If you are a fan of adventure, driving a RV is probably one of the best decisions you could make. However, all RV have several responsibilities, and one of the most critical responsibilities is ensuring that it is well protected.
In this article, we will provide you with comprehensive coverage for RVs, including everything you need to know to ensure that your RV is fully protected.
What is Comprehensive Coverage for RVs?
Comprehensive coverage for RVs is a coverage option that will protect your RV against non-collision damages like theft, vandalism, natural disasters -fire, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes-, among others. RV tend to stay closer to the nature, so they need to be more protected against that sort damages.
Types of Comprehensive Coverage for RVs
There are three types of coverages for RVs: liability, collision, and comprehensive coverage.
Liability Coverage
Liability coverage is mandatory in 48 states, this coverage will cover the damage expenses you cause to other people or properties. If you suffer an accident, this coverage won’t cover the damage expenses of your RV or medical bills from your injuries.
Collision Coverage
Collision coverage is a coverage option that as it sounds, will cover the damage expenses caused while suffering a collision with other vehicles or objects, regardless who is at fault. As mentioned before, this is a coverage option, is not mandatory, but lenders will reques you to add it along with comprehensive coverage when financing your RV.
Comprehensive Coverage
As mentioned above, comprehensive coverage is a coverage option that will protect your RV against non-collision damages like theft, vandalism, natural disasters or animal-related damages, among others. Comprehensive coverage is not mandatory, but lenders will request you to add it along with collision coverage.
Benefits of Comprehensive Coverage for RVs
Comprehensive coverage for RVs has some benefits, including:
Protection against Non-collision Damages
Comprehensive coverage protects your RV against non-collision damages such as natural disasters, vandalism, and theft. You will also have to add deductibles in this coverage option, so be sure to set it properly.
Protection against Theft and Vandalism
RVs are attractive targets for thieves and vandals, robbers tend to break into RV looking for valuable items like cell phones or laptops. Comprehensive coverage will cover the damage expenses caused while your RV was vandalized or stolen. For example, if they break a window or they picklock your RV’s door, that sort of damages will be covered. In case your RV has not been recovered back, your car insurer will pay your RV’s actual cash value.
Protection against Natural Disasters
RVs are also vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Comprehensive coverage will protect your RV agaisnt them, thsi way your RV’s parts will be repaired or replaced minus the deductible you set on your comprehensive coverage for RV’s policy.
Factors that Affect Comprehensive Coverage for RVs
Your comprehensive coverage for Rvs preimums will vary depending on many factors, including:
Type of RV
The type of RV you want to insure is one of the most important factors to determine how much you will pay for your premiums. Class A RVs have greater actual cash value than Class C Rvs. As you can guess, Class A RV’s replacing parts are more expensive, so that’s one of the most common ways to know you will pay more or less, the more expensive your RV is, the more you will have to pay for repair it.
Age of RV
The age of your RV also affects the cost of comprehensive coverage. As we talked above, your RV’s actual cash value drops every year, it drops 5%on the first 6 months, 15% on the 1st year, 20% on the first 3 years, up to 50% on the 4th year. That’s one of the main reasons why the age of your RV will determine how much you will pay for your comprehensive coverage premiums.
Condition of RV
The condition of your RV also plays a significant role in determining the cost of comprehensive coverage. RVs in excellent condition are less likely to require repairs, and as a result, they are less expensive to insure.
Your driving records
If you are a good driver, your premiums won’t be that higher than someone who has several tickets. The more safe you drive, the less you will have to pay for your premiums.
Your claim history
If you filled many claims in the past, your car insurer will notice it, so they will guess you will file more in the future, that will also affect on your premiums. Said so, if you’re going to change to another car insurer, and they found you had 2 or more at-fault claims, some car insurers won’t offer you any policy.
How to Choose Comprehensive Coverage for RVs
Comprehensive coverage for your RV is not that hard to choose, you only have to be clear what do you really need to add on your policy:
Analyze Your Needs
It’s really simple, bring a piece of paper and make a list of your balance, in the right side of this list add what your RV costs, how old is your RV, an average repair costs of your RV (you can ask this to a trusted mechanic).
On the left side of this list, write down all possible non-collision damages you can face while driving your RV like wildfire, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, include animal-related damages (imagine you find a deer in the road, and that one goes towards trying to tackle your RV), do a small research and check how car theft is in the zone you’re going to travel with your RV.
This way you will know what you need to add on your comprehensive soverage for RV and what not.
Compare Policies
Request from 5 to 6 quotes to different car insurers, you will be able to compare what each car insurer offers you, and the most important thing, at what cost. You can also check if the car insurer you are going to choose have any special offer or discount for your RV or the minimum amount of deductibles you must set for your policy, that would also help you choosing the right comprehensive coverage for your RV.
Choose the Right Provider
Sometimes the cheapest car insurer is not the best one, they may have something you have not paid attention to. It woths nothing to check on Better Business Bureau (BBB), you will be able to see other customer’s compaints, and you can see how that car insurer handled that situation. In addition, you can always check the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint score for each car insurer in the country. That rate will let you know the amount of coomplaints the car insurer you choose is the right one or not.
Conclusion
As you could see, comprehensive coverage for RVs is not that hard to choose, you only have to do a list of what your RV costs, the age of your RV and the possible repair costs of your RV, and the possible danges you may face while driving our park your RV. Remember, compare quotes, do a small research of each car insurer on Better Business Bureau, check what other customers think about that car insurer.
FAQs
Q: Do I need comprehensive coverage for my RV?
A: It depends, if you financed your RV lenders will request you to add comprehensive coverage along with collision coverage. In addition, comprehensive coverage protects your RV against non-collision damages.
Q: What does comprehensive coverage for RVs include?
A: Comprehensive coverage protects your RV against theft, vandalism, fire, and natural disasters.
Q: Can I choose the amount of coverage I need?
A: Absolutely, comprehensive coverage is optional, so you can choose the amount of coverage limit for your RV, just consider what class of RV are you going to cover, the age of your RV, and how good preserved your RV is.
Q: How do I choose the right insurance provider for my RV?
A: Check on Better Business Bureau, you will see real customer’s complaints, those complaints have been verified by BBB, so you can verify the amount of complaints with the amount of 5 stars they receive. Finally, you can check the National Association or Insurance Commissioners’s complaint score from any car insurer, if you see their score is above 1, it means that car insurer receive more complaints than what it should be normal.
Other readers were also interested in the following posts:
Comprehensive coverage for off-road vehicles: Is it worth it?
Comprehensive coverage for motorcycles: Do you need it?
How to File a Comprehensive Coverage Claim: A Step-by-Step Guide
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