Can’t insure full-time camper and truck

So, it comes down to you not having a land-based residence?

No need to tell them you are living in it. They will just be interested in what you were doing at the time of the accident if a claim is made.

The camper is your main or only house and you paid cash. It sounds like you own.

For bank loans a homeowner wants then a new camper can be considered a second house, and benefit from 2nd mortgage package.

We are assuming you paid a lot for your TC or you would not be insuring it.

Rent a room for $1 per year in someones house then you do not have to lie.

I'm just like you, bought bigfoot 10.4 and have the ram instead.

I was able to list parents place in southern oregon as an address, because that is my home base.

But I just logged on to be sure, and i have a Progressive Full Time Liability policy for the camper. I did have to prove my address in oregon as I'm moving from CA to OR.

The policy even insures a storage shed for personal property being stored.

So, could be state related, and for Progressive you will need a real address. Seems like the main thing is that I'll spend more time in OR and none in high-cost CA.

Full Timer's Personal Liability:
Includes:
Loss Assessment - $5,000
Medical Payments - $5,000 each person/$50,000 each accident
Storage Shed Contents - $5,000/$100 deductible $500,000 combined single limit $50.00
dave

mnih wrote:
None of this applies to those of you who’ve had your insurance for years - you all have your individual solutions and for the time being these are working.

But really, you never know insurance is actually working until you file a claim.

Furthermore, as was alluded to upthread but not made really clear, one of the things a fulltimer policy gets you is the liability coverage that a typical homeowner's or renter's policy includes. Using the suggestions here will not result in having that coverage. That's a risk someone might want to take, but they should know they're doing it.

In the case of my motorhome (I know I'm in the truck camper forum), the fulltimer liability portion is less than $100/year, so obviously the really high "true" fulltimer quote you got wasn't high just because of providing that coverage, and the other considerations you mentioned must affect the rate for truck campers.

Kayteg1 wrote:
Me and wife don't make accidents so I am buying liability only coverage.

Something I found out that surprised me is that if your vehicle is damaged by a hit and run driver who is never identified, it's your own collision coverage that covers it. Or, that's the way it is on my policy (not in a no-fault state--I don't know anything about those).

That surprised me, although I'll admit I'd never given it a lot of thought. I always associated collision coverage with protecting myself only from my own acts, but that's not the case.

work2much wrote:
I have never been at fault in an an accident in 38 years of driving and thus enjoy very low premiums but I am the first to realize I am not infallible. We don't have loans on our truck or camper but I really wouldn't want to repay for these things out of pocket in the event of an accident. The comprehensive part of the bill just isn't that high to take the risk. Maybe in 5 years or so...

I agree that comprehensive coverage isn't very expensive, but that doesn't cover anything in a wreck where you're at fault. Comprehensive is for damage not caused by another vehicle, like hail. Collision is what covers your car if you're at fault in a wreck, and it tends to be pretty expensive.

Kayteg1 wrote:
I wonder why so many members are touchy about camper insurance?
Are they buying on credit?
Sure when you have new $70,000 camper insurance is not bad, but when somebody hits you, you will get his insurance, when what are the chances you will damage your camper?
Me and wife don't make accidents so I am buying liability only coverage.
That saved me about cost of new truck over last 30 years.
So when I bought new truck, I had full insurance for only a year, what was a year of cross-continent trip and then I come down to liability only.
With no loan, no requirement for expensive insurance.

Because it's only $106 dollars a year as a rider on our truck. I have never been at fault in an an accident in 38 years of driving and thus enjoy very low premiums but I am the first to realize I am not infallible. We don't have loans on our truck or camper but I really wouldn't want to repay for these things out of pocket in the event of an accident. The comprehensive part of the bill just isn't that high to take the risk. Maybe in 5 years or so...

BTW we are insured through American National. By bundling all our insurance for houses, car, truck, camper, motorcycles and liability umbrella we save a ton.

I wonder why so many members are touchy about camper insurance?
Are they buying on credit?
Sure when you have new $70,000 camper insurance is not bad, but when somebody hits you, you will get his insurance, when what are the chances you will damage your camper?
Me and wife don't make accidents so I am buying liability only coverage.
That saved me about cost of new truck over last 30 years.
So when I bought new truck, I had full insurance for only a year, what was a year of cross-continent trip and then I come down to liability only.
With no loan, no requirement for expensive insurance.

