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Old 06-09-2016, 08:37 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: A.C.E. 30.2
State: Utah
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THOR #2562
Accident now insurance problem. Advice?

Last weekend I had to turn around and in the process I over jack knifed and ran my motor home into my cargo trailer. The cargo trailer has the majority of the damage. My problem is my insurance is telling me they won't cover my cargo trailer since I don't have a policy specifically on it. When I bought the trailer I tried getting it insurance and Geico told me that they wouldn't insure it became the towing vehicles insurance would cover it or my home owners if it was at my house. Now it's a completely different story. Do any of you have experience with a claim involving a trailer?

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Old 06-09-2016, 10:15 PM   #2
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Model: ACE 29.3 (2016)
State: Montana
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THOR #4032
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Originally Posted by West View Post
Last weekend I had to turn around and in the process I over jack knifed and ran my motor home into my cargo trailer. The cargo trailer has the majority of the damage. My problem is my insurance is telling me they won't cover my cargo trailer since I don't have a policy specifically on it. When I bought the trailer I tried getting it insurance and Geico told me that they wouldn't insure it became the towing vehicles insurance would cover it or my home owners if it was at my house. Now it's a completely different story. Do any of you have experience with a claim involving a trailer?
You have a collision. You ran into the trailer so to me you would have a claim. The trailer didn't run into you did it? If you are 55 or older check into AARP insurance through the Hartford. I was amazed at how little it cost to add my new ACE to my insurance.
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Old 06-09-2016, 10:41 PM   #3
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THOR #2562
That's exactly my thoughts! The motor home ran into the cargo trailer. The trailer has no ability to drive its self into anything. So I think my liability on my motor home should cover the trailer. They say because I own both things that it doesn't work. So in their mind if I ran my car into my house or anything else I own they wont cover it? If that's the case what about all the kids learning to drive that run into things at their house? That happens a lot.
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Old 06-09-2016, 10:47 PM   #4
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I have stated on here the cost of insurance is one thing put how they pay is everything. I had $400,000 in claims in 2013 and $17.000 in 2005 plus hail damage on two cars for about $6,000. Tornado and hail on house and cars. I still have State Farm with good rates and great claims. I'm not in the insurance business.
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Old 06-09-2016, 10:56 PM   #5
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THOR #2562
My last phone call with them today I let them know I was going to get an attorney. He said he would make some calls to see if he could get it covered and get back with me. The silly thing is it's really not that much damage but at this point it's a matter of what's right and them covering it is the right thing so I'm not going to drop it.

Thanks for the input. It's nice to get a second opinion to know if I'm wrong thinking they should cover it or not.
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Old 06-10-2016, 12:29 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by West View Post
Last weekend I had to turn around and in the process I over jack knifed and ran my motor home into my cargo trailer. The cargo trailer has the majority of the damage. My problem is my insurance is telling me they won't cover my cargo trailer since I don't have a policy specifically on it. When I bought the trailer I tried getting it insurance and Geico told me that they wouldn't insure it became the towing vehicles insurance would cover it or my home owners if it was at my house. Now it's a completely different story. Do any of you have experience with a claim involving a trailer?
We tow a 6x10 enclosed trailer behind our Axis. When Ron spoke to our agent,
the agent told Ron that our motorhome insurance 'should' cover the trailer, however, it wouldn't be a bad idea to insure it separately, which he did.

