Insurance question - Stolen tow vehicle

[Lew_Schiller]

This might not be the right forum - please advise if so.
I tow a cargo trailer to shows and events, so not a camper but the issue is the same.

A month ago while in Dallas my van was stolen from a hotel parking lot. My trailer was detached and wasn't taken - Thank God. This left me 800 miles from home with no way to get the trailer and myself back home. I ended up having to get a U-Haul truck, which cost +- $850 for the one way rental.
My insurance provider - State Farm - pays $25/day up to $750 for an interim vehicle, so if you need a Hyundai Sonata you're good to go. If you need something that can tow you're not. I received $137.50 reimbursement for the 5.5 day rental. Yay.

I was talking about it with my insurance agent trying to find out what coverage I should have had. Apparently nothing they offer. There's an upgrade replacement vehicle policy but it,too, is per day. So if you don't need an inexpensive sedan for 30 days but you do need a relatively expensive rental for 10 or 15 during the period between theft and Total Loss Settlement you still lose. He said my situation was unique. I pointed out that had I been pulling a camper it would be the same.

So....what coverage do you have that would address this situation without having to eat the over 700 unreimbursed dollars that I had to spend to get home.

[JAC1982]

1995brave wrote:
When I had my accident (lady hit me) I told her insurance I needed a large vehicle to get around. They showed up to the repair center with a 2017 RAM 1500 4x4 with tow package. Price from rental company was $47 per day, insurance only wanted to do $39 per day. Rental company agreed to the $39 per day the insurance company was paying. Only cost me the price of gas.

I had this same experience with my Explorer. It had to get some body work done due to a fender bender that was the other person's fault, in winter, so I said that I required a comparable rental vehicle. This cost quite a bit more than what the other person's insurance wanted to pay, but I let them and the rental company hash it out. In the end, I think the rental company (Enterprise), and the other person's insurance (Grange) met somewhere in the middle, and I ended up with zero out of pocket to get a loaded GMC Acadia for 2 weeks.

I think the key here was to get it hashed out before I took possession of the rental vehicle. I know OP was in more of a hurry though, so maybe that wasn't possible.

[SusanDallas]

Re: Dallas
I live just south of Dallas. I hate to say this, but I would be very cautious of staying anywhere around Dallas. I won't go anywhere in Dallas after dark because of the crime.

I have some friends that came down from Lubbock, Texas for a little league game this past year. They were looking forward to a fun weekend. They stayed at a hotel and went out to eat after the game. When they came out of the restaurant, two of the tires and rims had been stolen off their pickup.

Trailers and tires being stolen are a daily occurrence. So are road rage shootings. Do not honk at someone while driving if you value your life.

I live in a rural area that used to be like living in Mayberry on the Andy Griffith show. Several of my neighbors shoot off guns in their front yards. This summer, I was watering plants in my back yard when a bullet whizzed past my ear and slammed into the side of my house. I saw 3 kids with a gun run from the property next to mine. The oldest kid looked about 14 years old and the other two looked about 10 years old.

I called the county sheriff but there was not much they could do. The kids were long gone. The sheriff thought the kids had been shooting and hit large rocks on the property and the bullet had ricocheted. Shooting a gun on your own property in Texas is legal and to hell with everyone's safety.

If you want to visit Dallas, you would be safer staying somewhere outside the Arlington, Irving and Dallas area.

One more thing to be aware of is the scam involving the towing companies working the West End area in Dallas. This area is downtown and includes the JFK museum and a lot of popular restaurants. I was taking a friend that was visiting me out to lunch several years ago. All the parking at the restaurants is around $5 a day. You park and then go to a kiosk that works like an ATM. You put in your money and it dispenses a ticket to put on your windshield. You can park anywhere.

After we parked, we were heading to the kiosk to pay when a decent looking couple in a car drove up. They told us that they were just leaving and told us we could have their ticket since it was still good for the rest of the day. I was kind of worried about using it but my friend talked me into using the ticket since there was no way of proving who purchased it.

