Insurance company towing assistance? Worth it?

[Bykerbob]

I am new to the RV world. I just bought a new Wildwood fsx. I just received my insurance papers and the company is Foremost (thru giecko). In the papers it explains about the roadside assistance program that is included in the policy.

We will only use RV 6 months out of the year .

Do I need another roadside assistance policy?

Anyone have experience with Foremost insurance company?

Thanks for all knowledge I am getting from reading these forums.

[formerFR]

Foremost, based out of Grand Rapids, MI, is just another insurance company that tends to specialize in insurance products like RVs, older HOMES, Mobile Homes, ATVs, Snowmobiles, etc., and not the typical Auto and Home markets that most others do.

Foremost has an agreement with many different Independent insurance agents/agencies, but also with other INSURANCE COMPANIES that don't sell their OWN policies for these type of vehicles and homes. GEICO, in this case, is just acting like any other insurance agency and selling you a Foremost policy, since Geico itself does nothing but AUTO.
You may see Geico, and even Progressive, advertise to 'bundle' your Auto and Home, but it's funny that NEITHER of them actually write HOME insurance! They use third-party insurance companies, like Foremost, to do that. In this case, Geico probably didn't have their own market for your RV, since they typically only write MOTORIZED vehicles, and used Foremost to get you a policy to cover it.

but, there also could be a difference in experience if you used GEICO direct, versus a GEICO physical office. They can operate differently.

[CHICKDOE]

for what it is worth: we have geico via the internet, not an office. they write the policy for our two cars and the trailer. we have the bundle with homeowners but the homeowners policy is written and serviced by liberty mutual.

what i find interesting is that i thought foremost is a farmers company that does rv, boats, atv's etc. it may also be farmers high risk insurance company.

[jd4010]

On insurance that provides towing, my darling wife (who is an insurance agent) reminds me and her customers to read the fine print. For example, if your tow vehicle breaks down, towing for the TV may not cover attached trailers (e.g. TTs, 5ers, etc). And if you request a tow for your towable RV not because of an issue with the RV but the tow vehicle, it may not be covered. This is why I use Good Sam Roadside. If my trucks breaks down (which my old one did twice while hauling our 5er), they towed both the F350 and the RV under a heavy haul which I'm sure was super pricey.

Bottom line....read the fine print and ask the carrier directly. And preferably get it in writing.

[KEN9XL]

Remember - do some research.

A for instance, when I bought my TT, my insurance agent told me I could just place a rider on my truck insurance.

NO! NO! I found out my Travel Trailer would be covered only while under tow but once I disconnect it, then it became a whole new story to the point, I was told, it would not be covered once unhitched. So, Beware!

Result, now I have Foremost for TT insurance plus Good Sam for towing.
Foremost will cover me regardless whether I am hitched up to my truck or disconnected at a camp site. I only travel 6 month out of the year also.

[cruisinhwy66]

I had a horrible experience with Good Sam Road Side Ass. It worked great when we had a flat tire on RV, or needed a jump start to TV, "BUT", when our TV wouldn't start when camping @ an government RV park, they wouldn't help. They claimed it didn't constituent an Emergency Situation, i.e. broken down on the roadway, your at safe location already, BYE, go figure.

I will not get into the details, just tell what I had to go through. Break down happened just before a Holiday weekend and we had to move our RV because the spot we were in was rented for the holiday and there was no overflow parking remaining. I immediately called Enterprise for a rental car and pickup, then an auto repair shop with a wrecker service. Next step, I searched for another RV park, thank God I found one, then someone to tow our Fiver.

Finally, got charged for TV tow, ($125), didn't ask repair shop if it was a courtesy wrecker, rental car ($150+), RV tow ($315), "O" repair to TV ($1700+) it's diesel. Am I up-set with Good Sam, YEA I AM. Filed a claim for reimbursement, still waiting, not holding breath it's been 8 mons. Don't put a lot of faith in Good Sam's Road Side Ass program, you may get disappointed like us.

I need to add, this was our experience with TV breakdown, not sure what insurance could have made it better, but shopping. We consider it as part the RV'ing experience, and stuff happens. Over 40,000 miles of travel all over USA and Canada, 2-5th wheels, won't count the number of nites, and this was the first major issue, "O", 1-TV. When remembering, I learned what to do should it happen again and to keep the cell phone charged.

