Getting RV Insurance for Long-Term Trips

While you are still young, you might still want to get out and see the world. Road trips might be you and your spouse’s preferred mode of travel, and to really be able to enjoy the scenery, you might have decided to buy an RV. It might be small or large, high-tech or relatively simple. However, two facts are constant—RVs are motor vehicles and dwelling places. Therefore, they need the best of both insurance policies. RV insurance can help you get that coverage. If you plan to use yours for an extended trip, here’s how your policy can help you.

Understanding RV Insurance

You have to drive your RV from place to place, even if you keep it parked in one site for a long period of time. Therefore, it needs various pieces of motor vehicle insurance, though standard car insurance won’t work.

Additionally, the vehicle functions as a home to a degree, and living in it comes with many of the common risks and liabilities that might threaten any homeowner. Still, special risks exist as well.

As a result, RV Insurance offers many of the types of coverage that both separate homeowners and car insurance will provide. However, it will come with specifically tailored terms and limits that apply to the special status of this vehicle. Whether you plan to use it on the road or stay in it as your residence during vacations, then you’ll need both types of protection.

RV Auto Coverage

Like any driver, RV operators need motor vehicle insurance. The coverage within the policy might include:

  • Liability insurance: Required of all drivers by most states, liability insurance pays when RV drivers cause wrecks that damage the property of others or injure third parties. So, if you accidentally swerve across the center lane and hit another vehicle, then this coverage can pay the other driver for their injury costs and vehicle repairs.
  • Collision coverage: If the RV sustains damage in a wreck, this coverage can pay for the repairs.
  • Comprehensive insurance: non-accident damage has coverage under this part of your policy. While you have the RV parked at a campsite, something like a storm or fire might damage it. This coverage can pay for the recovery costs.
  • Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage: Another driver might hit your RV, or vandals might damage it. If the parties responsible for the damage don’t have liability insurance or limits that aren’t high enough to cover the costs of your damage, then this coverage on your own policy can help pay.

Residential Coverage

While living in the RV for any length of time, you want to keep it as secure as your home. Therefore, consider adding coverage to your policy like:

  • Contents coverage: Your personal belongings can receive coverage under this policy. So, if a fire damages your possessions while on your vacation, your policy can pay for the recovery costs.
  • Personal liability insurance: This is different from motor vehicle liability insurance. It applies when you cause harm to someone else, but while your RV is set up at a campsite. So, if a neighbor falls while walking down the RV steps to sit outside, this policy can pay for that person’s recovery costs. Policies also pay an accidental medical payments component, which allows you to assist people when they get hurt, regardless of who caused the wreck. This might help you avoid lawsuits later.
  • Expenses coverage: There’s no guarantee that your vacation will work out perfectly. If your RV sustains damage, then you might have to return home. This policy might help you avoid paying for things like hotel or dining costs until you can return home.

Ask your RV insurer how these policies will apply during temporary vacations as opposed to permanent residency in the RV. Coverage might apply differently in each situation. Sometimes, you might need to upgrade your policy to full-timer coverage, which can affect how much your residential coverage will apply.