Factory RV transporters and insurance

Cyberian · 01-19-2019, 05:13 PM

Not sure where this should go, and since it was a different brand involved may not belong here at all but I trust you folks and will tow our Summerland with my new truck once it's fixed.

Long story short, a trailer transporter lost traction on black ice and his truck ('11 Ram 2500 CTD) hit my brand spankin' new '18 Ram 2500 (not a CTD) on I-90 in eastern WY.

Is his personal/ private insurance going to be an issue since he was towing for commercial purposes?

**JRTJH** · 01-19-2019, 05:33 PM

Sorry to hear that you were a "innocent victim" of black ice. Hopefully you will get the truck repaired without issue. Keystone doesn't have anything to do with this site, so if you need to contact the factory, they won't see anything here. As far as I know, Keystone contracts with several "delivery transport companies" to deliver trailers to the dealerships. Those "delivery transport companies" in turn hire drivers to use their private vehicles to tow the trailers for them. I'd suppose the majority of those companies have insurance to cover their drivers and any accidents they might be involved in. Most (maybe even all) trailer manufacturers use the same system to deliver their products to dealerships, so regardless of brand, the transport company or the individual driver should have insurance to cover the loss damage.

I'd also suppose that there are some drivers who contract with dealerships to deliver trailers between their sales locations. Camping World comes to mind with that kind of service. If they have a trailer in Detroit and a customer in Dayton, they probably have people "on call" to handle that kind of transport. Insurance requirements may not be the same as the "commercial drivers" contracted by the professional "delivery transport companies"... Then it may be the same as well.....

Depending on who hired the driver that hit you, what insurance he or his company have, one or the other "should" have coverage to repair your truck.

You, as well, if your vehicle is financed, probably have insurance to cover the repairs. So, as a "last resort" your insurance company may repair your vehicle and then "sue/countersue" either the company or the driver to reimburse them.

It gets complicated, but all of that should be handled by your insurance company. If you haven't reported the accident to them yet, you should, through the reporting phone numbers on your policy and insurance certification card that you carry with your vehicle registration. Hopefully you reported this accident to the police??? If not, you should consider doing that as well.

Good Luck !!!!!

**chuckster57** · 01-19-2019, 06:15 PM

I believe dealerships can “hire” a transport company. I know that we use a specific transport company for Grand Designs and negotiated a lower rate for exclusive use.

jsmith948 · 01-20-2019, 06:46 AM

This is why I have insurance. I pay my insurance company to protect me from monetary loss. File a claim with YOUR insurance carrier and let them handle it.
Trust me, they will have a much bigger hammer than you have.

Cyberian · 01-20-2019, 07:03 AM

I'ts a curious business. He had a KY plate on the rear of his truck, that's where he's from. He also had an IN plate in his windshield, the transport company?

All WYHP gave me was his personal plate and insurance, VIN, etc. Nothing on the transport co.

We have notified our insurance. They're holding off on opening a claim until we find out what his carrier is going to do.

Cyberian · 01-29-2019, 02:46 PM

His insurance carrier has denied coverage of the claim because he was driving for commercial purposes.

They did give me the info of which transport company he was towing for. Not one of the big ones.

We're turning it all over to our insurance and let them figure it out. I just want my truck fixed.

Badbart56 · 01-29-2019, 04:52 PM

I hauled RV's commercially for about 6 months out of Elkhart, Indiana. And the transporter plates are usually out of Indiana since they are the RV capital of the nation. I pulled for a company that did a lot of hauling for Heartland.

The company carried a million dollars on the RV's and I was required to carry $500K on my truck and they withheld a thousand dollars out of my pay for any deductible that might apply in the event I had a claim.

But typically it's an insurance vs insurance thing that we never really hear about, just like if you had a fender bender with a non commercial vehicle.

Badbart56 · 01-29-2019, 04:55 PM

Was he actually towing a unit at the time of the crash?

Cyberian · 01-29-2019, 05:56 PM

He was towing a unit for pay.

