When you live in one place, you normally have homeowner’s insurance that covers your physical dwelling, its contents, and your personal liability when someone is on your property. But when you live on the road, the idea of protecting your assets becomes a wee bit more complicated. And it brings up lots of questions. Will your auto insurance cover the trailer too? Can you add a rider to insure all of your stuff, or do you need a separate umbrella policy?
Of course, auto insurance will take care of any items with your tow vehicle. It also covers your Airstream - as long as it sits in your driveway and doesn’t really go anywhere. But the minute you take your rolling home out on the road, filled with all of your worldly possessions — you need separate coverage. Not surprisingly, considering the size of the population served, very few companies offer full-timer’s insurance -- but you can easily get quotes for the few that do through camping clubs like Good Sam and Escapees. Basically, full-timer’s insurance acts like mobile homeowner’s insurance:
The Airstream as your home: Covers your actual dwelling against theft, vandalism, natural disaster, and other major damage. That includes any “outside” structures that are attached to the trailer, like awnings and LP tanks. It also reimburses you for the cost of a hotel and other daily living expenses, should you need to vacate the trailer for an extended period of time for repairs.
The Airstream as a vehicle: Covers your trailer against driving accidents and breakdowns that require expensive repairs — this includes incidents that are your fault, problems caused by other drivers, and those “freak of nature” accidents that come up out of nowhere.
Your belongings: Insures not only the contents of your trailer, but also any other property you bring with you and store at your campsite — bicycles, generators, camp chairs, etc.
Liability items: Protects your interests when other people are on your “property,” which is defined as wherever you park and the interior of your trailer — while you may not be at all concerned about visiting friends suing you, it’s the guy you don’t know who cuts through your lot and trips over the grill that you're shielding yourself against in this very litigious society — this clause eliminates any need for a separate umbrella liability policy.
It’s actually a pretty good arrangement — everything you need rolled up into one policy. And your combined auto and full-timer’s insurance costs may end up costing no more than your homeowner’s insurance did — hard to complain about the price tag attached to peace of mind.
Great tips from Ramona here on insuring yourself and keeping yourself safe! That means you’ll get to enjoy the Live Riveted life without worrying about what’s around the next bend. Next time, we’ll share Ramona’s tips on one final thing in our “On the Road to Full-Time Airstreaming” series: Roadside Assistance! Can’t wait!