K
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Old 06-14-2016, 09:43 PM   #7
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Liability & physical damage

I'm an insurance agent and it sounds like you got bad advice from the get-go. Since you can't drive a trailer, in almost all cases the liability coverage on the TV transfers to the trailer. So if you're going through a parking lot and your trailer clips another car you have coverage against the damage your trailer did to the other car, the same as if you had clipped the car with your TV.
BUT there is no coverage for the damage you caused to your trailer in this accident UNLESS you have a separate policy that covers physical damage to that trailer. If there is no physical damage coverage on the trailer then to get remedy for the damage to it you have to sue the person that damaged it - and that is you. And no court in the country will allow you to sue yourself or file claim against yourself - which is what you are asking your insurer to do.
So, in the case of your Coach running into and damaging your trailer, your only recourse is to sue yourself, and since you can't do that, insurance on the coach will not pay you for damaging your trailer. The reason your insurance carrier is not extending liability from the TV to the trailer in this case is because you own both, and coverage for the trailer was available to you. You didn't purchase the right coverage for your trailer, and your policy on the TV is not going to make up for that mistake by allowing you to file a claim against yourself.
So what is really important for all you to know is that NOTHING but its own policy will provide any physical damage coverage to your trailers. Your Towing Vehicle insurance policy will extend liability coverage to the trailer, but NO physical damage coverage. You must insure your trailer under its own policy, or add it to the policy for the TV if possible, in order for you to have any coverage for damage to or theft of the trailer.
Insurance agents are supposed to know this, so you may have a case to go after your agent's Errors and Omissions policy. But your lawyer for that will probably cost more than fixing the damage you did to yourself.
It's cold and not nice, but it's just business to your insurance company. I'm sorry you got stuck like this, but now you have an idea that you can't really trust your insurance agent, so maybe that's a bit of a silver lining and you should take a look at the auto, home and umbrella policy he sold you too...
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Old 06-14-2016, 09:57 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by kmessall View Post
I'm an insurance agent and it sounds like you got bad advice from the get-go. Since you can't drive a trailer, in almost all cases the liability coverage on the TV transfers to the trailer. So if you're going through a parking lot and your trailer clips another car you have coverage against the damage your trailer did to the other car, the same as if you had clipped the car with your TV.
BUT there is no coverage for the damage you caused to your trailer in this accident UNLESS you have a separate policy that covers physical damage to that trailer. If there is no physical damage coverage on the trailer then to get remedy for the damage to it you have to sue the person that damaged it - and that is you. And no court in the country will allow you to sue yourself or file claim against yourself - which is what you are asking your insurer to do.
So, in the case of your Coach running into and damaging your trailer, your only recourse is to sue yourself, and since you can't do that, insurance on the coach will not pay you for damaging your trailer. The reason your insurance carrier is not extending liability from the TV to the trailer in this case is because you own both, and coverage for the trailer was available to you. You didn't purchase the right coverage for your trailer, and your policy on the TV is not going to make up for that mistake by allowing you to file a claim against yourself.
So what is really important for all you to know is that NOTHING but its own policy will provide any physical damage coverage to your trailers. Your Towing Vehicle insurance policy will extend liability coverage to the trailer, but NO physical damage coverage. You must insure your trailer under its own policy, or add it to the policy for the TV if possible, in order for you to have any coverage for damage to or theft of the trailer.
Insurance agents are supposed to know this, so you may have a case to go after your agent's Errors and Omissions policy. But your lawyer for that will probably cost more than fixing the damage you did to yourself.
It's cold and not nice, but it's just business to your insurance company. I'm sorry you got stuck like this, but now you have an idea that you can't really trust your insurance agent, so maybe that's a bit of a silver lining and you should take a look at the auto, home and umbrella policy he sold you too...
You got it right when you said you can't trust your insurance agent.... what if you run your can into your garage door...who do you sue? Yourself? Opps. You cannot sue yourself so who pays?
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Old 06-14-2016, 10:25 PM   #9
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You got it right when you said you can't trust your insurance agent.... what if you run your can into your garage door...who do you sue? Yourself? Opps. You cannot sue yourself so who pays?
My Grandma did that.Car insurance paid for car,homeowners for garage.
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Old 06-14-2016, 10:30 PM   #10
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Not to put too fine a point, but

