Car Insurance

If you run an RV repair center or have a mobile RV installation business, motor repair or simply change oil you will need loads of insurance. Failure to buy the proper insurance may save you money in the short run, yet it could cost you your life savings. Don’t risk it.

Should you have insurance even if you are doing simple repairs or even mere oil changes? I believe you should. You never know when a customer or employee might fall off of the vehicle while you are working on it. And in the case of oil changing anything could happen or you could be blamed for something that is not even really your fault.

You need garage keepers liability anyway as you are in “Care, Custody or Control” of the vehicle when you have the keys and you need those to pop the hood and run the motor to warm up the engine and oil anyway. If you are on top of the RV and the customer has given you the key or unlocked it for you then you are still in the “Care, Custody or Control” of the vehicle and there is no getting around the law.

If you change the oil in an RV sure it is true that you do not need jack up the vehicle to get under the motor home usually, although sometimes you might, still there is liability issues. Sometimes, the dip stick evac works very well. If you have to jack the motor home using a small or large floor jacks and stands then you do put yourself in increased liability risks.

On hot days you really have to watch the parking lot paving in some places as not to leave holes where the wheels on the jack were, some crews have used the new material that is flexible and distributes the weight. Damage to property is to be considered as well.

Play it safe get insured and know your risks. I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple; to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.

There are a number of specialty coverages available, designed to protect you and your property. Specialty RV coverages are what differentiates RV policies from auto policies. Adding your RV to your auto policy is inadequate because it fails to cover many of the things included in a specialty RV policy. For example, most RV insurance provides coverage for awnings, furniture, permanently installed items and fixtures, and plumbing and electrical systems unique to RVs.

Typical RV policies also provide unlimited towing and roadside labor coverage. Auto policy towing coverage is often inadequate for RV expenses. With most auto policies, the towing reimbursement is usually on a per occurrence basis. Because the fees to tow an RV or to change an RV tire are much higher than the same for an auto, these fees often exceed the per occurrence limits on an auto policy.

Another consideration for RV owners is that they get the benefit of specialized claims service when they choose to insure their RVs with specialty RV insurance as opposed to having RVs put on auto policies. The adjusters assigned to claims by insurance companies with specialty RV products usually have expertise with RVs, losses to RVs, and settling the value of the loss. Let’s take a look at some more of these specialty RV coverages available to you.

# Diminishing Deductible – Under this coverage your physical damage deductibles could be reduced 25% for each claim free year you have with the company. After four claims free years, your deductibles would be $0. Any comprehensive or collision losses would reset the deductible.

# Emergency Vacation Expense coverage- is also unique for specialty RV policies. This provides coverage to pay for temporary living expenses if your RV is inoperable due to a covered loss and you are more than 50 miles from your home.

# Vacation Liability – Provides campsite liability for you while you are using your recreation vehicle as a vacation residence. For example Vacation Liability could cover damage caused by your campfire if it gets out of control or if you accidentally hit someone with a horseshoe.

# Fulltimer’s Coverage’s- This is very important coverage to insured’s who use their RVs year round as their residence.

There are three Fulltimer Coverage’s available:

* Fulltimer’s Personal Liability- This provides personal liability type coverage to fulltime users of RVs, which usually equates to five or more months of use per year. This coverage is even available to individuals who do not own their own home, and is similar to the personal liability coverage on a homeowner’s policy.

* Fulltimer’s Secured Storage Personal Effects- Many fulltime RVers keep some of their personal property in storage. With this option, the insured can get coverage for these items in storage. Typically, the insured will have to create a schedule of these items, and the insurance company will have specified limits for the value of this personal property.

* Fulltimer’s Medical Payments- This option provides coverage of medical expenses resulting from an accident that occurs while the vehicle is used as a permanent or primary residence. Insurance companies will likely require that the insured also has Fulltimer’s Personal Liability coverage in order to qualify for medical payments coverage.

Note: Many insurance policies contain exclusions for using your RV as a permanent or primary residence. Often the Fulltimer’s Liability endorsement removes these exclusions from the policy. In other words if you are a fulltimer and do not carry Fulltimer’s Liability you may be subject to policy exclusions.

# Personal Effects – provides coverage for loss to personal belongings used in conjunction with the RV.

# Mexico Physical Damage Coverage– Provides comprehensive and collision coverage for the insured vehicle while traveling in Mexico. The insured is required to purchase Mexican liability coverage too.