After eating our meal and returning to my car, we found the wheels on my car had been booted. It cost me $85 to get them removed.

The next year, I went to eat downtown with my cousin. We were approached by another couple with two young kids in their car. Again, they offered us their ticket and said they were just leaving. I told them no and I was aware of their scam. This has happened to me four times in the West End area of Dallas. I did report it to the city of Dallas but it hasn't put a stop to it. This is terrible since it is a popular tourist area.

I love Texas but living around Dallas has become a nightmare. If it was feasible for me to sell my houses and acreage, I would move.

[Lew_Schiller]

1995brave wrote:
When I had my accident (lady hit me) I told her insurance I needed a large vehicle to get around. They showed up to the repair center with a 2017 RAM 1500 4x4 with tow package. Price from rental company was $47 per day, insurance only wanted to do $39 per day. Rental company agreed to the $39 per day the insurance company was paying. Only cost me the price of gas.

That's a winner - who was the insurance company?

[1995brave]

When I had my accident (lady hit me) I told her insurance I needed a large vehicle to get around. They showed up to the repair center with a 2017 RAM 1500 4x4 with tow package. Price from rental company was $47 per day, insurance only wanted to do $39 per day. Rental company agreed to the $39 per day the insurance company was paying. Only cost me the price of gas.

[Lew_Schiller]

BB_TX wrote:
Surprising on your experience with State Farm. We have had them for home, vehicle, and RV for many, many years. And multiple claims over the years. And never a problem filing claims, having phone contact with them, and claim resolution quickly and to our satisfaction. Recently caught the rear cap of my 5er on a steel column due to tail swing on a tight turn. Major damage. Called SF, gave incident info, they told me take it to repair facility of my choice. Repair facility worked estimate, they called SF, got immediate approval, and completed $14,000 in repairs in less than 3 weeks. Cost me $500 deductible. Similar experience on all previous claims, and there have been many. DW has dinged her vehicle a number of times.

Yes...We've been with SF since 1991. We've had minor vehicle damage - a totaled Voyager Mini Van - a (questionably) chargable parking lot incident resulting in damage to ours and the others - and a Home Owners Claim 8 years ago for inadvertent damage to our neighbors house.
All of these were handled quickly and efficiently to our immense satisfaction. This though was not. I felt as though I was working with a different company than that which I'd experienced over the years.
Possibly because it wasn't run of the mill accident damage...possibly because of the change in internal policy which enjoins ones agent from involvement with the claims process. I might as well have been dealing with Flo - not my agent of 27 years.

The significant issues were:
1: Communication was terrible. I had to chase them down on every issue. At one point Claims sent me on a snipe hunt because "the police report isn't on the National Stolen Vehicle Database" and I was supposedly the only person who could rectify that. After 2 hours on the phone from a remote venue location I found that it was in fact on said database - by VIN number. The Report Number isn't part of that. and that Police Departments aren't allowed to give "Public" the NICS number - State Farm would have to contact them for that. Had SF never been down this road?
2: The reimbursement for interim vehicle issue is my bugaboo. No policy would have helped but that doesn't stop my blood from boiling. Why will they pay $750 for a month of a sedan but not $750 against my 15 days of more costly vehicle rental? Because policy language that's why.
3: Contents covered by Homeowners. Again - no policy from them would have been different.
4: Not a shred of assistance due to circumstance. Here in Metro Denver they make a great show of their Roadside Assistance trucks that will help anybody and everybody. Swell. Me? I got the Call Center Equivalent of "talk to us in 20 days". The "Specialist" that the first line call taker put me over to began with irritation wanting to know why I was talking to her.

It's as if my Good Neighbor moved out overnight and was replaced by surly teenagers.

