Rookie FWC Owner Looking for Insurance Tips

[UncleDougie]

Hi everyone. I have a beautiful FWC that will be coming into this world in late May early June. Hawk flatbed that will be on a flatbed built in Colorado (Bowen Customs) they've been great. Will have all of that sitting on a 2022 Ford F250, 7.3L, 10-Speed 4x4. Super stoked to get out there.

I would love to here some options on insurance for the camper. I've read several posts where folks insurance provider are not sure how to classify a FWC as it's not a trailer or has its own drive train.

Looking forward to meeting everyone out on the trails this summer! Thanks!

 

[Jon R]

Common terms for slide-in truck campers vary around the country, so it helps to have a picture you can send of the camper in the truck. That helped for me both at the licensing office when getting a title and license (WA state) and when trying to get my insurance company to classify it properly.

My insurance company (Farmers) required the camper to have a title if required by state law.

 

[Beach]

My insurance co. considers it a "load on the truck" and is therefore covered within the truck policy at no additional cost. Only catch, it is not covered when off the truck, which is only for maintenance. I printed the email they sent me with the above info for "insurance"

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

According to my State Farm agent, the camper is covered when on the truck, and when stored on property you own or rent. If you have State Farm, you may want to look for an additional policy if you want to dismount the camper under other circumstances.

 

[Jsoboti]

I would recommend having a separate policy so the camper is covered for damage etc. regardless of if its on the truck or not, crazy things can happen. For how much the campers cost the insurance is relatively inexpensive.

Hard to put a price on peace of mind IMHO. Congrats on your purchase!

 

[jsduty]

Just received a quote. 221.70 a year with American Family with 500.00 deductible's

 

[Jon R]

Just received a quote. 221.70 a year with American Family with 500.00 deductible's

Mine’s in that ballpark. Maybe closer to $300.

For who are getting the “it’s covered in the truck/homeowner policy” answer, i would suggest getting that in writing at least via email. Then if the company denies it it would be covered by your agent’s errors and omissions insurance.

 

[UncleDougie]

Thanks everyone!!! I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge on this. It will be full-time on my flatbed and I don't anticipate removing it unless it's getting factory maintenance.

No on the fun part...contacting my local Dept of Motor Vehicles to see what state requirements exist if any.

 

[Jon R]

Might be easier to research your state code on line. Also, this site says no title no registration for campers in Colorado:

https://www.truckcamperadventure.com/which-states-require-truck-camper_16/

 

[UncleDougie]

Might be easier to research your state code on line. Also, this site says no title no registration for campers in Colorado:

https://www.truckcamperadventure.com/which-states-require-truck-camper_16/

Thanks Jon R. Luckily I'm in the wild wild west (Arizona) not reg needed and I can load it with guns as long as I don't go on the reservations.... HA!

 

[campito]

Unfortunately I'm one of the few people I've heard about that has actually had damage to their camper. So I've gone through the claim process.

Last Jan I was in the curvy section going down to Panamint Springs in Death Valley. A car carrier cut a curve and ran into me totaling my truck and damaging my camper. CHP report was that it was clearly the other drivers fault.

Because the camper was considered part of the truck in the policy (which I never understood), they were going to total the camper along with the truck even though the camper only had minor damage. What? Wait!

It took many calls between the claims people and my agent to work this out. At each step the claims people would be confused and I had to reeducate them and often connect again with my agent. Twelve months later the repairs on the camper were done and paid for.

Be crystal clear on exactly how claims will work if there is damage. I was a bit clueless when I set up the policy, I just told them I wanted it covered, and luckily it worked out.

 

[UncleDougie]

Campito - Thank you for this post! Super helpful to hear from someone that has had to go through the claim process. I totally know your frustration of having to "re-educate" each person you get transferred to when making a claim......

A BIG 10-4 on getting explicate explanation of how the claim process will work prior to accepting the policy.

 

[BillTheHiker]

Have the camper listed as line item with its own collision, comprehensive, etc. on the truck policy, or have a separate policy for the camper. Got this today from my insurance agent when updating coverages. I have Safeco but he said the above applies in general to most carriers.

He added that if the premium is not substantially increased when the camper is added, then the camper is likely not covered for physical damage or its contents. I pay an additional $160/year for the camper.

 

[UncleDougie]

BillTheHiker - Thanks for the that info! Thanks everyone for your feedback!!!

 

[ForTravelsSake]

For years I had a AAA auto policy that supposedly covered the camper (excluding contents). However, every year I renewed there was always a question as to what physical damage coverage would apply to the camper. This year I switched to Progressive, which offers a totally separate policy for the camper so there is no question about the limits, etc. I haven’t had a claim with either company so I can’t speak to how that process would work, but I do like having the separate policy. It costs about $400/year with a $1k deductible on a $25k value. Expensive, but having the clarity is worth it for me.

 

[camsf]

FYI to anyone who has Geico: Your camper is covered on the truck for liability only. LOL as I am having a hard time identifying when the actual camper will crash into another vehicle and liability coverage would be needed but there it is.

To provide comp coverage under Geico you must "add a vehicle" to the coverage and Geico will then provide you with a separate quote.

 

[UncleDougie]

For years I had a AAA auto policy that supposedly covered the camper (excluding contents). However, every year I renewed there was always a question as to what physical damage coverage would apply to the camper. This year I switched to Progressive, which offers a totally separate policy for the camper so there is no question about the limits, etc. I haven’t had a claim with either company so I can’t speak to how that process would work, but I do like having the separate policy. It costs about $400/year with a $1k deductible on a $25k value. Expensive, but having the clarity is worth it for me.

Thanks for this info!

 

[deezlgeezr]

My insurer considers my '17 Hawk to be 'vehicle upgrades' such as fancy wheels or the like. I was required to show my bill of sale, and they used some 'table' to calculate 'value' and 'premium' for the camper, to be added to my truck's insurance. Small upcharge to my premium, $77 iirc.

My state does not require me to register or insure the camper, but for cross-country traveling I wanted to have insurance in case of other state requirements.

 

[Cbessler]

Mine through geico was really cheap. They added it as a second policy and was $10 per month. The main question was tho they weren't very familiar with the brand and said at any time I needed repairs or it was totalled etc they'd look up value in my region off an online platform. Looking at it was significantly under valued..

 

[vtarider65]

I am awaiting my new Hawk to be finished ( Oct ) I checked in with AAA Here in Ca. they roughly quoted me 1200 a year with the value of 46K on the camper , I might be looking for a different insurance Co.