Re: [VAC] Insurance

["Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, P.E." <geraldj@xxxxxxxx>]

St. Paul Fire and Marine is often mentioned as a carrier for specific
items like musical instruments that don't necessarily depreciate. I've
not yet insured my Airstream with them, but I have my trucks on a
business truck policy. So far I've done little to check on their payment
except just got a couple checks for covered towing from last year.

We are still negotiating on the Airstream and they will likely want an
appraisal, but first they want pictures. And I've not yet loaded up the
camera to take some. Likely they will charge fairly high too.

Insurance companies, like banks, prefer to invest in sure things and
valued items that they'd have preferred to have depreciated in 5 or 7
years aren't what they like to gamble on.

It probably is worth the bother to ask for and insist on receiving a
copy of the proposed contract with all its addenda and then read them
(sometimes with the help of an English teacher and three attorneys) to
see if the policy comes close to what the agent (who probably didn't
pass English every year and sure isn't an attorney) promised. Then at
each renewal, do the same with every new addendum page (and St Paul will
have new ones every renewal) and object if the terms become too
unfriendly (e.g. value decreased to zero or less, while the premium has
doubled). Look at the cost of the insurance versus the deductible. Most
often the larger the deductible, the better the insurance price.

If there's not group insurance through RV associations, and getting it
individually isn't reasonable, it may be best to put the desired
insurance coverage price in a bank CD and let it draw interest hoping to
never need it. That's not the most expensive of insurance in the long
run. That's the least expensive unless you drive off cliff's regularly.
Make sure your tow vehicle insurance gets you liability for the trailer
and that the trailer can't come unhitched.

Over the past 30+ years, my experiences with State Farm have only been
decent when hit by one of their insured. When it was my coverage I was
paying for I never got satisfaction. Caveat Emptor!

Gerald J.