GMAC Insurance and "RV Storage" feature

[meant2shop]

Hi all: Since I presently have the need to "vent", thought I'd run this scenario by you RV-types, get your feedback, and see if anyone else has had this experience with Good Sam/GMAC RV insurance.


After getting recommendations for RV insurance on irv2.com (we have a Class A 2000 Fleetwood Pace Arrow Vision 36B), we decided to get our RV insured with GMAC and commenced the policy in Aug '11 (we are Good Sam members, too). We paid the entire 12 month premium up front ($477), since the agent said our rate our be locked, with no additional premium increase during the 12 month period. The premium was competitive plus they offered the feature of putting your RV in "storage", for 30 days or more, and we were told we would not have to pay the premium during the month(s) the RV was in storage.


I called GMAC and had them put our RV in storage starting on 1 Dec 2011. I emailed them again on 1 Feb 2012 and asked them to take our RV out of "storage", so the RV was in storage for 2 months total. Soon after, I received paperwork in the mail. That's when the "issues" surfaced.


Putting the RV in "storage" status for the months you don't intend to use it "supposedly" saves you money and "supposedly" you receive a refund for the months you don't use the RV. The Liability and Collision coverage are suspended/dropped until you advised GMAC to take the vehicle "out of storage". The Comprehensive remains in effect.


We received a check from GMAC for $87.00 soon after putting the RV into "storage". We assumed this was a refund for the period of time the RV would be in storage, although I did wonder how they knew how long it would be in storage since I didn't recall telling them that. Now I find out that the $87.00 refund we received was the refund of the Liability and Comp for the remainder of the policy, not for the just the 2 months of storage.


The GMAC paperwork we received this week, as a follow on to taking our RV out of storage, amended our policy and said we owed $102.00 by Feb 20th - this has since been adjusted to $80.00 through 4 phones calls this week to GMAC customer service. I called GMAC and asked why we owed $102.00 when we paid our policy in full back in Aug '11 and didn't expect any rate increase until the policy was up for renewal (and that's not a "given"). I was told by GMAC customer svc that when we put the RV in storage, the Comprehensive Coverage premium increased because their Underwriting has determined that a vehicle is more "vulnerable" when it's in "storage". Our RV is always parked on our property, both in and out of "storage" so the "vulnerability" remains the same.


We were also advised that the $87.00 refund we received after putting the RV in storage, was the refund for the Collision and Liability coverage for the remainder of the policy - as GMAC, assumes when you ask to put your RV in "storage", it will remain "in storage" for the remainder of your policy (this was never relayed to us and was not our intention), so they refunded the Collision and Liability for the remaining 8 months or so of our policy period.


The paperwork also indicates our annual premium would be $547.00 - a $70.00 increase from the $477.00 we paid back in August '11. This, as was explained to me by GMAC, is because GMAC applied for and got a rate increase approved for Oregon (where we reside). I believe GMAC views our RV as being Out of Storage, and since the remaining months of Collision & Liability coverage were, in essense, "cancelled" and the premium for them refunded ($87.00), they can now reflect the rate increase in our amended policy - even though the policy we took out in Aug '11 is still in effect until Aug '12.


Customer service has now filed a customer complaint regarding the premium increase that is reflected on the amended policy declaration page we received as our premium was supposed to be "locked" for the 12 month period our policy is in effect.



So my questions to GMAC were: A) We were told we "locked" in our policy premium for the next 12 months, so why are we being asked for additional money because of the increase in Comp premium while the RV was in storage; plus why wasn't this info passed along to us when we requested the "storage" to begin on 1 Dec '11? If we'd been aware of the increase in Comp premium, we wouldn't have put the RV in storage at all and wouldn't have received any notice of premium change.

Given their "rules" for "storage", it doesn't save the policyholder any money, costs the company in paperwork preparation and customer service calls/complaints like mine - there doesn't seem to be any reason for offering the "storage" feature - except it gives GMAC the leeway to get more money through "premium increases" from the policyholder, saying the increase occurred during the time the RV was in "storage".


B} What's the benefit of offerring the customer the RV storage feature at all, if it results in a refund of the remaining months of your Liability and Comp. and then you have to pay it back to GMAC if you don't keep your vehicle in storage for the remainder of the policy?


Our guess is that most RVrs just put their RV in "storage" just during some winter months or during the Xmas holidays when they know they won't be using it - then when the weather warms up, they take the RV out of "storage" and get it ready for spring/summer/fall trips, etc.


Needless to say, we are not happy with GMAC - plus I think they've outsourced overseas, as it was a poor connection each time I called customer service, calls "dropped a couple of times, and everyone I spoke to had a distinct accent making it a bit more difficult to understand and to get my point across.


Has anyone else shared a similar experience with GMAC?


Thanks for letting me vent and ramble........


Susan
Merlin, OR

[George Schweikle]

Susan,

Very interesting information. I have GMAC through FMCA, and service has been good. I had thought about changing coverage to storage only during the winter, but will certainly hold off on this pending further comments on this thread.

[boweavel]

sorry about your conflict with GMAC. i have mine with Nationwide here in Va and put my mh in storage on my property and they suspend my liability and collision for any length of time that i desire. i need to suspend my tags thru the dmv but that all that takes is a phone call. good luck with GMAC

[Tha_Rooster]

If a unit is financed it would not be smart to drop coverage. In Georgia if you drop liability you turn in your tag. I know a lot of people do it but it seems to be a lot of trouble and possible problems like you did for $87.00.

