RV52 - An RVing "Start Here" Button

An information resource for new or future RVers

  • How To
    • RV How To
    • RV LED Light Selection Guide
    • Power Converter Size Calculator
    • RV Air Conditioner Selection Guide – START HERE
    • RV Parts Database
  • RV University
    • Learn about RVs
    • What RV is Right for me? The FIRST RV Buying Guide based on Lifestyle
    • How to Sell your RV
    • Help me Sell My RV
    • Search for RVs to Rent
  • RV Parts Database
    • RV Parts Database
    • RV Fixing Articles & Stories
    • RV Lifestyle Articles & Stories
  • Cool SW Tools for Making RVing Better for YOU!
  • Blog/News

Nearly every link on RV52.com that goes to another site may provide RV52.com with a commission in some way. Learn more here.

RV Financial : RV Insurance Claim for an Awning

Last updated on September 4th, 2016 at 10:46 pm

August 25, 2010 by Marlan at Rv52 1 Comment


Shop at the stores you ALREADY shop at! Nothing new (except savings)
Click here for $10 on your first shopping trip by trying Rakuten (used to be eBates)
Risk Free!
RV Awning insurance claim - how did it go
RV Awning insurance claim – how did it go

If you are looking for rv insurance, or curious about the cost of an rv awning repair, then this article might be helpful.

Our rv awning was recently damaged by a very sudden, very brief, and very gusty little storm. We are staying the La Hacienda RV Park in Austin TX [ I’m going to do an updated video and make it much better than one I’ve linked, but for now… ].

It turns out that near Lake Travis winds can be very gusty. Maybe that is why at least one part of the lake is called Windy Point.

It is true that I have written several articles on securing the rv awning and had I actually secured my awning after we had retracted it recently instead of being lazy, we would still have an awning (and the $500 insurance deductible). But I’m out both and I’ll update you so you can learn from my experience.

First, here is a list of the articles I’ve written that explain to me that I know better:

  • Secure the awning the old fashioned way : Bring it in if you are not with it or your are going to leave even for 15 minutes.
  • Secure the rv awning using a Walmart RV Awning tie down kit.
  • Secure the awning correctly using your own awning tie down components. This is the best way if you are going to leave your awning out.
We insure with Geico (see my list of well known insurers for RV insurance).
First, what was damaged : The awning was flipped up onto the roof. The arms of the awning (which was made by Dometic and is a 12 foot awning) were bent and the fittings were either bent or broken off the RV. The awning itself, which is heavy bumped the air conditioning cover and knocked a hole it the cover. It also bent our radio antenna. The awning was also tugged from the RV itself so it would not be secure against water anymore.
What we did after the damage : We called TWO RV repair services. One came out after two days and pretended to care and told us he could do it for $200. Another came out when we called and he said it would be $1400.
Who did we pick to do the repair of our RV awning? We took the guy who cared even though his bill was going to be $1200 more. We believe that there is discrimination against travel trailer people – which is what our RV was at this time.
After we received an estimate we then called GEICO, our insurance company for our RV.
GEICO has a separate RV insurance department that runs seemingly independently from the rest of the company. However, they do combine our bills and provide a discount.
GEICO sent out an insurance adjuster within two days of us calling. The adjuster himself attends training regularly and is an expert in RV’s. He asked me to get the repair quote faxed to him which I did. He called me late in the day and told me that he ‘locked in the GEICO claim amount’ before he saw the quote.
It turns out the GEICO adjuster was $100 over the quote. But the long/short of it is that both the estimate AND the insurance company were within 8% of each other with no communications whatsoever.
GEICO then deducts the deductible from the total and sends the balance. It is as easy as can be.
Anyway, this is all a true story and is accurate as of August 2010 and it is about us and not just something I made up (like so much of what you find on the web).
Hope this helps! Cheers.

Shop at the stores you ALREADY shop at! Nothing new (except savings)
Click here for $10 on your first shopping trip by trying Rakuten (used to be eBates)
Risk Free!

Filed Under: About RVs, RV Lifestyle Tagged With: Awning, Financial

About Marlan at Rv52

Marlan blogs about living in an RV. Small space. Not a problem. Its all in your mind. Click on my author link to find out more about what RV52.com is all about.

Comments

  1. orlando awnings says

    October 17, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    Awesome! I think I will switch over to Geico. That seems like a very easy claim process. Our awnings are rather expensive, and i’d love to have extra protection.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Get RV52 Cool Articles in your email
  • Write for RV52
  • Contact RV52
  • Find Articles on RV52.com
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
  • Amazon, eBay and other links Disclosure
  • ABOUT

Copyright © 2021 · Enterprise Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in