Saving on insurance premiums - RV-Dreams Community Forum

SLIPSLID-N-AWAY · RV-Dreams Family Member

Saving on insurance premiums

Dreamers · RV-Dreams Family Member

I had the opposite experience. Progressive quotes I got on our tow truck were higher than State Farm.

Judy

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

We went with Howards recommendation to use Miller Insurance. They understand RV'ers and saved us a bunch of money. We ended up with Progressive on the coach and GMAC on the Jeep. Haven't had any claims so can't comment. I would make sure you get RV specific insurance on your full-timing rig to include the contents of the RV.

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

I had 2 bad experiences with State Farm. The first was with my homeowners policy back in the 70's. I had storm damage to my home (the wall was pulled away from the floor, so you could see the ground when walking down the hall.) They sent an adjuster out and refused to pay, claiming that the damage was normal wear - how strange! I had to pay for the repairs myself, (or get a lawyer) so I dropped them and got another carrier.

The second bad experience was about 7 yrs ago. I inherited a home across the country and the existing policy stated that if the home was not occupied they would not pay a claim. So I dropped the policy, reasoning why pay the premium if they wouldn't pay a claim? Three months later I tried to get them to reinstate the policy as I decided to move into the house. After having the policy for 30+ years with zero claims, they refused to reinstate it or issue me a new one, claiming that I was a poor risk. ????

I wouldn't use State farm again if they were half the price of the competition.

BTW, I just switched my 2 auto policies from Encompass to GEICO. I bought a little less coverage, but saved $130 a month! (To be fair, I would have saved about $95/mo for identical coverage.) I've used them in the past and their service center repaired my car promptly and correctly with a lifetime warranty on the repairs.

I have no experience with Progressive though.

Chip

Jim and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

For our vehicles (including the motorhome) we were with an agent we loved for many years who represented one of the major companies. He left that company and went on to be an independent agent but we stayed with the company, although through a different agency. Anyway, last year after having some major billing issues (never had a claim) with that company, we contacted our previous agent. He gave us quotes from several other carriers, with Progressive coming in the lowest, saving us hundreds for even better coverage!

So, although we don’t have much experience with Progressive, we do trust this agent implicitly. We’re kicking ourselves for not staying with him when he moved on! We could have saved a few thousand dollars over the past few years.

-- Edited by Jim and Linda on Thursday 3rd of February 2011 07:16:57 AM

azrving · RV-Dreams Family Member

Independent agents can get the best rates. I had Geico for 20 + years but after moving to AZ we found their rates were too high. We got quotes from Allstate, State Farm, Farmers, etc. but the local independent agent beat all of them and saved us over $1,000 per year. The camper, boat, and motorcycle are covered by Progressive. The house & auto are covered by Met Life.

Allstate told us they didn't really like to write motorcycle coverage and Geico has other companies that write their boat and home owners coverage but I'm sure they get a cut of the premium, probably why the insurance was so much higher. High deductible will save a bunch too, we have a 1,000 deductible on the cars and 2,500 on the house.

Readytogo · RV-Dreams Family Member

You can't look at each policy as being equal. Some policies cover more than others. My nephew was driving his mothers car and was involved in an accident with an uninsured motorist. His mom is insured with Geico. The policy only covers his mom for injuries under uninsured motorist. He had to report his injury to his auto carrier. Beware of just comparing premiums.

TerryG · RV-Dreams Family Member

For what its worth, my wife and I have been in the auto insurance business for the past 33 years, independent agency owners. We are retiring in Sept. and my son is taking over the business. I can tell you from experience, bar none, day in and day out, Progressive is the best property and casualty insurance company out there. All of my insurance is with Progressive, auto, home, motorhome, and boat. Knowing what I know, I would even pay extra for Progressive. Great great company. My customers love Progressive. There are always going to be bad experiences, for what ever reasons, with all companies, but insured's experience less bad experiences with Progressvie.

I am not being paid for this statement, nor do I own stock with Progressvie. I detest the President of the company. But in day to day operations, the president could be a mule as far as I am concerned.

Dreamers · RV-Dreams Family Member

The biggest problem we had with progressive is they would only insure our 2009 3605 10th Anniversary Montana with everything - 5 k generator, fireplace, etc., etc., for only $35,000. That just absolutely wouldn't work. Depreciated value from original sales price is much more than that. And they wanted a $1,000 to insure our truck. We got quotes from several places that had been recommended to us but none of them could work with us - something about our 5er being 2 years old.

So, we ended up looking at GMAC and narrowed it down to either Miller Ins in Oregon or Good Sam. Because Miller wanted $1,000+ to insure the truck and Good Sam wanted $800 with the RV being basically the same, we saved the $200 and went with Good Sam. Told Miller they could rebid next year.

I think the state you live in places a big part on the rates you get. For instance, here in Alabama, you cannot buy National Interstate which is a favorite with some RVers. So, unless you live in the same state, you really cannot compare apples to apples.

Judy

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

If you find a good Progressive agent that understands RVs, you'll be able to get a good rate. We went through Poli-Seek and was given a great policy for the tow vehicle and 5th wheel through Progressive. A lot less than Allstate (my longtime carrier) by about $800 per year. However they couldn't beat Allstate on my two other cars insurance rates.

We contacted Progressive when our truck was hit by a lady insured by State Farm. The Progressive rep was very professional and made contact with State Farm and handed us off. The State Farm rep was very good and professional. She took care of the repairs, offered a loaner and got our truck back on the road.

Both companies performed exactly as I would expect an Insurance company or any company to handle a business transaction.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

It may not apply in your case, but I should mention that if you are planning on living full time in your RV, make sure that the insurance company will cover you if you are.

For years, we have found that Farm Bureau (Oklahoma's in our case) insurance premiums have been less than all the others. However, when we went to insure the Ford F450, they had to have an underwriter come up with something for that size of truck. In addition, in spite of their better rates, they will NOT cover RV's if one is living in it full-time.

So, when our home sells, I'll have to start looking and all the answers here will be a help to me. I just wanted to add the "not covering full-time" aspect of insurance.

Terry

TerryG · RV-Dreams Family Member

For those who don't know, Progressive will insure a fulltimer. They offer a fulltimer's package. Its higher than the "vacation only" rate.

Here's another thing to consider. Most, or maybe all, insurance companies require your vehicles (car & trucks) you have insured in a certain state and registered in that certain state, to be garaged in that state at least 6+ months out of the year. The reason for this is say you were fulltiming in San Jose, Ca., for 8 months out of the year with your toad. Say you had it registered in Ga.. in a very rural county. The problem is you are paying ins. rates that are probably a quarter of what you should be paying for living in San Jose. Not fair to the company. The risk is much higher.

Progressive states that if you have your RV insured with them and your toad vehicle, then this is not a problem. Split it up and its a problem.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Wow, Terry.

That sounds like a very pertinent fact to know. I'll have to remember that when we start doing research again. Does the same kind of issue factor in with a fifth wheel and its tow vehicle? In our case, we will likely have our truck, fifth wheel, and our Mariner.

Terry

TerryG · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi Terry,

Same rules apply.

Terry

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

TerryG wrote:
Progressive states that if you have your RV insured with them and your toad vehicle, then this is not a problem. Split it up and its a problem.

We have our coach insurance with Progressive and toad insurance with GMAC. We had to do it that way because we have Texas plates and they require the vehicle to be garaged in Texas and we spend very little time in Texas. We have not had any problems doing it this way.