BAC Forum
General Boards => General Discussion => Topic started by: Jerry Parker on November 15, 2011, 03:45:55 PM
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I am a new MH owner (1998 Patriot) and currently have State Farm Insurance. I got a quote from Overland Insurance. I am wondering what kind of experience others have had with Overland and whoever they use as a carrier.
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We have The Hartford through AARP . Absolutely the best . No questions when I whipped off the rear end last winter.
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WHAT? How did you whip off a rear end?
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UM...er well........needed diesel in Brunswick GA, and got into a BP station for cars.......absolutely no turning room. On departing, caught rear end of service door and bumper cap passenger side (separate from rest of rear end thank goodness) on bollard, at end of pump island. Felt a slight bump.......on looking, after getting onto street, rear bumper hanging on road!!! Lazydays paint shop bill $3000. Hartford paid it less deductible.
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I am an insurance agent for a national carrier and do not use their Motorhome product. The specialty companies represented by agencies like Overland have a much more friendly policy from companies like National Interstate.
Allstate excludes fulltimer coverage and will deny a claim from a fulltimer. Campground Liability is important if you do not have home or renters insurance to cover your liability while parked.
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Oh geez, I bet that was a nightmare...not to mention very embarrassing! One of the reasons I am a little paranoid about driving our rig.
I do want to second your opinion on The Hartford. We have State Farm for everything else and have had for 35 years. But when it came time to insure the Beav, The best State Farm could do was $200.00 per year HIGHER than The Hartford. Obviously we are with The Hartford for the coach. Interestingly. They were neck and neck on the house and auto policies so have not changed those.
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I am an insurance agent for a national carrier and do not use their Motorhome product. The specialty companies represented by agencies like Overland have a much more friendly policy from companies like National Interstate.
Allstate excludes fulltimer coverage and will deny a claim from a fulltimer. Campground Liability is important if you do not have home or renters insurance to cover your liability while parked.
We are fulltimers and use http://www.poliseek.com/ as our broker. They are a commercial member of the Escapees RV Club, but you don't have to be a member of Escapees to be a customer. When we purchased the MH and toad last year they shopped several major "RV insurance" companies and we were very pleased with the coverage they were able to provide us.
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You might want to try http://www.blueskyrvinsurance.com/ Excellent rates and programs.
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I too had State Farm on our old gas motor home, as well as on everything else. We've been with them and the same agent since about 1974, when as a young whippersnapper they gave me a good rate on my 1970 Shelby GT500; nearly every year since I spend hours comparing other companys' offerings and quotes, and SF always wins out. Familiarity with the agent and vice versa counts for something, too.
But when we went to the larger diesel, State Farm just isn't in to that sort of thing, and wasn't competitive. Our agent didn't even try to sell us the policy and said there was better available elsewhere for less. We ended up with Camping World's version of GMAC, which is probably similar to what FMCA offers. We also got a Hartford quote, but as I recall the best money incentive required switching our other policies to them as a combo deal. Nevertheless, it penciled out best with the dedicated GMAC for the RV, State Farm everything else. Because we aren't full-timers, GMAC's option to suspend liability while the rig is home was a plus.
I did try to go with Overland when they first got on BAC's bandwagon, but although I really like the agency, the totality of features and cost just worked out better to stick with GMAC - at least for us, for now.
Joel
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Boy a lot of info to digest on insurance. I think my plan is to go with Overland. The campground coverage is something I had never thought about and I like the replacement cost if the MH is totaled for some reason. Probably not likely, but better than a depreciated amount.
Thanks for all the responses.
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Joel i'm with you. We talked to Overland several times and the numbers always came back in favor of GMAC, so we kept the MH with GMAC.
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The Hartford have our Jeep as well as the Beaver on a combo policy . I cannot fault them for Customer Service even when the "accident" was caused by my carelessness. We have a condo in Florida and may well add it to this policy unless we manage to sell it !!! I believe our premium is around $1800 per annum with $150,000 on the Beaver and $8000 on the Jeep. Deductibles are $500 and $250 respectively.