# Mexican Liability Coverage- While most RV insurance provides physical damage coverage while traveling in Mexico, it does not provide Mexican Liability Coverage. When traveling in Mexico by auto or RV, you must have Mexican Liability Coverage from a Mexican Insurance Company, which you can buy from US-based brokers or at the border. Type this link into your Internet web browser to read a very informative article by Jim Labelle, about properly insuring yourself to travel south of the border. http://es1.mexicaninsuranceonline.com/press/mre_tm2003.html

# Schedule Personal Effects Coverage- Provides coverage for the loss of expensive personal belongings used in conjunction with the RV. The insured must have appraisals for these items.

# Adjacent Structure coverage may be available for storage sheds, screened rooms, or carports on owned or rented lots.

There is a great deal of overlap between RV and auto policies. If you have a motorized RV, you will need some of the same coverage’s provided by an auto policy plus specialized RV coverage’s. I will attempt to explain a few things to consider without confusing you.

Regardless of the insurance company you decide to use, there are a handful of basic coverage’s you will need to have in your policy. Again, this coverage is very similar, if not identical, to the coverage you have on your personal auto insurance policy. This coverage can be broken down into two different categories; liability and physical damage. All motorized RV’s will have some form of liability coverage. Towable RV’s like travel trailers and 5th wheel trailers do not have any liability coverage. However, if you own a travel trailer or 5th wheel the section on liability may contain information helpful to you regarding the vehicle you use to tow your trailer.

There are many things to consider, here are just a few:

Liability Coverage

There are a number of coverage’s that fall under the category of liability coverage including Bodily Injury, Property Damage, Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury, Underinsured Motorist, Uninsured Motorist Property Damage, Personal Injury Protection and Medical Payments. Some of these coverage’s vary by state.

Note: The Department of Insurance in the state you live in can be an excellent resource for additional information regarding state specific coverage’s. Most states offer a Consumer Buyer’s Guide on their website that will explain state specific nuances to each of these coverage’s.

Bodily Injury is third party coverage. This means it provides protection for claims due to injuries to a passenger in your vehicle (other than you or a family member) or passengers in another vehicle, or pedestrians. It provides you, the owner/operator of a motor vehicle, with protection for your legal liability due to the ownership, maintenance or use of your RV. It is very important to select a limit that is high enough to protect your assets. You may be responsible for any amounts, related to injuries received to the third party, over and above the limit on your insurance policy. You can also purchase a separate umbrella policy that sits over all of your liability limits on your cars, your house and your motorized RV.

Property Damage is also a third party coverage, and provides protection for claims due to damage to other people’s property. For example, Property Damage would pay to repair damage to the bumper of a car that you rear-end in an accident. Bodily Injury and Property Damage limits typically work together and can be either a split limit or a combined single limit. A typical split limit has a different limit for damages to each person, each accident and property damage. For example, a common split limit would be $100,000/$300,000/$50,000. This means that for Bodily Injury coverage you have a maximum limit of $100,000 per person for each person injured not to exceed $300,000 per accident and a $50,000 limit for Property Damage. A common single limit for Bodily Injury and Property Damage is $300,000 meaning you have $300,000 to pay for all injuries and property damage arising from any one accident. It can be split any which way between injured parties and damaged property. Bodily Injury and Property Damage are required for all motorized RV’s. For travel trailers and 5th wheel trailers liability follows the unit towing the trailer, so Bodily Injury and Property Damage coverage’s are not necessary.

Uninsured Motorists (UM) and Underinsured Motorists (UIM) coverage’s can be first or third party coverage’s. UM provides protection for injuries you or someone else sustains in an accident due to the fault of another party when the at-fault party does not have any insurance. UIM provides protection for injuries you or someone else sustain in an accident due to the fault of another party when the at-fault party does have insurance, but not enough insurance to cover your damages. UM and UIM are sold on a split limit and combined single limit basis, just like Bodily Injury and Property Damage.

If you own an RV or motorhome, then you are almost certainly aware of how much different it is from a regular automobile. An RV is your home on wheels. It contains everything that you need to live in comfort or even luxury, and it costs almost as much as a house in some parts of the country. This piece of property represents freedom to many people across the United States, and in this country we protect our freedoms. Insuring your RV with a policy that is specifically targeted to RV’s is one of the best ways of protecting this investment.

