Ask the Expert: Even insurance agents need insurance!

My wife and I spent our honeymoon in a Dutchmen Express—a 23-footer—on a 6-week cross-country trip. It was sort of a crash course in starting our life together as a married couple, but it was a lot of fun! We both lived in Florida at the time, and we were on a mission—to find a new state to start our life together.

What surprised us both was how much the RV community helps and looks out for one another. We were amazed when campgrounds would do everything they could to get us a spot for the night—even when we occasionally didn’t have a reservation. I remember one time when our RV wouldn’t go into reverse, a group jumped up from their campfire and came to our rescue. Just about everywhere we went we made new friends with fellow RVers. It’s the same camaraderie shared by motorcyclists and boaters. Everyone waves!

One thing we discovered by accident was that not all RV insurers are created equal. We learned that the hard way when our unoccupied and parked rig got side-swiped by an errant driver. The driver’s insurance company delayed processing of our claim for three weeks. Meanwhile, we were getting notices from the local police to “move it.” The insurer wouldn’t classify it as repairable or totaled, so we were in difficult position. In the end, we had AAA tow it, and it was later determined to be a total loss.

Since then, we’ve upgraded to a travel trailer and are planning on doing some boondocking in the Nevada desert. Fortunately, AAA has us covered should anything go wrong with our new toy.