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We have National Interstate and just had to have our windshield replaced due to cracking from a rock hit. They were very painless to deal with. So far I could not be more pleased. As you know a one peice windshield is not cheap and they never questioned the bill. Great folks to deal with.
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I also had a great experience with National Interstate. Agent Christopher Held called me within an hour of my claim. I damaged my rear corner and he told to take some pics and get it fixed. A check arrived the following week. My windshield also had a "star" and leaked a bit so they replaced that too. WOW :X
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We have had excellent claim service from National Interstate.
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Recently opted for a policy thru Overland Insurance. Compared coverage and prices with GMAC, State Farm and Progressive. In our case Overland looked to be the best option. FYI the policy is actually thru Triumphe Casualty which is part of National Interstate
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I have State Farm, mostly because I have them for everything else, including a $1 million liability umbrella, and it requires underlying insurance with SF. However, my premium on the Beaver is right at $900/year with $1000 deductables. The only things they don't cover for me are my boat and a condo, neither of which they would write. I've been lucky to be accident free for a long time, but they have replaced several windshields, including one on the Beaver last year, with no hassle, and no deductable (Florida Law). If I didn't need to Liability rider, I might shop around.
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Remember that companies like State Farm and Allstate do not cover full timers. Your primary homeowner's (if you have one other than the MH) liability coverage extends to your motorhome while paked and being used as living quarters.
Robert I have my umbrella through Allstate and my motorhome with a National Interstate Company with the correct underlying liability limit. I have had one windshield and a run in with a guy wire from a telephone pole and had a -0- deductible because of the diminishing deductible feature and the FL windshield law. I like it that way so the motorhome incident does not affect my auto insurance.
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I used to have different carriers for different assets, largely based on price. Then I started to wonder about issues where the Beaver and Ford toad were with different carriers but connected by tow bar while I'm dodging danger at 60 mph. Like for, example, a school bus full of kids and I both decide to change lanes and the Ford makes contact with the bus while I'm at the controls of Beaver. I called USAA, asked if they would insure everything and add on an umbrella for extra liability.
And, Jeremy, if you started a thread with stories like that, I'd be able to add two!
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Bill your toad becomes basically a trailer and your motorhome (vehicle controlling the toad) the primary liability source. Your toad's auto insurance policy may take on some secondary liability if the motorhome's liability is insufficent to cover the liability loss but the auto company may go after you for carrying inadequate motorhome liability.
The Liability and exess liability is the safest way to go but does not have to all be with the same carrier. We carry our homeowners, auto and excess liability(umbrella) with one carrier and the MH with another.
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My long-time (38 yrs) State Farm agent discouraged me from going with them when we switched from the old gas coach to the Beaver. He was right, and the club-associated GMAC policy was best coverage and price, even though everything else, house, pickup and toad, boat, life, umbrella, etc. are with SF. The old motor home was with SF, but a new diesel was a different ball game for them, and not their "field of expertise", even though they could have written the policy. The liability suspension feature while stored means our actual cost is about $400/yr. It was over 5 yrs. ago so I may be recalling wrong, but I think that is where the SF policy was lacking on the Beaver, even though we used a liability suspension feature with SF and the old rig.
Joel
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Talk about confusing. For years we've been sticking with the tried and true. Went to Progressive when we bought the 05 Patriot Thunder at Lazydays, and have kept them as a matter of convenience. They have covered repairs seamlessly (think RV with Robin Williams), and the replacement policy worked oh so well when we caught fire and melted while driving on I-15. But, we were still technically part timers. When we officially went to full time, the rates nearly doubled, but the coverage stayed the same. And we no longer had the backup of the homeowners policy which had covered the majority of the loss of personal possessions in the aforementioned fire. Now, the bill has come and they went up another 50 percent! I now need some contact names for reliable carriers for the 08 Patriot Thunder. Any help will be, as always, greatly appreciated.
Larry Hershey
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I think you'd better call Ron Jarvie at Overland Insurance, Larry: 1-800-677-4027.
