RV Rental - Insurance Question

[brentp]

Thought I'd ask this here in case any other cruisers have experience in this. We are renting an RV in Anchorage after our Northbound cruise. Will spend 11 nights in Valdez, Telkeetna/Denali, and the Kenai area.

 

In digging through all the fine print, I realize that renting an RV is not like renting a car. The RV company basically adds us to their insurance policy for the rental, and it has a $2500. deductible for both collision and comprehensive (this is good, more than what a car rental place would offer). However, the deductible is quite high, so I looked into how the 'gap' might be covered.

 

- My current car policy does not extend to a rental RV, only rental cars.

- Credit Cards do not cover RV rentals, only rental cars.

- Non of the travel insurance options offer coverage for RV Rentals, only rental cars.

- The RV Rental place offers a CDW, but at $35./day to reduce collision deductible to $250. (and zeros comp).

- There is no third party RV Rental policies for the gap available that I can find.

 

FWIW - some big insurance companies will extend an auto policy to a rented RV provided you get a binder from them. Some do this for free, others at a cost. Mine does neither.

 

So, $385. to buy the rental companies CDW (for 11 days), and still face a $250. deductible. That is $635. out of pocket for the first event, where the cap would have been $2500. without buying it.

 

Has anybody else gone through this and found a simple way just to cover the $2500 deductible? Interestingly, it use to be $1000. a few years ago, but I heard they were not selling the CDW with that so they raised it. :(

 

Right now, I think my only options are to:

 

- Self-Insure the deductible and hope for the best.

- Pay the CDW, and still have to pony up a deductible if an event(s) occurs.

- Switch home auto policy to one of the folks that will extend to a rental RV (might be more trouble than it is worth).

Edited February 17, 2015 by brentp

[mapleleaves]

you might want to ask this question on tripdvisor .... that forum is more geared towards land travel, especially independent travel.

 

I don't know who you're renting from, but I've rented from Great Alaska Holidays twice. Liability was included in the rental charge. I paid extra for the CDW. Don't remember what it was, maybe $12 a day ??? with a $250 deductible.

On my first trip I clipped a utility post in our campsite so I was glad for the insurance. The 2nd trip was accident free but 'I still bought the CDW.

[mapleleaves]

BTW, my 2 RV trips were fantastic!! Alaska is perfect for RV'g. On the first trip I had reservations for Talkeetna and Denali. The 2nd trip, just for Denali. We had a general itinerary but nothing set in stone. So we just drove around and when we were ready to stop for the night, we stopped. We stayed at State or Forest Service campgrounds for the most part as they were much cheaper, then every 3 or 4 days we'd stay at a private site with full hookups. e sure to get a Milepost ... a valuable resource for a road trip. You can buy old editions on amazon for $7/$8. Old editions work just fine.

[brentp]

you might want to ask this question on tripdvisor .... that forum is more geared towards land travel, especially independent travel.

 

I don't know who you're renting from, but I've rented from Great Alaska Holidays twice. Liability was included in the rental charge. I paid extra for the CDW. Don't remember what it was, maybe $12 a day ??? with a $250 deductible.

On my first trip I clipped a utility post in our campsite so I was glad for the insurance. The 2nd trip was accident free but 'I still bought the CDW.

 

Thanks for the quick response and sharing your experiences in doing this and with GAH, this is the company we are using. Just curious did you have any issues with them when the pole got too close? :(

Edited February 17, 2015 by brentp

[mapleleaves]

GAH is really a top notch, professional outfit. They were great to work with from beginning to end. The RV's were spotless, well maintained and well stocked. I highly recommend them!

As for the 'incident'... they couldn't have been nicer. In hindsight I should have complained to the campground. The pole was covered in a vine so it looked more like a skinny bush than a utility post. Oh well. I called GAH right away to advise them of the accident. Since we were driving thru Anc on our way to Seward in a week, they suggested I stop by. They ended up doing a temp fix because they were concerned that rain might get into the RV at the seam. The damage was where the back panel and side panel meet. The Mgr told us some wild stories about the damage he has seen.

If you have any questions, ask away. As I said .... an RV is a great way to see Alaska. I love scenic driving so it was ideal for me.

[Budget Queen]

In the past, I have posted to verify auto insurance policies with RV rentals, as many people make some wrong assumptions what is covered. I have rented from both the major companies out of Anchorage, and made sure I was covered. I did have one claim.

 

I will say, both companies did a fine tuned inspection and won't hesitate to find damages.

 

An RV is especially vulnerable to damage and more so with inexperienced drivers.

[PNW Traveler]

There is an excellent book for RVing in Alaska - Alaskan Camping by Mike and Terri Church. It is available in bookstores and on Amazon. This guide has a comprehensive section on renting an RV, logistics, recommendations, insurance, and answers many frequently asked questions. The authors also have a website http://www.rollinghomes.com

The authors have been traveling to Alaska for over twenty years. I haven't found a better source for RVing in Alaska.

We use their Pacific Northwest book for camping close to home (near Seattle.)

[brentp]

Thank you all. Very good information.

 

Yes, we are looking forward to this trip very much, southeast AK by cruise, then the towns/cities mentioned above at our leisure in an RV.

 

The only thing we have firm right now, beside the cruise, RV & flights, is a flight seeing trip out of Talkeetna to see Denali from the air (with glacial landing). That trip can also be rescheduled to a later date (including for weather if Denali isn't 'out'), so it should work out well.

 

The other things, we have soft plans and will simply book when we get there to allow us to be flexible. Also built in a few spare days, to allow for adjustments. One nice thing about being there the first half of June is it shouldn't be too busy yet. As Mapleleaves said, this is one of the nice thing of touring with an RV. BTW - our 'plans' are very similar to how you described your trips.

Edited February 20, 2015 by brentp

[greatam]

I send employees to Alaska every summer for fish shipping season. They are stationed in every major fish shipping area. Most of the time, they drive our company owned travel trailers from the lower 48. But once in a while, I have to rent. My guys are professional truck drivers so I don't have the normal worries about low hanging branches, low overhangs, clipping the back end by taking a corner too sharp or any of those other various things that happen to large vehicles. BUT broken windshields and rock dings are just a fact of life in Alaska.

 

So protect yourself with the CDW. A windshield replace in Alaska for an RV can easily be $800-1000. Everything in Alaska has to be brought in via road or barge. So the price can be really high for repairs due to the transportation costs to get parts.

 

Even though we have commercial insurance that would cover a rented RV, I still buy the CDW if I have to rent an RV. Our commercial insurance would go up a LOT more than the cost of the CDW and small deductible if there was a claim.

 

Just a funny story-PAY ATTENTION to low overhangs. And DO NOT go through the drive up window. Someone did that about 7 years ago in Homer at Mickey D's. Ripped the entire drive through apart and tore up the area where you pay and get your food. Not only did Mickey D's get money for the repairs but for all the money they lost by not having the drive up window open for almost a week. Pretty costly OOPS!!! There is now an even LARGER sign-NO VEHICLES OVER 7'. NO RV'S.

 

Enjoy!!!