[SarahW]

We have Allstate insurance and they tell us that we can change our coverage as often as we like (storage/full coverage/etc). So far we haven't done so, primarily because I'm afraid I might forget to REINSTATE full coverage sometime and get myself into trouble. Hope it works out for you with GMAC.

[Mr_D]

Be glad you don't have Progressive:

We had Progressive, no claims, and about three years of reducing deductibles. Had a rock break the windshield of the Jeep. Found a local outfit that would replace it for $154 in my driveway. Called Progressive to find out how much it would cost going through them. They ABSOLUTELY refused to give me any information till I said (as coached) "that I want to file a claim". The quote was almost $400. I told them to cancel the claim (as they said I could). What they didn't say was that I lost the reducing deductible and my rates went up. When I went shopping for other companies Progressive told other companies that there was a claim on my record of $0 to $1000. They didn't bother to say it was 0. When I found out I contacted the Ins Comm., they said it was legal but certainly not ethical.

[edj]

Originally Posted by Tha_Rooster

If a unit is financed it would not be smart to drop coverage. In Georgia if you drop liability you turn in your tag. I know a lot of people do it but it seems to be a lot of trouble and possible problems like you did for $87.00.

I ran into something similar when I got 'off the road' coverage from GMAC for my HitchHiker. The rig is in FL and I want comprehensive coverage in case a hurricane comes this way.... The trailer is parked full-time in a campground and will not be put on the road in the foreseeable future.

I had financed part of the trailer cost through my Credit Union. Six months later I got a 'nastygram' from the CU saying that I was required to have collision coverage. I explained the story and they waived the requirement. A year later, I got another 'nastygram' from the CU for the same thing. I refused to pay for collision coverage when the rig never went on the road. It just was not worth the hassle to keep trying to explain it to them so I sold some stock and paid off the loan.

[boweavel]

Originally Posted by Tha_Rooster

If a unit is financed it would not be smart to drop coverage. In Georgia if you drop liability you turn in your tag. I know a lot of people do it but it seems to be a lot of trouble and possible problems like you did for $87.00.

the mh is still covered for any possible damage as long as its not on road thru the comprehensive. you say its not worth $87.00 but i feel that in this economy every penny counts.

[chuckinthebus]

GMAC may have had to pay part of their "stimulus money" back to the US taxpayers, therefore needed additional from you for their "executive" bonuses. We have State Farm for all our coverage and when calling to 'shop' around GMAC's quote was more than 2xs what we are paying to SF. Wasn't the insurance business started by the mafia, called "protection"?

[meant2shop]

Thanks all for the info and your experience with ins. companies. Our Fleetwood is paid in full, so there was no requirement to keep the collision and liability when it's in "storage", parked on our property and not being moved/used.

We were long-time State Farm customers. We found GMAC to be much cheaper for the RV. We dropped State Farm as their rates kept going up due to an accident our son had almost 3 years ago and we were paying for his insurance.

We saved quite a bit by switching our cars and H.O. insurance to Farmers, so I'll be checking with our agent to see how much adding the RV will cost. Farmers advised that GMAC would be a good choice since they were more familiar with RVs, and Farmer's didn't off the "storage" feature.

Since I know our GMAC rate is going up $70 come this August due to a rate increase GMAC got approved for Oregon policyholders, I"ll be comparing other companies' rates. Will be checking with AAA as some previous posts said they were a good source. We already have Good Sam Emergency Roadside Service and towing.

Any other suggestions for RV insurance?

Don't believe we'll be using that "storage" feature ever again, unless I know that we can tell the insurance company, up front, the exact number of months to suspend the liability and collision insurance coverage.

Happy Travels and Smooth Roads,

Jim and Susan
Merlin, OR

[rvarner]

Wow, I just put the MH in "storage" with GMAC. They surely didn't explain any of this. I will call them tomorrow and find out if they really do raise the comp rates while in storage. In Nevada, we have to maintain PLPD or turn in the license plates even if it's in storage. I had National Interstate prior to GMAC and when I tried to cancel the collision and comp during storage, they refused and told me to go somewhere else. I know that most of the premium was coll/comp. I went thru FMCA to buy this and the storage feature was a selling point to me.
Richard

On edit: Just logged on to my policy info and the amended declarations page shows no change to the premium for comp. Guess I'll wait and see. Haven't got a refund check yet!!

[RVRon]

Yikes. We have "stored" our Holiday Rambler with FMCA GMAC coverage for the last three winters here in NY State. Maybe your state has different rules, but so far so good here. Saved us a bagful of money for 5-6 months a year that we don't use the MH. If you feel you've been cheated by GMAC and they won't explain to your satisfaction, why not try small claims court? They may not even defend for the smallish amount.

[Finhawk]

I had a quote from GMAC thru FMAC. I was given a figure for 6 months. The customer service guy, after I gave my driver's lic number, told me that I had 2 "No fault claims". So the cost went up over $300 on a 6 month policy. Needless to say, I told him to stuff it!

[buck62]

I checked into the cost of GMAC insurance as a comparison to my current policy and found them to be higher. They did tell me that I would save money during my storage months but we use our motorhome through out the year. The storage suspension is on your Liability and Collision coverage, comprehensive (theft) remains in effect and if you store at home should not be a problem . But, if you store at a public storage lot and someone accidently hits your RV you will be responsible for the damage unless you can identify the person that hit you. GMAC needs to inform people about this and not when you ask the agent when you are getting a quote what happens if you are hit while in storage.