Insurance question

[Mike Honcho]

I had a minor brush on a light pole with me 1 YO camper. Rubbed the bottom of the slide and then tire hit just enough for me to feel the bump. Yep, I'm an idiot. Anyway I figured I could just order the panel and trim piece and change out myself.

Today I was pulling trailer to dealer for some schedule warranty work and figured I'd get a price from them and have them check axles for alignment. On the way at 60 MPH a tire goes Boom. Pull over but really no safe room to get out and look but I can see front wheel (triple axle) is pushed against center and flat. Pull slowly to a safe spot. It seems the leaf spring came apart therefore making axle no longer bolted in place. When the tire blew it damaged the black under chassis material and who knows what else.

Question is as I think this would need to be claimed under collision, how much do rates go up for a claim? How long do they stay higher as well. It's my first claim in 15 years of RVing.

[Canonman]

I had an incident with our roof coming unglued while driving in a windstorm. Called State Farm and the agent said no problem but we should try making a warranty claim first.
Warranty wound up covering the repair since they determined the glue failed. But to your question, the agent said our rates would not increase unless we were abusing the policy making repeated claims. I'd check with your agent. There is a reason we carry insurance and it doesn't necessarily require a catastrophic incident to file a claim.

[gearhead]

State Farm is the only insurance I have ever had. 50+ years. I haven't had a ticket in 20 years. I had 2 or 3 small claims on my truck, replace rear bumper and a 2" long "cut" in my rear fender. Maybe a teaspoon of Bondo. We had a blowout in Nowhere, New Mexico that did maybe $3,000 damage to the 5th.
State Farm dropped our coverage on the 5th wheel. Agent said we must have just fallen into the slots in their algorithm.
After getting quotes from Good Sam and Progressive we went with GEICO. Same rate as State Farm.

[notanlines]

Geico here, 47 years. Yes, they know me up close and personal. 2 blowouts at the same time on the Raptor, 10K, no increase. Ripped both AC's off the roof of the Suites, low cable, 19K, no increase.
I'd find another company if I were you.

[Mike Honcho]

We are with Progressive if that matters.

[Canonman]

I guess State Farm was the "big winner". Paid the claim and lost the customer.
Glad you were able to find comparable coverage.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Mike Honcho

I had a minor brush on a light pole with me 1 YO camper. Rubbed the bottom of the slide and then tire hit just enough for me to feel the bump. Yep, I'm an idiot. Anyway I figured I could just order the panel and trim piece and change out myself.

Today I was pulling trailer to dealer for some schedule warranty work and figured I'd get a price from them and have them check axles for alignment. On the way at 60 MPH a tire goes Boom. Pull over but really no safe room to get out and look but I can see front wheel (triple axle) is pushed against center and flat. Pull slowly to a safe spot. It seems the leaf spring came apart therefore making axle no longer bolted in place. When the tire blew it damaged the black under chassis material and who knows what else.

Question is as I think this would need to be claimed under collision, how much do rates go up for a claim? How long do they stay higher as well. It's my first claim in 15 years of RVing.

Doesn't matter what happened to someone else. All insurance companies are different. Insurance companies are different state by state but after your description, you will likely be best off to call your insurance company and have them send a claims adjuster to look at the damage and be ready to pay the deductible. If you have a good company, perhaps rates won't go up and if not they will.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Mike Honcho

We are with Progressive if that matters.

I have a 2002 Cougar and more or less self insure. I have my liability tacked onto my car insurance with Hartford and costs next to nothing for just liability. We had Progressive for years and I ripped the rubber roof on my camper and they paid for RV-Armor to put a roof on that cost about as much as the camper is worth. Never jacked up my rates but I got mad when they raised them during the pandemic when all the other carriers were giving discounts since units were not being used as much. I still have my Goldwing trike insured through Progressive. Had one claim when some guy hit me and they fixed the trike quickly with no questions asked. Other guy was at fault and paid my deductible.

[JRTJH]

Question is as I think this would need to be claimed under collision, how much do rates go up for a claim? How long do they stay higher as well. It's my first claim in 15 years of RVing.

First, the type of claim varies from company to company, so check with yours.

Second, you say "first claim in 15 years of RVing"... First claim of any type or first RV claim? If they are all with the same company, chances are any claim on any policy is counted against the "insured's account"... So, again, your insurance company makes that determination.

