square foot" that is applied to your property. As we all know, the wide difference in selling prices, and the hidden rot damage makes using any Craigslist, and eBay prices worthless because you cannot compare unless your actually saw each trailer and did the ice pick test yourself.
The first question that Judge Judy is going to ask you is "how was the appraised value obtained", and what are the "credentials" for the person doing the appraisal?
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Post by bigbill on Sept 24, 2014 5:32:17 GMT -8
John I recently sold one of my trailers so called the insurance company today to cancel the insurance on it, while talking to them I thought the Shasta is going to be done someday so why not insure it now. I ask for an agreed value policy they ask for the Mfg., vin #, year, and how much I wanted it to be worth. She sent it to the underwriter and about 5 minutes or so later it was insured. I am with Cincinnati Insurance and have been for almost 40 years. They insure everything I have (house, cars, trucks, wife's jewelry, trailers, and all) and have always been fantastic to work with, I currently have three agreed value policies with them. They told me that I only needed a certified appraisal if the value I placed on it appeared to be ridiculous. BigBill, I'm confused. You "asked for" an Agreed Value policy, but you "stated your value"?
So did you receive an Agreed Value Policy, or did you get a Stated Value Policy?
I find many agents that do not understand the difference between the two kinds of insurance. The simple question to ask is,.......will the trailer's value be depreciated, if a total loss claim is made in the future?
The reason this all comes up again, is that I have been patiently working with AAA for the past 90 days, and I still do not have a policy, they are "working on it". I'm getting ready to go POSTAL! It's not any big deal to them, just one policy on a trailer. But I have been with them for thirty years, and have all of my vehicles, and home with AAA, I'm waiting for them to make the correct choice, I'm Pissed.
Yes John I told them how much I felt the trailer was worth and they agreed that was a reasonable evaluation of the true value of the trailer. if I ask them to insure it for an agreed value of some ridiculous figure, say 50K then I would need a certified appraisal but as long as I ask for a figure that they feel is reasonable for what I am insuring there is no problem. The worst thing I have ever had to do was forward them detailed pictures, but usually that is not required. They did require paperwork on Wife's Jewelry as they have no way of knowing the value of it with out an appraisal. Did you ask the insurance company to give you a value without some idea of what you wished to have it insured for? My policies state the fixed amount that the insurance company will pay, if repairs meet or exceed that figure resulting in a total loss. If it can be repaired for less than the agreed amount then they will have it repaired.
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John Palmer
Senior Member
Hi, From a vintage trailer guy located in Santa Ana, CA. It's good to see lots of activity here.
Posts: 1,625
Likes: 575
Currently Offline
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Post by John Palmer on Sept 24, 2014 7:50:49 GMT -8
BigBill, We are both on the same page. I gave them "my requested" dollar value number, which was less than the total of the documented labor hours at a very nominal rate, the original purchase price, the total of the actual restoration receipts, and my understanding of the selling price of "fully restored" trailers, which lowered the resale value. I offered 400 digital restoration photos showing all phases of the work, photos of the completed trailer in a vintage magazine, and they still needed to visit my home and take thirty additional inside, and outside photos.
All of this for a common "Stated Value" policy, and I still have not received confirmation after 90 days!
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Post by bigbill on Sept 24, 2014 10:20:00 GMT -8
John I don't know how the Insurance companies operate in California, and I know people here in Ohio that have trouble but I haven't had trouble since I dropped State Farm years ago. They didn't want to insure anything except a new factory built car, then if you had a claim they didn't want to pay off. I later found out that claims cost the adjuster and the agent money after a certain point so they didn't want to settle anything.
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Post by wisconsinjoe on Oct 15, 2014 17:49:35 GMT -8
In response to the person who questioned the term used in my Progressive Insurance policy, i just looked and indeed findvthe term "ageed value." Sorry it took so long; I hadn't visited the forum in a long while.
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chametzoo
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1960 Mobile Scout
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Post by chametzoo on Oct 16, 2014 7:24:52 GMT -8
In response to the person who questioned the term used in my Progressive Insurance policy, i just looked and indeed findvthe term "ageed value." Sorry it took so long; I hadn't visited the forum in a long while. Hey…. Just read your original post. How come you didn't get insurance from American Adventure? They seem to have the 'agreed value' type of coverage everyone here is looking for? Thanks. EDIT: I just noticed from the Amercian Adventure website, they are brokers and represent companies like Progressive among others.
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Post by wisconsinjoe on Oct 28, 2014 19:25:03 GMT -8
Actually, I think I DID go through American Adventure, who got my insurance through Progressive after I failed to get Progressive to do it on my own.
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