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.

[NJRVer]

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 have a business auto policy through State Farm and when i got rearended I went to Enterprise and rented a brandnew Ford F250 with tow hitch.
I have rental insurance in my policy and it is for a higher grade vehicle cost, not just an econobox.

[discovery4us]

Do you have a policy on the trailer or just using the van's policy to cover the trailer? I carry a policy on my cargo trailer that will return the trailer and contents back home in case of a catastrophic (or some such language) event. Memory is not that good but I think it includes up to 600 miles. It also covers theft, damage, and so forth when the trailer is traveling. Home owners covers it when it is parked in the back yard.

With out a policy on the trailer I don't think any insurer is going to help with moving the trailer. The insurer is only going to be concerned with what vehicle the policy was written for.

[Lew_Schiller]

4x4van wrote:
I, too, have State Farm for many years (7 vehicles and home), and have also noticed a customer service decline in the past 5-8 years when dealing with claims. My agent is no longer even involved in any part of a claim, only nameless/faceless employees. Had a car stolen about 2 years ago; have the same $25/day rental limits. Only rental available in the area was $29/day. I insisted that I wouldn't pay 1 dime extra. State Farm agreed to pay the $29. But of course, I wasn't in need of a large tow vehicle...not sure what the answer is.

Apparently there is no answer aside from "suck it up"

[4x4van]

I, too, have State Farm for many years (7 vehicles and home), and have also noticed a customer service decline in the past 5-8 years when dealing with claims. My agent is no longer even involved in any part of a claim, only nameless/faceless employees. Had a car stolen about 2 years ago; have the same $25/day rental limits. Only rental available in the area was $29/day. I insisted that I wouldn't pay 1 dime extra. State Farm agreed to pay the $29. But of course, I wasn't in need of a large tow vehicle...not sure what the answer is.

[llr]

one thought is to post your location and situation on a camping and see if someone would help. If someone had a situation like this near me and was not going too far I would pull it for them.

[Grit_dog]

I’d like to thank you for pointing this out. I didn’t and probably a lot of people haven’t considered what Plan B is if you wake up to no tow rig and a camper parked somewhere.
I won’t insure myself against every unlikely risk I may ever encounter though. We carry the big stuff, home, boat and auto with an umbrella.... and the camper, but only because the policy is dirt cheap and if the shop burns down, it’s staying put, can’t load a TC as quick as hooking a trailer to drag to safety (if you’re even around).
Wheelers, trailers, sleds, dirt bikes, supplemental medical policies, pet insurance etc. wWe don’t insure that stuff. Likelihood of theft or liability claims is low and I’m slowly going the route of self insuring for things I could readily pay cash for without denting the pocketbook.

[Lew_Schiller]

sayoung wrote:

Why didnt you just buy another vehicle since all you'll probably recover is maybe the body of that van.

Because on Thursday Morning January 11th we had no tow vehicle, had to be in Kansas City the following morning and had to be out of our hotel room. Some might be in a position to Uber over to the nearest Dealer of Choice and buy a new vehicle on the spot. I'm not part of that group. I needed the settlement to buy a replacement and I generally like to spend some time shopping for the right vehicle.

As for the stolen van - as I said earlier on - Common Wisdom from Dallas PD was that it was in Mexico before sunrise. There wouldn't be a recovery and there wasn't.

I understand that my policy had interim vehicle reimbursement limits. I had to live with them. My objection is philosophical. I came here asking if anybody had coverage that would provide what I needed. What you'll need if this happens to you. So far that seems to be no.

[sayoung]

Maybe you need a commercial policy since to me it seems you use the trailer for business.
Why didnt you just buy another vehicle since all you'll probably recover is maybe the body of that van.

[Lew_Schiller]

JoeH wrote:
Check you state insurance regulations. In Florida, the State regulations say that the replacement rental needs to be comparable to the vehicle being replaced. In my case the insurance company tried to give me a sub-compact Ford to replace my F-250 Superduty. When I took issue, they said take it or leave it. I then told them that the regulations said they needed to give me a comparable vehicle and I wanted a full sized pickup or I'd report to the state insurance commision. Well, they had me a new rental pickup truck in just a few minutes.

Was this your company or another - at fault driver - company?

[1995brave]

Lew Schiller wrote:

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?

Insurance company was GEICO (I was with them for 29 years before I dropped them because they kept increasing the rate even though I sold on of my vehicles). Rental car company was Enterprise.

[JoeH]

Check you state insurance regulations. In Florida, the State regulations say that the replacement rental needs to be comparable to the vehicle being replaced. In my case the insurance company tried to give me a sub-compact Ford to replace my F-250 Superduty. When I took issue, they said take it or leave it. I then told them that the regulations said they needed to give me a comparable vehicle and I wanted a full sized pickup or I'd report to the state insurance commision. Well, they had me a new rental pickup truck in just a few minutes.

[Lew_Schiller]

well unless somebody has a company that works differently I guess this has run its course.

The takeaway is:
If you're away from home towing a trailer and your tow vehicle is stolen you're in for significant grief. You might consider a review of your policies to determine what will happen in this event with regard to the vehicle..an interim vehicle..getting your trailer home..and the contents that may have been stolen along with the tow vehicle.
when this happens everybody involved has a Process which they get to employ..except you.

Lew

[beemerphile1]

SusanDallas wrote:

...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....

Reminds me of the expression; "You can't cheat an honest man".

[beemerphile1]

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.

Key difference is her insurance is required to make you whole.

When it is your own insurance they provide whatever is in your policy.

[Lew_Schiller]

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.

Well in my case I wasn't dealing with another at-fault person and their insurer. I was on my own with my company.
In a hurry wasn't quite the situation but I did want to get the heck out of Dallas before somebody stole my trailer as well. (see above)
That said, I did go around with State Farm Claims who just said...$25/day up to $750 (period).
There was no backing and forthing with Enterprise as while they do have pickup trucks and some can tow they don't do those on one way rentals.
It was all the people at U-Haul could do to get me into a truck. The reservation people who swore they were at the location not a call center assured me they had a 10' truck. When I got to the center they looked at me like I had two heads. They didn't have a 10' truck. Had no idea who told me they did. So they gave me a 15' truck for the same price. 5.6 MPG. Yay.