Insurance on 5th wheel - Montana Owners Club

Montana_5830 · 06-07-2006, 08:48 AM

We are just getting into this idea of fulltiming and planning on ordering a Montana. Can anyone help or suggest an insurance for the fiver and give me an idea what it costs. I called usaa and they quoted about 800 per year with 100 deduct. Thanks in advance

Jim Reed

Montana Sky · 06-07-2006, 10:27 AM

Jim,
As I am not fulltiming I added my coach to my auto policy. GMAC Insurance Compay seems to offer a great deal of coverage options, including "fulltimers" insurance. It might be worth a phone call to get some other quotes and ideas of coverage. I am going to be calling them as they offer "replacement" coverage if your coach is a total loss in an accident, along with other items. I see their ads in almost every RV magazine. Congrats on your new and upcoming lifestyle change, I cant wait for the day I can go fulltime.

Montana_1240 · 06-07-2006, 11:46 AM

Jim,

I insured my truck with State Farm. We had both our vehicles, (before fulltiming,) with them, actually. Had done so for so long, without claims, that they are always cheaper than any other insurance, regardless of what talking animal pushes the product.

We had our brick & stick home insured with them, as well.

But they didn’t want to touch the fiver.

We ended up going with Progressive. While I didn’t relish the thought of handing that particular company any money at all, the fact that they came in with good coverage for about $800/year made us go that way.

And I can’t complain. They didn’t give me trouble when I claimed coverage for having the Monty hauled over 200 miles through Canada, after the old TV broke down. And they will fully replace a rig for several years, instead of simply giving you book value for a loss.

Make sure you get all the quotes you can, and confirm that they realize you’re talking an RV, and that you will be fulltiming. Some companies don’t fully cover fulltimers.

You are planning on making a second great choice! (Going with a Monty.)

You’ve already made one. You’re on this forum.

Welcome!

Steve

adelmoll · 06-07-2006, 12:05 PM

We have full timer coverage on our Montana. We just renewed ours for a year at $670.00 per year. It started out at $500 deductable but each year that drops by 25% each year that we don't have a claim. We are based out of South Dakota. I think that has a lot to do with the premium cost.

Helen

Montana_1240 · 06-07-2006, 12:22 PM

Helen,

What is your provider's name?

I might look into switching from Progressive, if it's someone else.

Steve

8.1al · 06-07-2006, 01:25 PM

If you are full timing and have no homeowners insurance it is important that you have a fulltimers policy on your rig that includes the liability coverage that you would normally have through homewoners.

Montana_1240 · 06-07-2006, 02:33 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by 8.1al

If you are full timing and have no homeowners insurance it is important that you have a fulltimers policy on your rig that includes the liability coverage that you would normally have through homewoners.

Good point!

Make sure the quotes you're getting are valid after you sell the brick & stick house.

We couldn't get State Farm to talk to us when we said "fulltiming." But I think they'd have covered us if we were simply going for weekends.

They must have checked some outdated actuarial tables that had not considered the often widely different way fulltimers use an RV, as compared to typical weekenders. We fulltimers tend to treat these like home, (I know I do,) rather than some toy, like a 4-wheeler or Jet-Ski.

Gotta be on the same frequency with the provider, lest the quotes be meaningless.

Steve

adelmoll · 06-07-2006, 03:35 PM

Gyro, we have National Interstate. We have Full Time Insurance with everything we need.
We were very careful to make sure. The first year was closer to $800.00 though. I can't remember exactly.

Helen

Montana_1240 · 06-07-2006, 03:48 PM

Thanks, Helen.

I can’t recall our deductible. The paperwork is in the fire safe, and hard to locate.

It was beginning to sound like $800/year is typical.

I'm going to contact them to see if we can do better than we are with Progressive.

Steve

gkbutler · 06-07-2006, 04:01 PM

Most major insurance companies will offer you a "rider" on your homeowner or auto policy for your fifth wheel. Covers while you are hooked up to the TV or for weekend trips only. There are companies that specialize in RV insurance: Mendota, Foremost, Good Sam and a couple of others I can't remember. We have had several discussions on which is best. We use Foremost which runs us $889.00 per year for full time coverage.

