Flooded trailer

[Carrottop]

As per my brother (lawyer) I should take my post down until my insurance company assess the trailer. Thank you everyone for your input.

[sourdough]

I don't know how to approach insurance where you are but I DO know about the black tank flush getting inadvertently turned on.

Either don't leave it hooked up all the time because someone, somehow will zap you when you least expect it. Mine got turned on by a person running a weed eater and turned the valve on. Thankfully we had just laid down for a nap when I saw the water (we had just previously dumped and rinsed thoroughly). I put a secondary inline shutoff valve on my black tank flush hose that is locked inside the convenience center. It stay off unless I am standing there running the rinser.

[JRTJH]

Every insurance company has different criteria that they use to determine their "cutoff for repair/total loss" costs.

Our current insurance company uses the wholesale value of the trailer as their "point of no repair". If the estimates to repair are greater than the wholesale value, they declare it a total loss and pay the wholesale cost plus any personal item loss that's covered. Our insurance is with Progressive and we have a "replacement value rider" that we pay extra for. If our trailer is declared a total loss (cost is more than wholesale value) then Progressive pays us the price of a new, comparable trailer, plus any personal items that are covered. That "new replacement rider" costs us, I think, about $125 a year. When the trailer is 10 years old, then we can no longer purchase that coverage. Until then, it seems a "no brainer".....

The previous insurance we had with another company did not offer that type coverage and they used the average low retail as their cutoff. Effectively, their amount before they would write the trailer off was about $3000 more than Progressive.

To me, that's a "double edged sword"... If I wanted to keep the trailer, I'd prefer the greater allowance to repair while if I wanted to not keep the trailer, then the lower allowance and they would total the trailer with fewer repairs.

For you, I can't imagine an insurance company trying to repair that kind of damage. Using "stateside NADA" as a guide, your trailer is worth about $17-18K. I'd suspect the repair costs would be much more than that. Just replacing a roof membrane is around $8K.

So, no guarantees, but I'd suspect you'll be looking for a replacement trailer in the next couple of weeks.

[Carrottop]

We tried like heck to get replacement insurance. Our govt insurance which you have to use does not offer it. They are taking the trailer Monday for assessment and we have a call with the adjuster on On the 28th. I will update when I have more info.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Carrottop

We tried like heck to get replacement insurance. Our govt insurance which you have to use does not offer it. They are taking the trailer Monday for assessment and we have a call with the adjuster on On the 28th. I will update when I have more info.

Don't know about Canadian insurance but perhaps home owner's insurance might cover your camper's contents?

[Carrottop]

Originally Posted by Carrottop

As per my brother (lawyer) I should take my post down until my insurance company assess the trailer. Thank you everyone for your input.

Ok. So update time. I will post a summery of what happened back at the end of August then the outcome.

We locked up our trailer at the end of August and did not return for two weeks. In that time the our neighbor turn our water on to water our flowers at our site as we have a permanent site. The valve for the black tank sprayer was in the off position but had failed on the inside and stayed open. When she turned the main water on the black tank sprayers started and quickly filled the black tank and proceeded to flood the trailer. This black water sat in the trailer for what we assume to be about 10 days. For anyone with a lite weight trailer with Luan floors you know this is not going to end well. When we came out to the trailer again in the middle of September the floor was completely rotted for a length of about 15-20 feet, it felt as though i was going to fall through.

We filed an insurance claim and believe it or not it took until yesterday for them to approve the claim. Now the negotiations begin but it should not be bad as they are about $1500 lower than what i want. I am sure we will work it out.

Good news is we bought a new 2021 Keystone Residence 40FLFT trailer that the dealer had on their lot and they are going to store it until spring and then deliver and set it up on our site.

Very stressful ordeal and i am glad it is finally resolved.

Here are a couple photos of the new trailer.

[Carrottop]

Here are a few more pics.

[Ken / Claudia]

Sounds like things will work out. Nice 40 footer. We had a 40ft park trailer for about 6 years. Not Keystone it was a 1996 and on private coastal property in SW Washington. We never a a single issue with it, it made a nice get away. At a 2 hour drive from home.
Back than the slides were real tip outs making the bedroom at one end nice sized and the living room at the other enough room for couch and 2 chairs.

[wiredgeorge]

That big trailer looks a lot like a single-wide mobile home. Good luck!

[notanlines]

John, mainly we're all glad it is working out for you. I'm sure you learned plenty concerning the water access and who should have control.....blah, blah. Better the flowers should be dead!

[sourdough]

I am very glad that things worked out for you. A backed up black tank is nasty in and of itself and is obviously very damaging if left unattended.

We had a similar situation except we were in the trailer when it happened....and it was a yard guy that did it. I now have not only the cutoff outside at the faucet but another inline cutoff inside the convenience center in the event it ever happens again.