Third, I'd guess with axle damage and body damage, you're looking at significantly more than "just a piece of J-wrap and a teaspoon of Bondo"... I've seen as many claims for $8000 as for $2000. So, your adjuster is your best advisor.

Fourth, It sounds like it's going to be an "involved repair" and you can't use the trailer like it is, so repairs aren't optional. Not much is worse than getting it torn apart, realizing you're in over your head, calling the insurance company then, and being told that it's not covered because of the "damage you caused by taking it apart"....

I'm not suggesting you don't do the repairs, but, unless you know what's involved, have the time and expertise to do it, this isn't a good way to protect your investment.....

[flybouy]

Reading the experiences of others is very different than mine with State Farm. We've had claims on out camper for a break in, and last year for wind dama a few minor claims on her truck over the years. We had a storm that destroyed our awning last year. Had a claim for storm damage on our house about 6 years ago that ended up with about $10K for replacing the roof. No drop in coverage or high rate increases.

Asking about insurance in a setting like this is in my opinion about useless. Ther'es just too many variables that come into play. The states regulate insurance and those regulations vary widely. Then there's the other factors like zip codes (crime stats), personal info like past driving record, any criminal record, education, and yes your credit report. So it's nearly impossible to get an "apples to apples" comparison.

[NH_Bulldog]

I work for one of the major national home and auto insurers, the name doesn’t matter. File the claim and put it behind you. I filed a $3,000+ claim last year on my camper and my deductible was absorbed based on my number of claim free years. Insurance companies don’t raise your rates to try to get their money back. It would take them 300 years to get back what they paid out on my claim lol.

[sourdough]

I think your claim would be considered comprehensive. My similar situation was. You didn't actually have what would be considered a "collision" in vehicle terms IMO.

I had SF for decades on homes and cars. Seemed every month I got a notice of new stuff they wouldn't cover and every year a large premium increase..on everything...and I didn't file any claims. I just dropped them and went with Geico and Progressive (Geico didn't have boat coverage at the time). I've been a happy camper since.

When I had a blowout on my RV Geico I filed a claim as the trailer was damaged - 7k worth come to find out. Geico was right there, extremely fast, wrote a check to the dealer on the spot (very generous check I might add) and didn't do a thing to my premiums. When I filed the claim the lady told me that the blowout was unpreventable and I would not get a hickey...and I didn't. I would get that claim filed, but.....I had Progressive on the boats -

Hit something submerged in a lake (new deckboat, 2nd trip) which tore up the skeg and bent the prop shaft. Progressive adjustor went to the dealer repair shop and told the manager to put the prop shaft back it and left....it wouldn't be covered. Called me and I went there - had about a 5 degree bend in the shaft and it just flopped as it rolled on the counter top. I brought her back out and helped her "see the light" and it was approved. Bottom line - you might check with them first as my only interaction with a claim with them was a little flaky. Once contacted though you might as well follow through because they will probably call it a claim if you do or don't.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by Mike Honcho

I had a minor brush on a light pole with me 1 YO camper. Rubbed the bottom of the slide and then tire hit just enough for me to feel the bump. Yep, I'm an idiot. Anyway I figured I could just order the panel and trim piece and change out myself.

Today I was pulling trailer to dealer for some schedule warranty work and figured I'd get a price from them and have them check axles for alignment. On the way at 60 MPH a tire goes Boom. Pull over but really no safe room to get out and look but I can see front wheel (triple axle) is pushed against center and flat. Pull slowly to a safe spot. It seems the leaf spring came apart therefore making axle no longer bolted in place. When the tire blew it damaged the black under chassis material and who knows what else.

Question is as I think this would need to be claimed under collision, how much do rates go up for a claim? How long do they stay higher as well. It's my first claim in 15 years of RVing.

don’t beat yourself up…accidents happen
maybe when your getting the blowout damage fixed you can get the other panel replaced at the same time..that part would be out of your pocket but the dealer may work with you since your already getting work done.

when i bought my boat in 2011 i had it for a couple of months at my pier, went out one morning and opened up the rear canvas ..i have steps that lead up to a walkthrough windshield and i opened the locks on the glass door….left my house for 20 min to run to my shop and a freak windstorm blew up…my daughter called and said my canvas was blowing around…raced home and the 60 lb windshield access door had blown open and ripped my canvas and pulled one of the stanchions loose..no broken glass thankfully…if the canvas was shut and the windshield locked i’d be fine.. adjuster called me and authorized emergency repairs to the canvas and windshield and met me a few days later..never made a big deal out of it and didn’t raise my rates..approved the estimate with no hesitation..boat was as good as new in short order, i worried about nothing

