RV Insurance & Roadside Assistance
Dear Friends .... Hope that you'll, take the time, and be able to assist this Senior citizen with this matter? If it has been approached before, if you will, just tell me where to go? First time RV...
Forum Discussion
I think you may be confusing a couple different things. Roadside assistance is not the same coverage as what's usually called insurance (although technically it would be a form of insurance, I guess).
Insurance generally means, at a minimum, liability insurance as is required to drive on the public roads in nearly every state. Usually the motorhome policies also have collision and comprehensive coverage. This is more or less the same idea as these insurance policies for a car or truck: liability covers damage you cause to other people, cars, or property in the event of an accident; collision covers the value of your vehicle in an accident; and comprehensive covers various other unexpected calamities such as damage from lightning, tree limbs falling, etc.
Roadside assistance plans are like AAA coverage for cars--they mainly cover costs associated with breakdowns, such as tows or hiring someone to change a tire. Good Sam and Coach Net are the two main roadside assistance companies for RVs. (AAA in some areas also offers it, but as I understand it their coverage is often inferior in practice to the other two.) Some other groups also offer roadside assistance, often subcontracting the actual administration of the plan to one of these major providers. I personally happen to use AAA coverage, at least for now, as much because I like the other AAA benefits as anything (i.e. the maps, books, and discounts) and would have a lesser AAA plan regardless, making the additional cost for RV coverage an attractive deal despite their shortcomings.
You need insurance to drive your motorhome, and you can get it through any one of a variety of insurers. I happen to have mine through the same agency that I had my car and homeowner's insurance through. Roadside assistance is nice to have, and rather strongly recommended as towing a motorhome can get rather expensive, but not essential. A discount for new roadside assistance customers would not shock me. Some companies do offer both insurance and roadside assistance, but they aren't the same thing and usually can be obtained separately.
For insurance in particular it can pay to shop around sometimes.
Insurance generally means, at a minimum, liability insurance as is required to drive on the public roads in nearly every state. Usually the motorhome policies also have collision and comprehensive coverage. This is more or less the same idea as these insurance policies for a car or truck: liability covers damage you cause to other people, cars, or property in the event of an accident; collision covers the value of your vehicle in an accident; and comprehensive covers various other unexpected calamities such as damage from lightning, tree limbs falling, etc.
Roadside assistance plans are like AAA coverage for cars--they mainly cover costs associated with breakdowns, such as tows or hiring someone to change a tire. Good Sam and Coach Net are the two main roadside assistance companies for RVs. (AAA in some areas also offers it, but as I understand it their coverage is often inferior in practice to the other two.) Some other groups also offer roadside assistance, often subcontracting the actual administration of the plan to one of these major providers. I personally happen to use AAA coverage, at least for now, as much because I like the other AAA benefits as anything (i.e. the maps, books, and discounts) and would have a lesser AAA plan regardless, making the additional cost for RV coverage an attractive deal despite their shortcomings.
You need insurance to drive your motorhome, and you can get it through any one of a variety of insurers. I happen to have mine through the same agency that I had my car and homeowner's insurance through. Roadside assistance is nice to have, and rather strongly recommended as towing a motorhome can get rather expensive, but not essential. A discount for new roadside assistance customers would not shock me. Some companies do offer both insurance and roadside assistance, but they aren't the same thing and usually can be obtained separately.
For insurance in particular it can pay to shop around sometimes.
