Insurance

[breb]

I had to share this with the community . After I finished the trailer this fall , I deemed it prudent to insure my trailer for materials . Knowing my time was my time and not in the equation for insuring . At that point I contacted my agent and was told at a sit down meeting this is not going to be a problem. I came up with a figure on material value and worked on that figure accordingly.The agent for the insurance co. said the underwriter for the insurer would probably need something to identify the trailer but they would come up with something. Ok I'll get back to you was her response. Then the snowball! and did it roll from there . Let me preface this by saying my intention was not to insure , not to register my trailer.In the state of Wisconsin any trailer under 3000 lb need not be registered. So the investigation that included down loading and researching the homemade trailer division at the Wisconsin DMV . Yes there is such a department . Which also sends you to the advance research department , where I believe my ID. tag came from. Then there was a town police officer involved to check and verify the attachment of the tag and then app. 3 weeks later a licenses plate followed and then the Title and registration. All came separately and a grand total of 3 months of time . The kicker for me was when the insurer gave me a call after all was sent into the DMV and was almost complete . They had the Id tag no. to work with and she told me she would submit this to the underwriter and they would either give us a thumbs up or a thumbs down. I was in a tree stand on a hunt . Glad I was tethered to a tree because my heart rate was accelerated and it wasn't a deer that caused it. This was supposed to be already a green light . Then a call from the agent regarding the immediate negative response about the home built trailer. Then the plea on her part and the sending of the photos of the trailer build to verify the quality build and then a positive result of the underwriter insuring the trailer. The agent said this is the first total home built they have insured . They have insured refurbished trailers but not trailer/campers scratch built. I question that because I have read in this forum, posts about the same company insuring others. ( State Farm insurance)

[Atomic77]

I live in Indiana. I had a licensed appraiser appraise our build at $23,000. This was required by the insurance company in order to get it insured. License plates and title were already a done deal by this point. I went through three different agents who all assured me in the beginning it would not be a problem to get it insured. At this date, I still do not have insurance on our coach. We've jumped through many hoops, sent many pictures, paid for an appraisal and even submitted our build journal as evidence of how it was built. Still, no insurance coverage. By the way... State Farm said they "might" be able to insure but only after we switched our home, cars, motorcycles and whatever else we had to them. Their quote was outrageous and only a possibility of insuring the coach.

Insurance. The Necessary Evil of the Modern Age.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[tony.latham]

I didn't have a problem with Hartford on this last build.

What I suggest is that before you make the call, think about how you are going to present this to them. Avoid something like, “I’ve got this home-made camper I built in my garage…” Try something such as, “I have a custom-made camper I need to insure.” That’ll get the ball rolling and he or she will begin filling out the forms. When they ask who the manufacturer is, respond with something like, “I’m the primary manufacturer but it was a collaborative effort over the last year in our facility.”

Which as you all know, is the truth.



Tony

[Woodbutcher]

Both my Home built and my vintage trailer are insured with Farmers. But I also have a Home , rental property, 4 autos and an umbrella policy. We have an agreed value and it states that value on the policy. My guess is the bulk of things being insured may help, but I know many others have use Farmers.

[John61CT]

Every state is different for insurance, can be like dealing with completely separate companies.

Best to find an agent with relevant experience, let them choose the company they have relationships with the underwriters.

Receipts and a well documented build thread with lots of photos can help support your proposed negotiated value.

[tony.latham]

Receipts and a well documented build thread with lots of photos can help support your proposed negotiated value.

John:

Who have you had success with?

Tony

[John61CT]

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=72278

[breb]

As a side note I have all my Insurance through State Farm and have been with them for 30 years. My trailer was photographed and a list of materials was presented and a little about the process was discussed . Yes I agree that you should present it to the agent in a manor that yields an informed process for design and build. You don't have go into such great detail but some that convinces the agency your a competent and confident builder and why I say this is just for the reason I stated in my first post . The agent went to bat for me in her inquiry with her underwriter department. IT doesn't change the fact that I was told up front that everything was full steam ahead , no problem. All I needed was the VIN. Any way the trailer is insured for material and components . I estimated 10500. in materials including components . lithium Batteries, 12v fridge 128.00 a year to insure. For what it's worth the advise on having a Wisconsin rv license plate and traveling from state to state or beyond with out being hassled by other officials would be better addressed by those of you who have put thousands of miles on your trailers.

[John61CT]

Once you are legal in one state, the others aren't allowed to be more restrictive.

Of course some enforce the requirement that vehicles "resident" in their state for longer than X months must be registered there.

But rarely an issue in practice unless they're hassling you for other reasons, hence my advice to try to appear (at least outwardly and in the databases) as a mainstream "productive / responsible citizen" according to the LEO mindset.

And transferring a buildout from one state to another is usually much easier than the procedure for a new virgin trailer.

[KTM_Guy]

Hartford would not insure a home built in AZ. The only company that would was Liberty Mutual and we had to move all our autos to them.

Todd

[Minics04]

Sounds like a struggle. Too bad!

I too am from Wisconsin and have State Farm insurance. I did not register my trailer and only had to provide the following:
Trailer VIN(Northern Tool) with Copy of certificate of Origin
Pics of build and completed trailer
Compairable prices on similar trailers
Receipts for materials

My coverage was issued. It was a pretty easy process.

[vladislaoapp]

What company would you name the best one for motor home insurance now? The one I have been using all this time does not suit me anymore, and I have to look for a substitution.
The one that I want to move to is Youi. Do you know something about them? My good friend recommended me this company, but I know almost nothing about them. He says he has been working with them for more than three years, and it’s totally fine. I studied their offers on their official website, and they seem to have nice and flexible offers. Is there anyone who knows them?

[Onajourney]

I bought a $1M umbrella policy because I want to insure some vacant land I own. My agent said any and all my vehicles and boat where covered. I assume the trailer will too but I will double check when I am done with the build. BTW, I think it cost less than $500 adder to my car policy if memory serves.

[Onajourney]

Disregard what I said about the umbrella policy. It does not cover home built camper trailers. Can't find a company that will.

[tony.latham]

Disregard what I said about the umbrella policy. It does not cover home built camper trailers. Can't find a company that will.

Someone once wrote this in a book about teardrops:

I insure my teardrops with Hartford. The first time this happened the online agent had to discuss it with her supervisor. I wasn’t optimistic about what her answer was going to be but it went fine. My wife insured the teardrop we built for her son’s wedding gift through State Farm. This was done through a local agent with the camper parked in front of his office for him to look at.

Some builders have had problems getting insurance. What I suggest is that before you make the call, think about how you are going to present this to them. Avoid something like, “I’ve got this homemade camper I built in my garage…” Try something such as, “I have a custom-made camper I need to insure.” That’ll get the ball rolling and he or she will begin filling out the forms. When they ask who the manufacturer is, respond with something like, “I’m the primary manufacturer but it was a collaborative effort over the last year in our facility.” Which as you well know, is the truth.

Of course, it has to registered as a homebuilt camper.

I hope this helps,

Tony