Transporter's job posting- "No insurance bond, no forced dispatch, no hidden fees or any other B.S. our competition does to drivers."

I've got a feeling this is going to get ugly

Ken / Claudia · 01-29-2019, 06:21 PM

My opinion, I and we pay a lot for insurance. Having had this talk with so many people involved in a crash. Let your insurance co. do their job. After all it's their job. If you want to become a detective and chase this stuff down and settle it yourself you can, but why? You will really go crazy, spend hours on the phone and never getting much information.
In the end you may be paying a deductible. If you were not deemed at any fault, than go after the guy himself. That may cost more to get done than the deductible but it's your call.

Bolo4u · 01-29-2019, 07:26 PM

I echo what Ken/Claudia says. Having worked for a traffic enforcement entity in California and investigated well over a thousand collisions, LET YOUR INSURANCE handle this. Thats why you pay them. With that being said, hopefully nobody was hurt? and hopefully your truck suffered only minor damage. Good luck

bsmith0404 · 02-03-2019, 08:54 AM

I transported for a year, I was leased to a transport company, had to have my own insurance for my truck coverage. The transport company provided insurance for the trailer. The plates are transporter plates registered to the transport company and their dot number.

Mad Cow · 02-03-2019, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyberian

Not sure where this should go, and since it was a different brand involved may not belong here at all but I trust you folks and will tow our Summerland with my new truck once it's fixed.

Long story short, a trailer transporter lost traction on black ice and his truck ('11 Ram 2500 CTD) hit my brand spankin' new '18 Ram 2500 (not a CTD) on I-90 in eastern WY.

Is his personal/ private insurance going to be an issue since he was towing for commercial purposes?

Even if his personal insurance will not pay out because of him doing commercial work at the time, whoever's DOT authority he is running under (including his own if he is a true independent registered hauler) still has accountability. And all commercial tucking/transport companies are required to carry $750,000 liability insurance.

No problem. There are many lawyers who specialize in taking on commercial trucking/transport companies when it comes to accidents. And they work on percentage, so you are not going to be out of pocket to them.

TJTx · 02-03-2019, 11:35 AM

My wife is retired from an auto insurance company. As previous people have posted, your best bet is to go to your insurance carrier and give them all the information you have. Sincerely explain your situation and what you have done on your own to resolve it without satisfaction. Request that a claim be opened under your uninsured/underinsured motorist protection. Also, as a side note, cover your ASSets and document everything (date, time, names, and brief synopsis of conversations). Also prepare and script your calls so nothing is forgotten or misunderstood. Also, prep gives you a level of control. Whatever you do, refrain from getting angry and definitely do not use profane or hostile language. If it is not handled to your satisfaction, tell them that you will report this situation to your state’s insurance commission. I do not know your state’s laws, but in Texas, our insurance commission is required by law to investigate all complaints and insurance companies usually respond quickly.

Cyberian · 02-03-2019, 02:40 PM

Our insurance has accepted the claim. Parts are ordered and the truck should go to the body shop in a few weeks.

They seemed fairly confident that they'll get my deductible and other expenses back once the truck is done and it goes to subrogation

Cyberian · 12-05-2019, 02:45 PM

Almost 11 months now- our insurance company completed subrogation and refunded our deductible.

Truck is long since fixed like new and I have really snazzy dash cams in both of our trucks now, just for things like this

Thank you all for your advice

Ken / Claudia · 12-05-2019, 05:23 PM

Good news, I understand people wanting to work through situations like this by themselves. Heard it many times. But, insurance is there for all that.
With that said, I come from an insider about such things and I dealt one on one with the party's insurance co. who crashed into me once and also filed for damages asking for lost work wages, medical bills and 10 bucks an hour for all my work I did over the vehicle repair costs. It took about 2 months and I got what I asked for about, 3,500. Or we were going to small claims court.

Another time I was hospitalized and off work for 2 weeks. I was on duty in a marked police vehicle. I hired an lawyer and got 13,000 out of a 30,000 settlement. That case took nearly 2 years.

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