[sahively]

As someone with extremely intimate knowledge of how insurance rates are generated, I can confidently say that no one here (me included) can give you an accurate estimate on your rate increase. Sorry. All auto rates will be increasing over the next year due to insane car part prices (and to a lesser extent) increased labor costs. I suspect this will fall under collision coverage but you might luck out and get it under comp. If a collision, your rate will undoubtedly go up. However, rates are based on 1000s of factors meaning you and your neighbor with the same credit score, same vehicles, and same driving history can sometimes have wildly different rates.

If I was forced to give you an estimate, I'd say no real increase for a comp and 10-15% higher for a collision claim. Again, barely better than a wild guess though.

(Quick edit as I reread your post: Not sure if you intend on filing both the pole thing and the tire thing under one claim but they won't let you do that. It'll be two separate claims--each perhaps counted as collisions which would be...really not good.)

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by sahively

As someone with extremely intimate knowledge of how insurance rates are generated, I can confidently say that no one here (me included) can give you an accurate estimate on your rate increase. Sorry. All auto rates will be increasing over the next year due to insane car part prices (and to a lesser extent) increased labor costs. I suspect this will fall under collision coverage but you might luck out and get it under comp. If a collision, your rate will undoubtedly go up. However, rates are based on 1000s of factors meaning you and your neighbor with the same credit score, same vehicles, and same driving history can sometimes have wildly different rates.

If I was forced to give you an estimate, I'd say no real increase for a comp and 10-15% higher for a collision claim. Again, barely better than a wild guess though.

(Quick edit as I reread your post: Not sure if you intend on filing both the pole thing and the tire thing under one claim but they won't let you do that. It'll be two separate claims--each perhaps counted as collisions which would be...really not good.)

I have 2 different visions of the actuarial dept at insurance companies.....
First vision is of a group of "suits" setting at desks with several large computer monitors. Computers are connected to a room with a stand alone "super computer". Their desks are absolutly organized with neatly stacked papers, pens remain in a pen holder when not in hand. A single cup of coffee perfectly centered on a coaster next to the precisely aligned mouse pad. The walls are eggshell beige with nicely framed photos of calculating devices from across the ages.

Second vision is room littered with trash, banana peels, apple cores, junk food wrappers and empty Red Bull cans. There's one guy in the center of the room with a desk. On the desk under papers and trash is a laptop. The walls are covered with dartboards with numbers on each sector, the only exception is the miniature basketball hoop. The lone actuarial calls out "Coco, let's get to work" and from one pile of trash out crawls a chimpanzee. He hands him a dart and when he flings it at the wall he hands the chimp a snack and the miniature basketball. He records the results in the rate box of a policy after digging out the laptop.

I know both images are inaccurate but sometimes I think the 2 scenarios render similar results.

[sahively]

They mostly all work from home in sweat pants now.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by sahively

They mostly all work from home in sweat pants now.

The actuarial or the chimp?

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by sahively

They mostly all work from home in sweat pants now.

Don't know if security systems would be the same as those insurance folks but they were supposed to replace one of my cameras yesterday and didn't show. As I embarked on the seemingly endless quest of finding out what was going on (as a side note never get Vivint) one of my calls was answered by some young woman with a dialect accent so thick I couldn't understand her. That problem was compounded all the more by the rooster that kept crowing every time she began to speak. I didn't get past the mental image of the rooster sitting on her laptop (or top of her head) but maybe she had sweat pants on too.

[sahively]

We did away with chimps years ago. Too messy. Now we use an Emu. Lol

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Don't know if security systems would be the same as those insurance folks but they were supposed to replace one of my cameras yesterday and didn't show. As I embarked on the seemingly endless quest of finding out what was going on (as a side note never get Vivint) one of my calls was answered by some young woman with a dialect accent so thick I couldn't understand her. That problem was compounded all the more by the rooster that kept crowing every time she began to speak. I didn't get past the mental image of the rooster sitting on her laptop (or top of her head) but maybe she had sweat pants on too.

At the risk of sounding prejudice, but has anyone else noticed that nearly every customer service call we've made lately all have such an accent that it's nearly impossible to understand what they're saying. My DW has went so as to ask for someone that speaks english.