Insurance Coverage Ins and Outs

If you are thinking about renting out your RV or camper van, you’ll want to fully understand how insurance coverage works on any of the peer-to-peer platforms you might be considering using. What happens if your vehicle is involved in an accident? What if there is a minor fender bender?

When you rent out your camper van on GoCamp, your vehicle is covered by our custom insurance. And while insurance isn’t the most riveting of topics, it’s an important one.

Van owners usually ask us two primary questions before renting out their vans on the GoCamp website. The first is “How much money can I make?” The second is “What happens if something goes wrong? Am I covered?”

Yes, you are covered. Here we share an overview of the things you’ll want to consider regarding insurance coverage before renting out your RV or camper van on any of the various peer-to-peer rental platforms.

Insurance Overview

When you use your own RV, you’re covered by your personal insurance policy. When your RV is rented, it will be covered by the applicable coverage provided by the platform you’re using such as GoCamp, Outdoorsy, or RVshare.

Know your policy

By renting your RV you may inadvertently be violating the terms of your personal policy. Don’t do that. Check with your personal provider before renting out your RV. If you determine rentals are prohibited by your personal provider, we recommend you find one that does allow it. Protect your rig, protect yourself.

Insurance Provider Options

The list of insurance providers that allow rentals on what are otherwise personal RVs varies by state and changes frequently. As of right now, Safeco, National General, and Roamly are good options and are available almost nationwide.

Not sure what’s best? At GoCamp we work with an independent broker who can help find us other options for personal policies. If you’re feeling stuck on the subject of insurance and need a tow in the right direction, please reach out. We’d be happy to help. Just send an email to letsgo@gocamp.com.

Commercial Coverage

If the RV you rent out is a commercial vehicle, meaning it’s owned by a corporate entity (LLC, S Corp, etc.) and not an individual, you might explore MBA Insurance as a potential insurance partner, both for your vehicle when it isn’t rented and as an option during rentals if you aren’t using the rental insurance provided by a peer-to-peer platform.

Commercial policies from MBA are pretty straightforward. You’d get coverage for the times when you or any employees are driving the vehicles, and ‘garage keepers’ coverage while the units are stored at your facility. Roamly is another good option that also offers coverage for commercially-owned vehicles.

Sample Peer-to-Peer Coverage

Renters who book peer-to-peer RV rentals usually purchase insurance provided by the platform through which they made the reservation. Coverage limits vary depending on several factors, such as the value and type of the RV. For example, coverage of Class B RVs listed on GoCamp include:

• State minimum liability for the renter.
• Liability coverage for the van owner.
• Varying levels of personal injury protection, also known as no-fault coverage, as warranted by applicable state law.
• Comprehensive and collision damage up to the actual cash value (ACV) of the vehicle or $200,000, whichever is less. Comprehensive coverage is typically for things like fire, theft, and vandalism. Collision coverage is for actual accidents or physical damage to the vehicle.
• Loss of use coverage up to $3,500. GoCamp is the only peer-to-peer platform to guarantee loss of use coverage.

Risky Riders

Sometimes renters will ask if they can add a rider to their own policy, instead of using the insurance provided by the platform where they made their reservation. We don’t recommend this. While the coverage provided may be adequate, in our view, insurance riders add an unnecessary level of complexity and administrative burden. In the unlikely scenario that there’s a need to file an insurance claim, you’re going to want to have full confidence that you won’t be wasting time and spinning wheels. Filing an insurance claim on a policy provided by GoCamp or Outdoorsy is straightforward and well-tested. Individual riders, not so much.

Proper Preventative Maintenance

Properly maintaining your rental rig is another kind of insurance! For preventing roadside issues, nothing beats preventative maintenance. Be sure to stay on top of tire rotations, brake checks and the like. Many insurance providers require 90-day inspections as a condition of their coverage.

Consider setting aside a certain percentage of income from every rental for a maintenance. Apply a maintenance mindset to the inside of your rig as well. Lots of camping trips means lots of bouncing down gravel roads. Tighten down interior screws and nuts on a regular basis, or apply WD40 to springs and small brackets that are used often, and you’ll avoid having to do tedious repair jobs during the busy summer season.

GET ON THE ROAD TO RENTAL SUCCESS

Ready for the insurance quiz? Just kidding. There isn’t one. We just thought you might like to enjoy a sense of relief on the heels of a temporary panic about the idea of a pop quiz. Now take that sense of relief and multiply it by a lot and you’ll get an idea about the peace of mind that comes from making sure you’ve done your homework when it comes to insurance.

Want to learn more about best practices for renting out your camper van or RV? Read our top ten tips for success when renting our your RV or camper van >

We’ve been helping van owners succeed in renting out their camper vans since 2017. Over the years we’ve facilitated 1,000’s of successful rentals and made it possible for van owners to earn tens of thousands of dollars. For more information about renting out your camper van, check out all the articles written for van owners. And if you are ready to list your camper van with GoCamp, head to the List Your Van page so we can schedule a call to discuss further.

Earn thousands every year

Use your van when you want to; make good money renting it out when you aren’t using it.

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• GoCamp’s Top 10 Tips for Successfully Renting Out Your Camper Van.

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