If you drive your own car into your own house accidentally, your car insurance company will not cover the damage to your house (You can't file a claim against yourself). BUT your homeowner's insurance company will pay for the damage to your house, after you pay your deductible. You'll also have to pay a deductible to get your car fixed. Same if your kid is learning how to drive and hits your house. But if he hits the neighbor's house, your car insurance liability will pay for the house, but you still have to pay your deductible to get your car fixed.
Coverage for your trailer was available. You didn't buy the coverage. If you had, you'd be paying the trailer policy deductible to fix your trailer, and the MH policy deductible to fix your MH. What you're looking for is the same fix on the trailer, deductible free, by claiming that the YOU driving your MH can be sued by the YOU that owns the trailer. You ran into you and you have to be responsible for that. Either by paying for the damage you did to yourself, or by having the right kind of insurance and paying your deductible.
If insurance worked the way you want it to I could buy an 83 Datsun and insure it for liability, then drive it into my house so that its liability policy would pay for a new front door and window in my house. Or I could ram it into my old trailer and use the liability money to buy me a new trailer.
Their rep shouldn't have told you not to insure it in the first place. If you could prove that you were told not to buy a policy for the trailer I think your insurance company might want to pay for this damage just to avoid court. If they find you some coverage its a good bet that is why. But think about buying a policy specifically for the trailer before you move it again!
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Old 06-14-2016, 10:43 PM   #11
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THOR #2562
Thank for the advice. It's extreamly helpful information that I think a lot of people could use! I had no idea before this situation. I called a friend that works for Farmers insurance and he told me the same thing you said about how you can't be liable to yourself. I'm also pursuing switching my policy over to them since I feel mislead by Geico. I'm sure it could have been an inexperienced agent giving me the wrong information but how would I prove it now? I also invested in an app for my phone that records calls which is legal to do in Utah to record any further interactions with both insurance agency's. Trying to read and understand the policy without someone explaining it to me in simple terms is to hard and obviously can be misleading. I have a phone record of me calling Geico to insure my trailer the day I bought it but I have no proof of what was said on the phone call so I'm sure I'm SOL.
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Old 06-14-2016, 10:46 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kmessall View Post
If you drive your own car into your own house accidentally, your car insurance company will not cover the damage to your house (You can't file a claim against yourself). BUT your homeowner's insurance company will pay for the damage to your house, after you pay your deductible. You'll also have to pay a deductible to get your car fixed. Same if your kid is learning how to drive and hits your house. But if he hits the neighbor's house, your car insurance liability will pay for the house, but you still have to pay your deductible to get your car fixed.
Coverage for your trailer was available. You didn't buy the coverage. If you had, you'd be paying the trailer policy deductible to fix your trailer, and the MH policy deductible to fix your MH. What you're looking for is the same fix on the trailer, deductible free, by claiming that the YOU driving your MH can be sued by the YOU that owns the trailer. You ran into you and you have to be responsible for that. Either by paying for the damage you did to yourself, or by having the right kind of insurance and paying your deductible.
If insurance worked the way you want it to I could buy an 83 Datsun and insure it for liability, then drive it into my house so that its liability policy would pay for a new front door and window in my house. Or I could ram it into my old trailer and use the liability money to buy me a new trailer.
Their rep shouldn't have told you not to insure it in the first place. If you could prove that you were told not to buy a policy for the trailer I think your insurance company might want to pay for this damage just to avoid court. If they find you some coverage its a good bet that is why. But think about buying a policy specifically for the trailer before you move it again!
In Wyoming you do not license a car dolly which can cost up to $4,000 because it is considered "equipment" It is not considered a vehicle. So if you somehow damage the car you are towing and the dolly and it is attached to your motorhome, where does the insurance come in?

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Old 06-14-2016, 10:51 PM   #13
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Each state is different

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In Wyoming you do not license a car dolly which can cost up to $4,00 because it is considered "equipment" It is not considered a vehicle. So if you somehow damage the car you are towing and the dolly and it is attached to your motorhome, where does the insurance come in?

That is a really good question, but one I cannot answer I'm afraid. I'm not familiar with WY law, and each state is different. Best to contact the WY Department of Insurance for that one!
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