Car insurance does not even begin to cover the things that you will have to consider when it comes to your RV and the safety of the people and property within. RV specific insurance covers all of these things, protecting your personal effects, for example. Your clothing, your camera, your laptop are all things that you would not think twice about bringing with you in your RV. If the worst happens to it, however, your RV will not protect these things from fire, flood, or other destructive forces. Your RV insurance, however, will at least allow you to replace these items with minimal fuss.

Your RV insurance will also cover the costs of replacement of your RV if it is totaled or stolen and not recovered, just like car insurance protects your car. As we have noted, RVs are extremely expensive, just as a home on wheels should be. A good RV insurance policy will have a full replacement policy, meaning that one bad accident will not force you to give up your RV trips for good.

If your RV is for more than camping and you claim it as your primary residence, then look into superior fulltimers protection. This protection covers your RV in exactly the same way that homeowner’s insurance covers the home. This protection covers liability for injuries sustained on or around your RV, superior personal effects coverage, and more. This protection is a must if you live in your RV.

If you make additions to your RV such as an awning or satellite for your television, then be sure to include these upgrades in your insurance policy. RV insurance covers these little extras, and will include them in the replacements if your RV is destroyed or stolen, and will replace them if they are damaged beyond repair.

Don’t forget to look out for the little extras. If your RV is in storage for the season, suspend your collision and liability insurance and save money on your premium. Also keep an eye out for the little extras like theft rewards, which provide a reward to persons with information leading to a conviction in the case of a stolen RV. An emergency expense allowance will help you cover your food and lodging if your RV causes you to be stranded a certain distance from home, and a fire department charge may mean that your RV is covered up to a certain amount for damages done by the fire department. Don’t forget locksmith services, with insurance covering all or part of the fees for a locksmith to get you into your locked RV.

None of these things are covered by normal car insurance, but they are so important to your health and piece of mind when driving your RV that it is important not to forget about them. The proper insurance can save you a lot of hassle should you get into trouble down the road.

Owning a motorcycle can be a lot of fun, but when it comes time for insurance, I see many of the same people become lost as to what type of motorcycle coverage they really need. So, just what do you need to look for in a motorcycle insurance policy? Here are some quick tips to help.

Protecting Yourself And Passengers

Liability Coverage - Naturally, liability coverage is a must to help in protecting others in case you’re deemed to be at fault in a covered accident. Talk with your insurance agent about the amount of liability coverage you need.

Guest Passenger Liability Coverage - This coverage provides protection for bodily injuries to any passenger that you may have on your motorcycle should you be at fault in a covered accident.

Medical Payments - This coverage provides payments for reasonable medical treatment for you or another injured person in the event of an accident.

Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist - This protection will cover damages caused by those drivers who fail to carry any insurance at all, or don’t carry enough to pay for the damages.

Protecting Your Motorcycle

Collision - Pays for the repairs or replacement of your motorcycle in the case of a covered accident. Generally, you’ll use this coverage if you are at fault, but in other cases it can be used even if you’re not at fault and the other insurance company is slow to settle the claim. Once they do, your insurance company will refund you back your deductible.

Comprehensive - This motorcycle insurance coverage pays for covered losses from damages caused by peril other than collision. Typically, this would include fire, theft, vandalism, storm damage and other covered causes. Talk to your agent for a complete list of covered causes.

Added Equipment Coverage - Have you added on some custom options to your motorcycle? You may need to have this coverage added to your policy. It covers a loss for equipment that was not included as standard equipment, or equipment that was not permanently installed by the manufacturer. This is an important coverage to consider adding.

Towing - This option provides for reimbursement of towing charges up to the policy limit in the event your motorcycle breaks down.

Rental Reimbursement - In the event of a covered loss, if you also have comp and collision coverage on your policy, you can have rental transportation while your motorcycle is being repaired. You’ll be able to rent a car and the policy will reimburse your expense up to the policy limits.

Other Discounts

Multiple Motorcycles - Many motorcycle insurers will offer a multi-cycle discount if you have more than one motorcycle on the same policy. This discount can really add up over time, so check to see that a company offers this coverage if this applies to you.

Motorcycle Safety Course Discount - This is another discount you may be eligible for if you have passed a motorcycle safety course. Generally, the discount applies for up to 3 years after certification. Again, talk to your agent about this coverage.