They are a BAC sponsor and I've yet to see anything but extremely satisfied postings here from Ron's customers. In fact, a substantial number of Ron's customers used to be with Progressive.
You can also link to a form for applying to Overland off the Beaver Club website, http://www.beaveramb.org/
Joel
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Thanks I'll call him tomorrow
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Larry,
When you call Ron at Overland, be sure to mention that you are a BAC member because Overland's support for the club increases when a BAC member takes out a policy with them and since you are a BAC member he will give you the best deal possible.
Gerald
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Thanks Gerald, I got his quote the other day, and finally got to speak with him yesterday. Sounds like the place to go. Better coverage and nearly half of what Progressive wanted. And yes, we talked about his contributions to BAC.
Larry
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I did a search here on the Forum for coach insurance after having received a few quotes this week. I received a quote from Hartford through AARP that is about half the quote I received from Overland. Interestingly, the Hartford-AARP quote has higher coverage limits and included my toad while the Overland quote didn't include my toad. And a Progressive quote was nearly twice that of Overland. I read here in a post that I should go to Hartford direct - not go to Hartford-AARP - and that will save about 25%. The information I read on the Forum is from last year and older.
Does anyone have a new experience for this year to help guide me before my current policy expires in late August? BTW, I currently have GMAC through Good Sam, and its cost is nearly double that of the recent Hartford-AARP quote. My brother has Hartford and he pays about what Hartford-AARP quoted me this week. At this juncture I am leaning hard to Hartford... assuming what I hear from you folks sustains that leaning.
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I did a search here on the Forum for coach insurance after having received a few quotes this week. I received a quote from Hartford through AARP that is about half the quote I received from Overland. Interestingly, the Hartford-AARP quote has higher coverage limits and included my toad while the Overland quote didn't include my toad. And a Progressive quote was nearly twice that of Overland. I read here in a post that I should go to Hartford direct - not go to Hartford-AARP - and that will save about 25%. The information I read on the Forum is from last year and older.
Does anyone have a new experience for this year to help guide me before my current policy expires in late August? BTW, I currently have GMAC through Good Sam, and its cost is nearly double that of the recent Hartford-AARP quote. My brother has Hartford and he pays about what Hartford-AARP quoted me this week. At this juncture I am leaning hard to Hartford... assuming what I hear from you folks sustains that leaning.
I have been a Hartford-AARP customer for several years. I have found their rates are very competitive. Another benefit is they provide free roadside assistance for motorhomes, although I have never used it. And I just processed my first claim in years when I accidentally released the air brake in my driveway and my new to me rig rolled into my fence gate (I am now a big believer in wheel chocks, LOL). They processed the claim quickly and fairly. And since I had not had a claim in years, they reduced the normal $500 deductible to $100. BTW, BCS gave me a very competitive repair/paint quote and did the work in early May. I was very pleased with both the insurance settlement and BCS's repair.
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I have used National Interstate with Overland as my agent for several years. Ron Jarvie at Overland has given me excellent service and the claims (one windshield and one bay door damage) were handled by National interstate with no problems.
Gerald
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Overland also gives you a break on Coach Net coverage. I had AAA RV Premier ( no problems with coverage/towing) but Coach Net provides similar coverage at a lower cost.
Steve
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I'd stayed with GMAC for years, mostly because of the liability suspension feature that saves hundreds each year.
But then I had a claim. Though Overland didn't have a comparable policy that saved money via seasonal suspension, Ron Jarvie outbid other independent agencies on the next best thing, and we ended up with Allied. Yeah, it's more money overall because I can't suspend liability while the rig is parked, but al least if I have a claim the word is that I won't have the same ridiculous hassle I experienced with GMAC.
If you spend some time to talk with Ron himself, you'll be glad you did. He'll tell it straight if you explain your Hartford quote... there may be a good reason for the difference, and he will give you an honest analysis, including if Hartford is indeed better for you.
