Vintage Trailer Insurance - Success!

[kaylorsan]

We just received our redone 1969 Sovereign trailer. It was redone by Hofmann Architecture in Santa Barbara, CA. Expensive, however they do nice work.

I struggled for a long time finding insurance for it as we had major $ invested (well north of $100K).

Our plan is not to tow the trailer, but rather use it as a temporary home on a plot of land until we have the time and $ to build a 'proper' home. With that in mind, we did some nice upgrades to it, including a paint job (was not interested in the effort needed to keep her shiny when parked near the coast)

In any case, I have a 'agreed upon value' coverage with Progressive that I got through FCIS insurance (Josh Pagel 800-331-1520, FCIS Insurance - Iowa Life, Auto, RV and Pet Insurance Company). It was easy, and he was a pleasure to work with. My coverage was very affordable also (less than $700). I had to get an appraisal done to get to the agreed upon value.

I highly recommend him.

- Kaylorsan

[SteveSueMac]

Wwwwwwow! Beautiful!!!!

[rmkrum]

Ditto. Instantly recognizable as an Airstream, and looks so nice inside and out! Wow....


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[Airline]

Love the exterior color !

2 questions,could you not get the coverage directly through Progressive ?

And who did the appraisal ?

[Stefrobrts]

Pretty color! Great looking resto, I'll bet you're going to be pretty happy in your temporary home!

We also have the insurance through Progressive with an agreed value/appraisal. So far so good, we haven't needed to test it!

[kaylorsan]

Originally Posted by Airline

Love the exterior color !

2 questions,could you not get the coverage directly through Progressive ?

And who did the appraisal ?

No, I called Progressive directly, as well as 20+ insurance companies. No one wanted to insure it. On some of the calls, I think that the problem may have been that this was 'an out of the box' situation and the agents were either uninformed and/or lazy. I think the fact that FCIS deals with RV insurance that they were much more knowledgable/receptive for coverage. They said that Progressive does most of their coverage and that there is basically just a certain set of criteria that needs to be met.

As the trailer was in SoCal, I was given 2 references (I believe they came from FCIS)


I-VAN (International Vehicle Appraisers Network) 757-421-9028 www.i-van.org
Their closest appraiser was in San Diego; too far away, so I ended up with

Pinnacle Auto Appraisers 877-988- 9911. www.autoappraisers.com. I worked with Patrick there. He had an appraiser closer by. The process was easy. I think it cost me $350 total. I paid more as I wanted a physical visit from the appraiser. They also offered a method where you could just send pictures, receipts, etc that was cheaper.

[Airline]

great Info !

Thank You Kaylorsan

[splyb]

Thanks, Dude. The phones are lighting up.

At least mine is.

Jay D.

[Cleareye]

Very nice resto!
But why give away money to the insurance industry? Your risks are extremely small. Assuming the risk yourself will keep you alert. The same goes for just about everything else in life.

[Trons4u]

Great color and if you're going to park it and live in for a while might as well make it just the way you want it. What is the big opening for? It would make a great porch area, just add some screening to keep the bugs out

[ednormandy]

I have the same agent, the same insurance carrier with agreed upon at $11,500.00 with $500 deductible and just paid $575.00 for the year. If yours is insured for over a hundred grand and only cost a hundred bucks more than I pay, you got a great deal!

[Herm and Debby]

Beautiful trailer! I wish mine looked as nice.

Just be sure to read the complete policy as soon as you get it to be sure the loss settlement provisions are what you expect. I'm not familiar with the Progressive policies sold in CA, but often "agreed value" doesn't automatically mean you will get the full limit if the trailer is a total loss. This generally means the maximum a company will pay at the time of a loss. Any partial claims are typically settled on an "actual cash value" basis, which means depreciation depending on the age of the damaged item.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade or question the ability/knowledge of the agent that sold you this policy, I just want you to be certain you understand the policy terms before a claim happens.

[dbj216]

I also used FCIS to get my vintage Airstreams insured to the appraised value. I sleep a little better knowing a fire, theft, vandalism or a hail storm won't ruin my "investment" in these old trailers. It doesn't take much to "total" one of these old Airstreams. FCIS was great to work with.

David

[streaming24]

Great looking trailer!! Redo addressed a lot of issues,, like the W/D. My daughter is a fan of Hofarc, but good for me, I live 1000s of miles away. Don't have the 100 grand to spend either. Questions though on two items in your post.
You mentioned living in until,while you are building. Any zoning issues?? How to best beat these??
I think I understand bath layout. Toilet curbside, shower street. Is the marble(?) slab a seat? How are the shower walls and floor constructed?

[utahredrock]

Love your trailer! On the phone with Josh now.

[rodsterinfl]

No, I called Progressive directly, as well as 20+ insurance companies. No one wanted to insure it. On some of the calls, I think that the problem may have been that this was 'an out of the box' situation and the agents were either uninformed and/or lazy. I think the fact that FCIS deals with RV insurance that they were much more knowledgable/receptive for coverage.

Hmm. Sounds like a little insurance brokering. I too spent about a month calling every insruance company I could find that would insure RVs and discovered quite a bit. I made a thread on the dealings. Progressive, who my truck and scooter are with, would not insure mine for agreed value, only NADA depreciated policies. They told me that if it were new, they would insure it for replacement but for only so long. Anyhow, I ended up with three primary underwriters- FCIS, Blue Sky and another one. FCIS WAS using Nationwide and my policy says Nationwide underwriter. I will share that on my scooter, originally I had it with Culver Ins in CA as a motorcycle policy underwritten by progressive then I contacted progressive directly the next renewal and got it $70 cheaper a year. Just an FYI. Also, I was lied to by the company Good Sam uses. They said it was an RV specific policy, etc. and for its value, then two days after I got the policy I cancelled as it read "Auto Policy- NADA valuation used at total loss." The agreed value policy is the way to go on anything older than five-six years.

[damonbeals]

Jim Polk did a great presentation at Alumapalooza on all the details about doing agreed values. He also does appraisals with just photos. And he owns a Airstream and is a WBCCI member so he knows the market. I plan on getting both my units re-appraised.

http://www.polkassociates-llc.com/

Damon
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