It seems to me that if you have a unique mailbox location in South Dakota that you rent (and stay there from time to time as required by law to be a legal resident) the simple answer is "rent". That is not a lie. You have a physical address and location that you pay for every month.

I’m the OP and grateful for the advice here. My experience may be of some use to people considering full-timing in a TC. I retired last May, got a South Dakota mail service, address, and driver’s license, then travelled out of the country for the next seven months. I returned planning to buy a truck and camper, intending to pay cash, flew to a Ford dealer in Texas, lined up truck and camper, and that’s where there was a glitch in getting insurance.
I talked to two agents regularly recommended for fulltimers here. They each contacted their usual fulltiming-friendly companies, and came up dry with each one. At 65 I’ve never had an accident or moving violation, my credit score is about perfect, and I make a respectable income. The issue, repeated again and again, is that underwriters don’t want to cover a truck and camper unless you tow another vehicle behind you or have a permanent residence you would store the camper in for much of the year. It was a flat, unwavering, nonnegotiable no from all of them.
Much of the advice here was helpful, some of it from my point of view dangerous. I first considered what some posters suggested, getting a quote on the truck, then a separate one for the camper, without ever mentioning my situation or plans. I went to the majors online, got some very attractive offers for the truck, and almost went with them. The problem is that they all asked a “rent or own” question. Of course, I could lie, or tell myself my month-long Airbnbs around the world constituted renting. So I did some searching, “lying to an insurance company for a good rate”, and such. The results did not recommend this course of action to me, though others may have a higher tolerance of risk. The best advice I got was to go through Good Sam and Escapees. Went through an agent affiliated with Good Sam, told her everything about my plans, and got a rate on the truck and camper that was over double the earlier quotes, but on the level.
My advice to people doing what I just did. First, don’t expect that insurance company databases aren’t ever-more tightly linked. It wasn’t that long ago when it would have taken a merger or a migrating file clerk with a photographic memory to link two separate policies; soon, maybe even already, AI will sniff out such inconsistencies. You can be very seriously harmed by taking out a policy on false pretenses. Second, try to get your truck and camper before you retire. I planned to pay cash for both but failed to anticipate the insurance question. Third, it’ll be expensive, but go through Good Sam or someone like them. The industry has apparently convinced itself that fulltiming truck campers are riskier than fulltime motorhomes or trailers. You are going to pay them for that risk or take the (in my view) much riskier path of misleading them. None of this applies to those of you who’ve had your insurance for years - you all have your individual solutions and for the time being these are working. I don’t mean to criticize anyone here-you all know much more than I do. But as a newbie just going through the process I’d like to suggest that times are changing and may require some adaptation.

I can’t believe the amount of BAD advice in this thread, don’t lie to or mislead your insurance company!!!
As I stated before contact ForeMost insurance CUstomer Service # 800-527-3905, explain you are full time, and have a mailing address and get honest policy that you don’t need to worry about them deny coverage for misleading them.

Fishbreath wrote:

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:
:) Hi, do you have a home base? A home address? If not, they would know that you are full timing.

This was the problem that we ran into when we sold our house. We were not going to full time forever, but we were going to explore for a while to see where we wanted to live.
AAA would not insure us without a permanent residence. I was a little disappointed in them since we had house, car, boat and rv insured through them. After our initial inquiry with them, they were kind enough to send us a letter dropping our insurance within 30 days.

Good luck with your search.
Bill

Ya AAA was quick to drop my parents back in the day due to a large comp claim. Burned up 3 of 4 vehicles on the policy in a fire....
But ALL insurance companies are schisters or try to be if you end up costing them more than you’ve spent...
Regarding the permanent address thing, just use someone’s address that you know.
I’ve done that in the past and actually have a buddy using our address now because they just sold their home in Canada and are between residences currently but needed a WA address for registrations insurance banking etc since he’s getting transferred back to WA but currently doing 6 months in another state.
It’s not a big deal.

You will need some sort of “home base” to register your truck as well as do your taxes. There are some mailbox companies that will supply you with a unique mailing address. They can also forward your mail either hard copy or electronically . America’s Mailbox is one we have looked at. They make it pretty easy to establish residency, set up vehicle registration and even have a campground to satisfy the requirement to live in the state at least one night a year.

Here is the link. Americas Mailbox

Aside from helping you register your truck they can help get you insured. South Dakota insurance rates are pretty low. Also no State income tax. Pretty good place to call home when you travel full time.