Joel
Addendum:
Actually I had 2 claims with GMAC. The one for the windshield chip took 6 months to get a $35 check on. The one for the scratch repair and paint at BCS in Bend also took some doing to get. Then after I told them to send the proceeds to BCS, they sent the check to my house which I wasn't in at the time since, as I'd explained to the GMAC adjustor, we would be on the road for 6 months. After awhile Ken at BCS advised me he hadn't received anything from the insurance company, and I had my daughter go to the house and check the mail... where she found the check. The really dumb part is that the adjustor had specifically asked me if she should send the check directly to BCS. Aaarrrggghhh. Then I understood why Ken's face had gone from his usual :P to ??) when we first took the coach in and I told him which insurance we had.
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I received an insurance quote yesterday through the RV America Insurance website. The insurance quotation document is headed "Blue Sky RV Insurance Quote Summary," the agent is "RV America" with a Simi Valley, CA address, and near the top of the first page it says "Company Providing Quote: RLI Insurance Company."
Anyone heard of any of these companies? Any references from your experience with any of them? The quote was actually a pretty good prive - less than the Hartford-AARP quote - and this with coverage limits of $100k/$300k for bodily injury, $50k for property damage, $50k uninsured motorist property damage, $25k vacation liability, $1k deductible comp & coll, etc.
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David
I don't know your financial situation and what you need to protect but I will tell you that Bodily Injury limits of 100/300k are not very high and often inadequate to protect the assets of many people. And a limit of 50k on property damage is crazy. What if you cause a 3 car chain reaction accident that involves a couple of Caddilacs and a Corvette??
Same with the 25k vacation liability what if you run over a neurosurgeon out riding his bike in the CG do you think his wife might want more than 25k??
You may want to consider much higher limits of liability. I use Auto-Owners Insurance out of Lansing Mi and I carry a limit Of $1million combined limit of liability. Also make sure to ask what the difference is between the 1000 ded and 500 a sometimes the savings is not worth the risk.
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What a coincidence. Today, while traveling through construction in North Dakota, an oncoming truck spun a rock and hit our windshield about 2 inches above the bottom, just a bit off center on the driver's side. The mark is like a spider web about the size of a half dollar or slightly larger, and did not make a hole all the way through the glass. I called State Farm where we have house, cars, and Beaver insured. It was late, so our agent was closed. We are in Glasgow MT. The claims people said my normal $1000 deductible applies, even though its a windshield. I have been under the impression, by seeing related stories on a number of RV forums, that windshield replacement is not subject to deductible on a motor home. I am waiting to talk to our agent on Monday. I wonder if any one has a comment on my supposition?
Safe travels all,
Stan
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One reason we left State Farm, at least in the diesel motorhome area, is on our own SFarm agent's advice. He knew the company isn't really into that coverage and when we went from gas to diesel he felt we should go elsewhere even though he could have sold us the policy. He's been my agent for nearly everything for about 40 years and looks out for our best interests.
Windshields on big rig policies I've seen are commonly exempt from the deductible, but it can vary I think, and it wouldn't surprise me if State Farm's policies are not exempt; they just don't feel the need to compete in that specific market. In our case the coverage was less and the cost much more than other companies' quotes.
As to your damage, a similar chip in ours cost $35 for a glass repair outfit to resin-fill.
Joel
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Stan
Yes you most likely will have a deductible on any Comprehensive loss which includes glass. Some carriers allow you to buy back the glass coverage for a slightly higher premium. But, unless you have a seperate and different glass deductible then whatever your Comprehensive deduct is on the policy will apply.
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Stan, if I were you and found out what I think you're going to find out Monday, I'd call Overland Insurance Agency and drop the State Farm policy. Then since they are all over the country, I'd look up an RV Glass Solutions outlet next along my route and make an appointment. They may even come to your campsite, and they are a BAC sponsor so you may get a discount. You need the chip resin filled before too many miles of road vibration aggravates it; I went a few hundred miles with mine, but was getting concerned by the time I found a glass shop in on the Canadian prairie.
BTW - my SFarm agent's office is open Saturday mornings, as I think many are.
Joel