Had my coach in for warranty work at a local RV repair facility. The shop completed the repairs and called this past Friday to say the work was done. Told the dealer I would be in on Tuesday to pick up the coach.Monday I received a call from Direct TV telling me that one of my DTV receivers had been recovered inside of a stolen vehicle and that I needed to call the local police. I checked my house and found that none of my boxes were missing. I then realized it must of come from the coach. Called the repair place and sure enough, someone had gotten inside and cut and removed all of my major electronic components including my Navron Coach Monitor, Satellite Dish controller etc. from the coach.The repair facility had placed the coach in their locked/fenced yard, and it was determined that the technician had not locked the door.My question is.... Who is responsible for paying for this? The repair facility seems to think its on my Insurance Company. Thoughts?

My thought is that you pay the insurance company for peace of mind and protection from loss. Refer the case to them and let THEM decide who is responsible.Matt B

In most cases, it is covered by your comprehensive portion of your vehicle policy. You may ask the dealer about helping with your deductible since their employee did make a mistake, either accidental or on purpose.

strudeau wrote:Had my coach in for warranty work at a local RV repair facility. The shop completed the repairs and called this past Friday to say the work was done. Told the dealer I would be in on Tuesday to pick up the coach.Monday I received a call from Direct TV telling me that one of my DTV receivers had been recovered inside of a stolen vehicle and that I needed to call the local police. I checked my house and found that none of my boxes were missing. I then realized it must of come from the coach. Called the repair place and sure enough, someone had gotten inside and cut and removed all of my major electronic components including my Navron Coach Monitor, Satellite Dish controller etc. from the coach.The repair facility had placed the coach in their locked/fenced yard, and it was determined that the technician had not locked the door.My question is.... Who is responsible for paying for this? The repair facility seems to think its on my Insurance Company. Thoughts?Obviously, the Dealer doesn't think they are responsible in any fashion, but as the above poster indicated, turn it over to your insurance carrier & let them decide.

The repair shop should have liability insurance to cover losses. But since it was a criminal activity that may be thrown into a different situation. You may have to pursue that with your insurance. You will just have to check those things out.

oldmattb wrote:My thought is that you pay the insurance company for peace of mind and protection from loss. Refer the case to them and let THEM decide who is responsible.Matt Bprecisely. in many states when the dealer accepted your vehicle for repairs and the associated temporary storage must exercise ordinary care for that vehicle. i'm sure the dealer has insurance to cover such losses but you'd be better served alerting your insurance agent and allowing he or she to handle this for you. be sure to check for damage caused by the break-in itself.

Theft from Coach while at Dealer | Good Sam Community

Jack_Diane_Free
Explorer
Nov 12, 2014
Agree just let your insurance handle it. I doubt they would subrogate for such a small claim.
JRandall
Explorer
Nov 12, 2014
Would not the insurance company then raise his rates because of the claim?
Terryallan
Explorer II
Nov 12, 2014
I agree. Let your insurance handle it. However. Putting the unit in a locked fenced area may be considered reasonable care.
msmith1199
Explorer II
Nov 12, 2014
I'm also a retired LEO and a former insurance adjuster and this is a good question as it's not a completely black and white answer here. Generally speaking the owner of the RV and his insurance is responsible for any loss like this. But the dealership leaving the door unlocked adds a twist to it. Does it make the dealership 100% responsible? Probably not. But I sure as heck would be asking them to at least pay my deductible. I'm sure the RV owners insurance will make an attempt to subrogate against the RV dealer insurance, but that is something that shouldn't concern the policy holder, unless the dealership refuses to pay the deductible. In that case your insurance company will also attempt to collect the deductible from the dealers insurance as well.
AllegroD
Nomad
Nov 12, 2014
msmith1199 wrote:

I'm also a retired LEO and a former insurance adjuster and this is a good question as it's not a completely black and white answer here. Generally speaking the owner of the RV and his insurance is responsible for any loss like this. But the dealership leaving the door unlocked adds a twist to it. Does it make the dealership 100% responsible? Probably not. But I sure as heck would be asking them to at least pay my deductible. I'm sure the RV owners insurance will make an attempt to subrogate against the RV dealer insurance, but that is something that shouldn't concern the policy holder, unless the dealership refuses to pay the deductible. In that case your insurance company will also attempt to collect the deductible from the dealers insurance as well.

This is a good answer. The twist also comes from the liability laws of the state. When we had our MH stolen off an RV Repair shop lot, the only security requirement in WA was to lock the door, which they had viseo of them doing. No fence/gate was required. We had to go through our insurance

In this case, I would think that the dealer would assist in making it right, as not locking the MH would add to their liability, for not properly securing.

Have you thought of calling the state AG, BBB or Insurance commission?
mockturtle
Explorer II
Nov 12, 2014
IMO, the importance of notifying the police is to possibly uncover what could be a pattern of thefts connected to this dealership. And it may even point to employee involvement. :(
JnJnKatiebug
Explorer
Nov 12, 2014
We have our homeowners, 2 cars and MH all bundled together. The rate is really good plus if we do not have a claim we get an $800 refund in January each year. If we file a claim we lose the no-claim refund for 3 years= $2,400. So if this were me it would cost me the $500 deductible plus the 3 year loss of refunds. I would be hounding the dealer to take care of it before I turned it over to my insurance. Your mileage may vary.
MRUSA
Explorer
Nov 12, 2014
JnJn, that is a strange insurance setup. Based on what you said, it seems more like a $2900 deductible than a $500 deductible.
rk911
Explorer
Nov 12, 2014
Terryallan wrote:
I agree. Let your insurance handle it. However. Putting the unit in a locked fenced area may be considered reasonable care.

'cept it wasn't locked.
down_home
Explorer II
Nov 12, 2014
If they don't carry Garage Keepers endorsement on their liability policy the Banks wouldn't let them have money.
Depending on local Laws it seems they would be responsible since it was in their care and "secured" except they forgot to secure or lock the door.
Your insurance may not necessarily pursue getting money, from their insurance.
Talk with your Claims Agents.

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