Like most everything else on this forum, you will find different opinions on insurance like you will with a lot of subjects like; which model to buy; what type of TV to buy; to what type of hitch will be fine. We all have different opinions. Check with each insurance company and see what they offer and go with what will be best for you. Good luck and welcome to our lifestyle and our forum.

mobilrvn · 06-07-2006, 05:33 PM

Didn't know that USAA offered coverage for fulltimers--at least, they didn't in the past when we started. Would love to have been covered by them. We have Foremost and they have been great on coverage and claims--they do have some sort of affilation with USAA.

ols1932 · 06-08-2006, 04:07 AM

No matter what insurance company you go with, if you are a full-timer, be sure to get full-timers insurance. The full-time insurance costs more than what it costs for your RV being covered by a stick house homeowners insurance. When we compare the costs of insurance on our RVs with the insurance coverage of others, note that a lot of the lower RV insurace costs are because the RV is insured on a homeowners policy and does not cover you if you are full time.

Orv

melnjoy · 06-09-2006, 06:09 AM

We also have fulltime insurance it also covers all the stuff that we have in storage. I think it is just over $800. per year.
Mel

Charlotte · 06-09-2006, 06:53 AM

How did you get your insurance with Progressive at that price? We are fulltimers who recently bought a new RV (our first) and our insurance with Progressive with $500 deductible. We had to pay $1,511. Don't know if the fact we are in Texas made any difference. We moved to a small town adjoining the one where we were and they wanted $17 more. We had cars, boats, and houses insured with Allstate for 46 years but they wouldn't talk to us about fulltime RV insurance.

sreigle · 06-09-2006, 02:22 PM

Our agent found us a better deal with National Interstate than with Progressive. That's for the Montana and fulltimers coverage (which is very similar to renters insurance, including liability). The premium is $601/yr and is about the same as when the Montana was new. It includes full replacement, although I think our Montana may now be past the point in age where full replacement applies. $500 deductible.

Strangely, he found the better deal for truck insurance (for us) is with Progressive.

Montana_1240 · 06-09-2006, 04:24 PM

Charlotte & Leon,

We just called Progressive, and that’s the quote we got. As I said, State Farm wouldn’t touch us. We called around a bit, as well. Not all the others mentioned here. And to tell the truth, I think the Mrs. did most of the talking.

We’re residents of Alaska. That often means higher costs for car insurance, because repair shops seem to be higher than most places.

We probably have $500 deductible, because I believe that we can always scrape that much up in a pinch. (Plastic, of course, if need be.)

If you want to squeeze info out of my Mrs., you can PM “KIMMRG,” through the forum.

Like Steve Reigle mentioned regarding having his policy for a while, I believe “Full Replacement” for us holds true for about four or five years before they will then depreciate the Monty.

Progressive gives me a lousy rate, compared to our long-standing State Farm rate for our TV, BTW. There has to be some way to understand all these insurance coverage/cost idiosyncrasies. But I'm lost!

Steve

Lstierw · 06-09-2006, 05:11 PM

We also got our coverage through National Interstate with an annual premium of 576.00 which is equal to homeowners insurance with full replacement. Your preminum will may be different depending on what options you pick, but we felt that National Interstate was the most reasonable we could find....Les

Chaser · 06-09-2006, 07:03 PM

It must be different State to State - we are in Oregon and we have had State Farm for a long time, have been discussing the "full timer" cost - agent said no problem - would be a particular type coverage (similar to your land home) and a separate renters policy for our belongings stored - less than $200 a year-$500 deductible - I forgot what the dang coverage is called - can find out if it is only in certain areas. Or you can access State Farm Online - for policy info - as well....

ols1932 · 06-10-2006, 05:55 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Chaser

It must be different State to State - we are in Oregon and we have had State Farm for a long time, have been discussing the "full timer" cost - agent said no problem - would be a particular type coverage (similar to your land home) and a separate renters policy for our belongings stored - less than $200 a year-$500 deductible - I forgot what the dang coverage is called - can find out if it is only in certain areas. Or you can access State Farm Online - for policy info - as well....

State Farm dropped us the moment we went full time, and they did it twice. I'd be very cautious about an agent that told you it would be no problem.

Orv

jsrang · 06-10-2006, 02:06 PM

Since we are full-timing it and sold our property in Michigan, we went with National Interstate through Dougherty Ins in SD. Our annual policy for the Monty is $527 with full replacement and diminishing deductible, starting out @ $500. Our PV is insured through them as well. We had been with AAA sine 1965, and started out with them in SD (Progressive). However, when we found their rate was nearly double that of National, it didn't take long to switch. We saved about $700 combined for both PV and Monty. When you go full-timing, and there is no other property/house to tag on the Monty, there are a hand-full of states that cater to the full-timers. Texas, Nevada, Florida, South Dakota and a few others provide these services. Check them out to see which fits your needs through MOC and other on-line services. Hope this helps.

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