[BB_TX]

Surprising on your experience with State Farm. We have had them for home, vehicle, and RV for many, many years. And multiple claims over the years. And never a problem filing claims, having phone contact with them, and claim resolution quickly and to our satisfaction. Recently caught the rear cap of my 5er on a steel column due to tail swing on a tight turn. Major damage. Called SF, gave incident info, they told me take it to repair facility of my choice. Repair facility worked estimate, they called SF, got immediate approval, and completed $14,000 in repairs in less than 3 weeks. Cost me $500 deductible. Similar experience on all previous claims, and there have been many. DW has dinged her vehicle a number of times.

They also paid well for a break-in and theft in a storage building a few years ago. But haver never had a stolen vehicle.

[Lew_Schiller]

skipro3 wrote:
For that price, I would have contracted to have the trailer delivered with a trucking/shipping/transport company. My best guess is maybe $400 to move it. Any company that can transport a car should be able to handle a trailer. I once bought a 22' pontoon boat with tandem axle trailer of eBay in El Paso, TX and had it shipped to Sacramento, CA for $400.

****EDIT****
42 cents a mile for 1,000+ miles.

That approach isn't viable.
If I shipped the trailer how do my wife and I get home along with everything we had in the hotel room? Can't fly with all that and in any event air fare would be around $500 for last minute one way tickets for two - plus Air Fare isn't covered at all.
Can't rent a $25 car - those aren't one way rates.

I'm gathering that nobody here has coverage that's any better than mine in the event the tow vehicle is stolen away from home which is why I posed the question. To find out if I should be looking elsewhere and as a cautionary tale.

[Lew_Schiller]

GordonThree wrote:
Shows and events would imply commercial use. Maybe worth looking into business liability / continuity insurance, rather than looking at it as an automotive issue?

Those insurance policies don't cover vehicle issues.

Then - when you shop those insurances and you're not a B&M business it becomes a very different underwriting issue. Interruption for example.
"So you go to events and sell your products?" Right and I'm looking for insurance that will cover us if the event is cancelled due to weather or other disruption. "We'll get back to you"

[GordonThree]

Shows and events would imply commercial use. Maybe worth looking into business liability / continuity insurance, rather than looking at it as an automotive issue?

[Lew_Schiller]

Ozlander wrote:
Cheeep insurance is not always cheap.

Well I'm not sure what you mean by cheap. I didn't think my premiums were cheap by any means. As I said originally, State Farm doesn't offer any coverage that reimburses an interim vehicle other than x/day with x no more than $40 if you buy an upgraded 80/20 rider that has a $1,500 cap. As for the contents...there is no alternative within their policies to Homeowners covers contents...things attached to the vehicle are covered under Comprehensive.
The reason I came here and post this question is to see if there are alternatives.

[Ozlander]

Cheeep insurance is not always cheap.

[Lew_Schiller]

wa8yxm wrote:

What would I suggest in your case:
Well. Get with State Farm, get the check and go to AutoTrader or some other web site and find a new tow vehicle.. you are going to have to anyway..

Yes...a good deal of barn door locking is in order.
I had a much needed early morning chuckle over the idea that there was a State Farm Check to be had, unless you were thinking in terms of the aftermath, not sitting in a hotel room at 8 AM trying to come to grips with what to do. Oh - by the way - Quality Inn Management stepped right up to help. Nah..just kidding..they gave us till noon to get out or be charged another night.

As for the State Farm Check, as I said up top it's 20 days before they even discuss value and Total Loss settlement. They allow 20 for possible recovery. Then you have to go a round or two with Total Loss to arrive at a value. My vehicle was older - in exceptionally good condition. The recently rebuilt transmission will, I'm sure, serve the new (thief) owner well.

Pro Tip: State Farm wants you to deal with them online. Thing is though, when you send in things like rental receipts for reimbursement via email nobody will look at them until you call and inquire about said reimbursement. Then the person on the other end will go away, find the documents, verify things and authorize what they'll pay. Do not think they'll call you. They never call you. Nothing happens until you call them. In fact one person told me that they work email items when there's down time between calls - and there's never down time between calls.

