I am not new to RVing but soon will be new to full time RVing. I am planning to sell the house and for at least two years RV full-time. My questions at this point deals with the planning for not having a permanent address, for up to two years. I understand there are services available that can provide mail receiving, and I'm interested in feedback on these services. The reason this is of concern is:My wife's health care is apparently tied to her home address...for example...if we stay where we are she stays with Covered Care CA...but since we won't be living in CA she won't get services in CA, somewhere else. But that somewhere else will not necessarily be in the state where my mail goes, right? If my mail is delivered to Wisconsin does that mean I get her coverage in Covered Care Wisconsin??? Even though I don't have plans to travel there???I can't be the only one worried about these fine points...I don't believe. I would appreciate having a conversation about this. Thanks!!! DavePS...my wife is interested in knowing if the Good Sam Club benefits include access to campgrounds or whatever the right term is that allow stays of one, two, or even three months around the country.

Perhaps the moderator will move this to Full time Rving.

Search out what states offer the best health care plans thet would fit your needs. FL, and TX are two popular states. Once you decide on a state, mail forewording companies are plentiful. All you need to is pick one that offers a street address instead of a box number. There is relatively little you need a physical address for. Drivers license, and vehicle registeration are the big ones. All your other bills can be online notification. Many people even set up auto pay so they never need worry.Getting out of CA you will probably find you can save thousands a month. Lower Insurance, medical, taxes will give you a hugh increase in monthly income.

What did I do?There is a store not far (About 60 miles from where I am this week, 7 next week) Called Postal Depot.. and in most every state there is a UPS store. and several other Mail-Box Stores (More on that in a moment) There is Escapees and if you have a motor home FMCA.. There is "Earth Mail" and My SD Address.All these are post office box stores.. that is they are stores where you can rent a post office box that is INSIDE the store.... Usually costs a bit more than renting one in a PO but many of them give you a street address instead of a box numberLike 1234 Main St #231 (NOT my address)I deposit money with 'em and then once a month (or more often if needed ) I call 'em up and they send me a car package.. General Delivery in some cases. Direct to the park in others.

South Dakota seems to be a popular spot with the full timers I've met. Apparently the requirements for domicile are rather lax there.I'd join the Escapees forums and find out what every else does and do that.

x-2 on escapees.And check their website for guidance on a lot of issues relating to domicile and mail.

What Do You Do Without A Permanent Mailing Address?

13 Replies

CharlesinGA
Explorer
Oct 18, 2017
Discussion about making Florida your residence and how to do it, and other info.

https://winnieviews.blogspot.com/2015/12/how-to-move-to-florida-in-1-hour.html

Charles
older_fossil
Explorer
Oct 17, 2017
We went through this just over two years ago. We sold our CA house and bought a class A to full time in. At that time we figured we'd establish domicile in Texas. But at that time the health insurance picture was rapidly getting difficult for full timers. You REALLY want a PPO that is part of a nationwide coverage network and not a regional HMO. If you are eligible for Medicare, then it is much easier. But my wife had two years to go for Medicare and was grandfathered on her CA based PPO with Anthem/BC. Our son still lives in CA, so we used his address as our domicile, and kept our vehicles registered in CA. Now that she is getting onto Medicare, we just established our domicile in South Dakota using Escapees Home for SD. We have our primary mailing address at Escapees Livingston, TX, and will keep that. We now have SD driver's licenses, and our new SD license plates will catch up with us next week (we'd already have them, but we ordered personalized plates).

Feel free to PM me if you have questions.
kerrlakeRoo
Explorer
Oct 17, 2017
daavewaard wrote:
Thanks all for those very helpful comments/suggestions. I have looked at the Escapees website and I can see why it was suggested.

On the points about registering vehicles and getting new drivers licenses...that means at some point I would drive to the selected state and do all the paperwork...that makes sense. What about insuring the vehicles? I assume rates are a function of mailing address so I would need a new policy using my new address, right?

Thanks so much! Dave

Dave, the biggest question is age. Are you or your wife required to use an ACA plan, or are you on either medicare or a retiree program.
As was mentioned previously , If you have to purchase a plan on one of the exchanges, then you have some shopping to do, and as Doxie mentioned Florida may be a preferred location. If you are a retiree, military, govt, major private plan (union, Railroad etc) Then you should be free to go anywhere without having to deal directly with it, Medicare as well.
You could also look at a specific state researching the ones that were expansion states under the ACA, I know some folks use Nevada for that reason.
State choice for domicile also affects other items. Vehicle registrations, and inspections, SD does not require smog or safety inspection, choose the wrong state you could have to return annually to complete the inspections. Taxes vary by state and some are very low or nothing, choose carefully after researching all the issues specific to your needs.
donn0128
Explorer II
Oct 17, 2017
Most insurance carriers sell in all 50 states. So it is probsbly a simple matter of finding an agent in your chosen state, walk in the door and sign up.
daavewaard
Explorer
Oct 17, 2017
Thanks all for those very helpful comments/suggestions. I have looked at the Escapees website and I can see why it was suggested.

On the points about registering vehicles and getting new drivers licenses...that means at some point I would drive to the selected state and do all the paperwork...that makes sense. What about insuring the vehicles? I assume rates are a function of mailing address so I would need a new policy using my new address, right?

Thanks so much! Dave
dahkota
Explorer
Oct 17, 2017
If your wife is planning on needing health care outside of California, and you don't want to pay for it out of pocket, make sure you get a PPO rather than an HMO. Most HMOs won't cover you out of state except in an emergency.

The best state for health insurance prices last year, that also allows one to have a PO box address, is Florida. The exchange offers PPOs and slightly better prices.

However, what ever state you choose, you need to establish residency. That includes registering your vehicles and getting new driver's licenses.

It may be the case, if you have any ties to California, that it is easier just to keep your residency there. Then you don't need to change your driver's licenses, registration, and health insurance. You can still, however, have a Florida, Texas, or any other state, mailing address. Your health insurance is not tied to your mailing address; it is tied to your residency. For our first year full timing, our residency was Maryland for health insurance reasons but our mailing address was in Florida.
bucky
Explorer II
Oct 17, 2017
If your wife's health care is tied in with a pension plan they would be the best ones to call. I can't imagine keeping a CA plan if you didn't need to.
How far away is medicare?
doxiemom11
Explorer II
Oct 17, 2017
South Dakota does not have any good health insurance plans for full-timers, that is why TX and FL were mentioned. Mail services usually give you a street address to use when it's required as well as the PMB (personal mail box) # for your mailing address. You would then use this address for everything including your taxes. After signing up with the mail service and changing your address you should then follow whatever steps are necessary for that state to become a resident, obtain the health insurance you need, license your vehicles etc. Most mail services have a program in place to assist you with all of this. You should be able to find multiple companies in each of the two mentioned states.
wanderingaimles
Explorer
Oct 16, 2017
x-2 on escapees.
And check their website for guidance on a lot of issues relating to domicile and mail.
jplante4
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2017
South Dakota seems to be a popular spot with the full timers I've met. Apparently the requirements for domicile are rather lax there.

I'd join the Escapees forums and find out what every else does and do that.