Vintage Trailer Insurance

[babs4008]

I had been trying to obtain an Agreed Value insurance policy on my 2006 Safari with little success. My regular insurance agent found a "Stated Value" policy for me, and while it's better than Actual Cash Value, there is apparently no guarantee that they would pay what the trailer is actually worth or what it would cost to replace. One company wanted over $1000 per year for Agreed Value. Foremost does not offer Agreed Value in my area and said I was too close to the water (over 2 miles). I contacted FCIS rvadvantage.com (800-331-1520) and spoke with Tony Reynolds who was able to get me Agreed Value coverage through Progressive for $100 more than I was paying annually for Actual Cash Value through Progressive. A Bill of Sale (if purchased within the last 2 years) or certified appraisal is required. I had contacted Progressive and was told that Agreed Value was not available, and then my insurance agent contacted them and was told that it is only available to certain agents. Hopefully I will never need to make a claim, but I feel better knowing that I have Agreed Value coverage on the trailer.

[Jim Lee]

I have Shelter Insurance for all my insurance needs, home, boat, Airstream, Vehicles, rental properties.

Full coverage on my 1978 Sovereign with an agreed upon value of $14,000 is $78 a year with a $250 deductible.

When a semi truck passed us on the interstate and sucked open the small full length roadsize awning, I called the company. The adjuster I spoke to told me that it was a 1978 trailer and the depreciation would probably be steep. I told him it was a good trailer he said rules are rules.

When he came out to the RV Repair shop (Thomas and Sons RV in SGF MO, great shop!.. high but worth it) the repair manager showed him the trailer (freshly polished and all finished), the adjuster did not depreciate out the awning. I got a check for $1600 less my $250 deductible. I am well satisfied.

Once, after an ice store collapsed out patio cover, another adjuster told me that my insurance would only cover the cover not the uprights.

I told him ok, thanks, gathered all my paper work and left. In the parking I lot I got on my cell phone and called my agent and told him I was coming over to cancel all my policies. He told me to wait a minute. A few minutes later I got a call and another adjuster to the front desk and apologized said it was a new adjuster in training and he would (the second guy) get things right.

That is the advantage of having an agent in the office as opposed to a internet transaction.

My antique trucks I insure through a specialized company out of Laverne MN.

When I got out of the service in 1973, first day home, I told my Truimph Spitfire over to my girl friend's house. I didn't have insurance yet and took my chances. Yep, I was crossing a street and got tboned. I got the ticket and had to pay for her car. Since then I would rather be over insured than under insured. My Truimph was a loss. I really liked that car too.

[lilith8]

I am with State farm and they refused to put my streamer on?

[Sahaja]

Good Afternoon and thank you so much for your feedback on the insurance realities for older airstreams. We just purchased a remodeled 1976 argosy airstream and are looking to switch to progressive next week.

Would you kindly share with us which airstream dealer you found would give you an appraisal? We’re willing to pay any go the length for what it takes. Thank you thank you 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Julia

[alyssar]

Going to add our experience with Progressive. We have them for our regular car (not TV) and I decided to go with them on our vintage 1972 renovated 26'
Argosy.

Bought the trailer in January for $32,000; had it insured for $35,000 (what the sellers were asking). There weren't any receipts for the work done, but the renovators had many pictures on an Instagram account of the work they had done and we had the bill of sale. 12 days after buying it we were moving it into storage and someone hydroplaned and skidded across the road into our trailer (oncoming traffic).

We were almost instantly not found at fault for the wreck. We went through Progressive, so they could work with State Farm (the other driver's insurance company). The claim went on for about a month, while they tried to figure out the cost of repair for our trailer (when the driver skidded across the road it opened our trailer up like a tin can on the side. The back end cap was completely off the trailer. Our stuff was littered everywhere: the water heater was out, the bed was gone, it was completely destroyed).

Eventually, they told us they were going to try to get AirStream to give them a value for our vintage trailer. AirStream, seemingly, declined to appraise it and they hired an independent appraisal service. I have NO confidence that the person they hired had any idea about how to appraise vintage trailers. The man called us on the phone, asked if we had receipts (we did not a s we didn't renovate it ourselves), and eventially came in at a price $6000 under what we had paid. We wrote them back saying we had no confidence that we could get a comparable trailer for $26,000 and that we wanted what we had paid for it, considering we'd had it for under 2 weeks and that they were more than happy to take my money to insure it for more than we had paid. I also included a few craigslist ads for comparable renovated trailers, since they had said they hired the appraiser because the "prices varied wildly." They did get back to us 2 days later and had adjusted the price of the trailer to what we had paid. I'm glad we got our money back, but I would feel more confident insuring our next trailer with a company that seeks out people who know the value of renovated vintage trailers.

Just my 2 cents.

[Gene]

There are many posts on many threads about insurance issues, especially as the trailers age. Some use NADA and their prices are amazingly low compared to the market. However, NADA is the only company that prices RV's. We had Progressive for years, but one day they wanted to raise our rates by a lot and I mean a lot. I called them and they said we didn't owe any money and only had one credit card. When I said we had more credit cards and asked why paying off all our debts was a bad thing, they blew me off. I dropped them like a stone. Right now we have Geico.

A 16 year old thread—one of the really old ones. Insurance has been a problem forever.

Gene

[mkcurtiss]

I just insured our '68 Overlander with Safeco, through GoodSam....

To get $25,000 stated value coverage, it is about $700 annually.....I had Farm Bureau but they would only insure it for book value which was $9000.....which is book value for most vintage airstreams....

My policy clearly states that if the trailer is a total loss, I get a check for $25,000. I was not required to get it appraised, but if I had wanted a higher value placed on it, I think that would have been necessary. I was required to send photos, inside and out, but that was about it. To me, $700 a year is a lot, for $25000 coverage, but for now it was the best thing available. I will get it appraised after I am totally finished with all my repairs and renovations, and will seek out a more affordable option.