[Lew_Schiller]

mobeewan wrote:

skipro3 wrote:

It took you 5 and a half days to drive 800 miles? What's that all about?

The OP uses the trailer for shows and events. They may have been at there location needing a vehicle to use around town during the event for hotel, dining, etc. They may have had other events on the road home. Maybe they hung around Dallas a few days hoping the police would find their vehicle. But why would it matter how long they took to get home anyway?

Yes, We had another stop to make in Kansas City. The rental rate included the 5 days so the cost was the same whether we drove straight home or not.
Dallas Police were the most cordial people in this whole deal. That said Common Wisdom was that it was in Mexico before sunrise.

Haven't even touched on the contents issue. Yes, I let my guard down and didn't bring everything that was in the van into the hotel room.

The business contents weren't covered and I knew that. Personal contents were covered...under our Homeowners policy which has Replacement Value Coverage. Awesome! I imagine it's the same for you in an RV.

The deductible there, though, is 1/2% of the policy value so in this case $2,100. Well we lost +-$2,500 so I could have seen maybe $400 if, that is, I could verify what was in the vehicle. Photos? Receipts? Do you have a receipt for that tablet you bought on Craigslist last year? No? Gosh that's a shame.

The beauty of covering vehicle contents this way is that you're pretty much guaranteed to not file a claim. High deductible aside there's the "Claim Ding". 3 claims in 8 years and you're dropped. You have to remember that if you file a claim and it's denied..it's still a claim ding. Among other things we live where a hail storm can cost you a roof. So for +-$400 you let it go. Score one for State Farm!

[wa8yxm]

The answer depends in part on how you live and what you live in.

I drive a class A towing a car so the standard "Stolen auto" policy works for me. but what about the "A".. Well the insurance on it is a higher grade.

What happens if I'm out and about in the puppy (The car follows the motor home around like a puppy don't you know, or like a baby elephant (nose to tail). and some semi runs a red light and that's all folks.

Wel MASA (Medical Air Services Assn) drives the Motor home home for me (I need to set that up by the way right now it goes to my brother's home I think) and flys my remains back to where I'm going.


What would I suggest in your case:

Well. Gewt with SAtate Farm, get the check and go to AutoTrader or some other web site and find a new tow vehicle.. you are going to have to anyway..

Second. Equip tow vehicle with one of the following
Ford: On-Guard (if you buy new this may be an option, or incuded)
Chevy: On-Star (Likewise)
other makes.. often offer one or the other.

Not an option: go with a Mobly device like T-Mobile Sync up and drive or Verizon's device.
What is this: 1: A cellular hotspot (basically useless in the case of th T-mobile one. I undewrstand the AT&T one is better More on that in a bit, Don't know much about the Verixon one

A Engine Control Computer monitor,, reports error codes to your phone.

And a VEHICLE TRACKER.. GPS tracking reported to the phone

So you will always knwo where it isk Plugs into OBD II but I fear thieves may know enough to unplug it .

The issu3es I have with the thing
1: hot spot: The T-mobile app lets me keep it on for up to 10 minutes after I turn off the car.. NOT all the time, if it was all the time I could really use it

The Engine monitor is one way. I can not clear error codes as I can with my other OBD-II and the ZTE Mobly will not talk to TORQUE app on my phone (like the other adapter does)

So once it's paid for it goes by by in my case. Will go with another OBD-II to blue tooth.

[mobeewan]

skipro3 wrote:

It took you 5 and a half days to drive 800 miles? What's that all about?

The OP uses the trailer for shows and events. They may have been at there location needing a vehicle to use around town during the event for hotel, dining, etc. They may have had other events on the road home. Maybe they hung around Dallas a few days hoping the police would find their vehicle. But why would it matter how long they took to get home anyway?