Thursday, March 29, 2012

CONFESSIONS OF AN INSURANCE PROCRASTINATOR

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As most of you RVers know, full timers need special insurance on their rigs and for liability purposes. We had a full timers policy but after the episode with the generator when they couldn’t figure out which part of the policy to cover it under, I decided maybe I should be more aware of our insurance issues.

We have been full timers for almost four years and I’m just now figuring out that we needs to take a good hard look at our insurance coverage. That’s not a good thing. I should have been paying attention four years ago. And I did attend a couple of seminars on insurance at the Escapade Rally.

In fact they were both put on by Jack and I learned several things but never did anything about it. Didn’t make any changes to my coverage or even let him look over my policies to see if he’d suggest some changes to them.

Now we’re at the Good Same Rally and we head over to an insurance seminar and Jack is once again the presenter. He’s been specializing in RV insurance since 1999 and was a full time rver until they decided to buy a farm in Virginia.

After attending his seminar, no more procrastinating. We went back to the rig, rounded up our policies and headed to his booth to see what he could do for us. Left everything with him and told him we’d be back the next day.

Bottom line – he increased our coverage, lowered our deductible, increased our contents coverage and saved us a whole bunch of money.

Our original limits on our truck were 100,000/300,000/100,000 and 5,000 each person. Our deductible was 1,000 for collision and comp coverage. At a cost of $1445.98 per year. (This price did not include our latest claim for the tailgate and generator so the cost of the policy would go up in September when it was time to be renewed.)

Our new policy has limits of 250,000/500,000/100,000 and 5,000 each person. Deductibles were lowered to 500. And the cost per year is $909.00. A savings of $536.98 per year. And the new policy takes into consideration our claim on the truck and generator.

As for the RV – We increased our limits and reduced our deductible as well as increasing our contents coverage to 10,000 from 5,000. The cost of this police did go up from $447 per year (not including our generator claim under contents) to the new policy amount of $545. An increase of $98 which makes for a net savings of $438.98 a year. That’s money that can now go in the fuel tank!!!

Everyone’s situation is unique to them, but I would highly recommend that you have your policies reviewed by someone who is a specialist within the RV industry.

Jack is with Twin Peaks RV Insurance Agency and they represent several different insurance companies. http://www.twinpeaksinsurance.com

Jack also looked over our boat policy which we have with State Farm and told us that we have the best coverage there is with them so we won’t be changing that policy.

Be safe out there as you travel the highways and byways.

15 comments:

  1. At least you had something. Now you have something better. Give yourself credit for both of those, please.

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  2. This is one thing we want to take care of at the rally in Sept.

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  3. I've been wondering whether I'm becoming "insurance poor". Seems all I do is pay premiums that keep going up to companies that have so many things they don't cover.

    I have Allstate, and I heard just recently on the radio from a consumer advocate, that their rates are getting out of line and on the rise. I called Allstate and asked them to send me an overview of all my policies and the breakdown in cost. Haven't heard anything, yet, but I'm going to call them again, tomorrow since reading about your experience, Sandie. Thanks for a very informative post.

    Oh, I also pay Cigna for my supplemental health coverage and have a long term health insurance policy (which I can't change) along with life insurance. Allstate carries my homeowners, truck, trailer, and umbrella policies. Hmmm...I AM insurance poor! Not being a full timer, I don't know who I should get to analyze my situation. I'll have to find out. I have avoided looking into it because I don't know if another company would tell me anything just to get my business, and unlike Rich, math is not my strongest suit.

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  4. Wow! Great eye opener Sandie. Thanks for all the info. Taking a better look now. I agree - better in the gas tank than the insurance companies pocket.

    Sharon

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  5. The most important thing is to be covered. I guess we never know if what we have is good or not until we needed something else. Hopefully most of us won't have to find out the hard way. Good job, Sandie.

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  6. Good going girl! You two can now have peace of mind that all is taken care of.
    So great getting together with you last night. Great time! ~wheresweaver

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  7. Hmm, guess I'd better look into this again. Thanks

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  8. We have everything covered under Farmers Ins. Two Cars and the Motor home. So now we are going to check this out. Thanks for the good information.

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  9. That is a significant yearly savings. Good for you for looking into it. Savings money is key.

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  10. Thanks, Sandie, great information. Looks like I have some room to get better coverage for less money too.

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  11. Insurance is the one thing that I keep up with (as a retired claim adjuster). Of course I could probably shop around for cheaper rates once in a while too. One thing you didn't mention, is Uninsured/Underinsured motorist coverage. I assume you probably have it, but if you don't, I recommend it, as it pays YOU if you're injured by an uninsured/underinsured motorist.

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  12. thank you for this information. i really had no idea about any of this insurance stuff. don't really have to know now..but someday we will be joining your ranks.
    thank you for your thoughts today. i am grateful for your blogging friendship. I appreciate you. i will pray for you whenever you need me to.
    happy weekend!

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  13. Thinking about life insurance and don’t know where to start? Try IntelliQuote. I work with them and you can get free quotes on rates from several different providers without any pressure to buy. Want to talk to a human? They have agents available to help find the policy that is right for you. Not ready? No pressure. But at least it’s a place to start. http://bit.ly/HdNk2k

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