Insurance for your travel trailer: all you need to know
- Roulottes Lévesque
- Blogue
- Jan. 14, 2022
-
815views
The same way you’d never purchase a car or a house without having them protected by insurance, the same can be said for your RV, no matter if it is a tent trailer or a Class A motorhome.
However, rules are different when it comes to recreational vehicles. How can we insure it? Like a vehicle? A house? It is neither one nor the other. Most insurance companies have adapted insurance to fit RVs specifically. Ask your current insurance company!
Insurance for RVs: a whole new category!
Fully independent from other types of insurance, yet with many points in common, travel trailer insurance will allow you to hit the road with peace of mind, knowing that you –and others- are well protected.
But what are these protections? Are we insured the same way if we remain in the province of Quebec than if we leave for the United-States? What is the minimum protection? Is it mandatory? So many questions to which our specialists at Roulottes Lévesque give you answers.
Different types of protection
Public liability
On this topic, recreational vehicle insurance is not much different from passenger vehicles. In fact, the Automobile Insurance Act demands that RV owners take out a public liability insurance of a minimum of $ 50 000, even though protection for one million dollars is more appropriate.
This insurance covers material damages that could be caused to another vehicle by your RV, or to a building, as well as injury costs that would not be covered by the SAAQ.
However, if you travel often out of province and, more specifically, to the United-States, then we firmly recommend that you take a public liability insurance for a minimum of 2 million dollars.
- Material damages caused to others with your vehicle like, for example, a fence;
- Bodily injuries or bodily harms caused onto others and which costs will not be covered by the SAAQ or another insurer.
SAAQ Insurance
This insurance protects all Quebecers, whether they have their driving licenses or not, for bodily injuries caused by accidents on the road, not only when they occur within the province, but also elsewhere in the world.
This means that road-users –including drivers, cyclists and pedestrians- who have been injured by a vehicle during an accident, will be compensated by the SAAQ, no matter where the accident took place or who is responsible for the accident.
RV insurance
Numerous other protections are offered to recreational vehicle owners, as they are to passenger vehicles, like:
- Collision and turnover risk;
- All risks apart from collision and turnover risks (also known as fire-theft-vandalism-broken glass);
- Specific risks that do not cover fire and theft;
- Etc.
Optional coverage
Just as is the case for your vehicle, you can add additional protections to your RV insurance. Here are a few:
This insurance protects material goods and furniture in your RV or where your RV is set up. This way, you will not have to make a claim on your house insurance if you RV is robbed, vandalised or if damages to it or its equipment should occur.
In the event that your RV would be stolen or declared a total loss, your insurance company could reimburse you for the equivalent of your recreational vehicle purchase price plus a yearly percentage. In the same way, if your RV is only a partial loss, you will also be compensated without depreciation, which means that missing or damaged parts will be replaced by new parts, without taking into consideration the depreciation of your RV.
Have you been in an accident? This protection covers necessary fees for you to travel, eat, sleep and take possession of your vehicle, once it has been repaired, to bring it home.
If you need roadside assistance, a card like the one CAA-Quebec members have can prove very useful. Yet many insurance companies also offer a protection that allows you to be reimbursed for, for example, towing fees or flat tire fees.
This protection will allow you to retrieve your RV and have someone bring it home, if it has been in an accident or if it cannot be driven.
How much does it cost?
RV insurance varies considerably. A Class A motorhome will not cost the same to insure as a tent trailer would! Other factors also play into insurance costs:
- Do you use your RV part time or full time?
- How is your driving record?
- What will be your deductible?
- Will you add additional coverage?
This is why it is difficult to give you an exact price point. We can give you a ballpark: a Class A RV can cost around $ 2 000 or more to insure, while a smaller RV could cost as little as half of that amount.
It will be lower still for travel trailers and tent trailers, as you can see below:
- Insurance for a 2018 30 foot tent trailer with a $ 30 000 purchase price: $ 268/year
- Insurance for a 2018 30 foot travel trailer with a $ 30 000 purchase price: $ 463/year
Indicative prices for insurance for a travel trailer and a tent trailer in the province of Quebec, written in April 2021, source: https://hellosafe.ca/assurance-vr/assurance-roulotte#Combien_coute_une_assurance_roulotte_au_Quebec
Can you save on RV insurance?
Insurance for a travel trailer or RV varies considerably in price, depending on the type of vehicle you wish to insure as well as the level of protection you are looking for.
However, it is possible in many cases to save on insurance premiums. In fact, many insurance companies offer reductions for multivehicle insurance or vehicle-home insurance. Ask your insurance company to see if they offer these types of reductions.
Whatever RV you own and the type of coverage you are looking for, make sure you are subscribing to an insurance policy that is perfectly adapted to your needs!
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