Cruisin

[Don001]

I had a horrible experience with Good Sam towing. My motorhome broke down on the interstate. They had it towed to a tow yard because "They were told they were able to work on it." I later found out it was the sister of the tow yard owner that told them that. They towed it past an authorized Cummins repair center with a place to park the motorhome until they opened. The next day the tow yard "mechanics" didn't know how to work on the motor and so I had to have it towed back to the Cummins shop for $985.00 towing out of my pocket.
Their contract says that they will tow it to an authorized repair shop, not a tow/junk yard, but after months and months I could not get them to cover the second towing. To add insult to injury I was told that they have done this with the same tow yard at least 3 other times before me. It might be incompetence, but it looks more like a scam to me.

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by Don001

I had a horrible experience with Good Sam towing. My motorhome broke down on the interstate. They had it towed to a tow yard because "They were told they were able to work on it." I later found out it was the sister of the tow yard owner that told them that. They towed it past an authorized Cummins repair center with a place to park the motorhome until they opened. The next day the tow yard "mechanics" didn't know how to work on the motor and so I had to have it towed back to the Cummins shop for $985.00 towing out of my pocket.
Their contract says that they will tow it to an authorized repair shop, not a tow/junk yard, but after months and months I could not get them to cover the second towing. To add insult to injury I was told that they have done this with the same tow yard at least 3 other times before me. It might be incompetence, but it looks more like a scam to me.

Sounds like the tow truck company is scamming Good Sam. They tell Good Sam they can do the repairs just to get it there and find out they know nothing about how to repair it. And IF Good Sam should call them after receiving a complaint, they probably gave them a line like "the Cummins repair shop was closed & gated so we brought them here to be safe".

[txredfish]

I have had good luck with Good Sam Roadside. I have been RVing since 1998 and only used them twice. About 10 years ago. The first time my toad broke down (no brakes) after arriving at the campground. I called Good Sam. A tow truck came over and towed the car to a service center. No cost, no issues. About 5 years ago, the second time, in my drive way the inside tire on my MH went flat. I called Good Sam. They sent some one over to fix. He pulled both outside and inside tires and replaced the air valve on the tire. He charged me about $90 because he said it was inside tire. I called Good Sam and they reimbursed me the $90. They said I should not have been charged. I have had Good Sam Roadside since 1998, used twice in 21 years.
21 years X $110 (per year) = $2310. So I cannot say it was worth the $2310 in my case but I guess piece of mind. But each instance could have been several hundred dollars. I am not sure what a tow would cost and if used several times it would be worth it. Also, if broke down on interstate with traffic going by, it would be worth it.

[Don001]

Originally Posted by rracer5

Sounds like the tow truck company is scamming Good Sam. They tell Good Sam they can do the repairs just to get it there and find out they know nothing about how to repair it. And IF Good Sam should call them after receiving a complaint, they probably gave them a line like "the Cummins repair shop was closed & gated so we brought them here to be safe".

Except that counting me at least 4 people have complained to Good Sam that this tow yard can't do the work. Why did Good Sam not have a directory of repair shops? The closest repair facility is the OEM (Cummins) for the motor.
After being scammed once they should note not to keep forcing people to have it towed there. I contacted GS immediately after I saw the place while the motor home was still on the truck, as it was obvious that they would not be capable of repairing my motor home and got nothing but a runaround and double talk from Good Sam. If they had 4 complaints within 6 months filed with BBB all about towing vehicles to this same site they should be aware of the problem. If you like them, that's fine. My experience is the opposite. Buyer beware.

[tonys]

I'll pile on GoodSams. At a campground 20 miles from KCMo. My keys are locked in the truck. Good Sam said they could not find a locksmith. 2nd call I made and 30 mins later, my truck is unlocked. Good Sams did reimburse me. 2nd time on a road trip, hot summer day. Flat tire in a mid size town. called Good Sam, told someone would respond with in the hour. 1 1/2 hours later, scurvy looking guy in and old truck is from Good Sams. He did change the tire. The next flat, I changed it myself.

[sandstuv]

We have AAA and learned the hard way we needed RV roadside assistance on top of our coverage for towing. Totally worth it if you have this service or insurance. Just my 2 cents...

[lhuff35204]

We have Progressive Ins on our 5th wheel and boat which includes road side assistance: Used their app to request help when our trailer slipped off a narrow road in the north woods of MN (private campground). A wrecker arrived within 30 mins and winched us out. Used their app to request a tow when we lost an engine in the FL Inter Coastal Waterway main channel on a busy weekend. A tow boat arrived within 30 minutes and towed us to a nearby marina (they would not tow us to our home port 10 miles away) so had to wait there 3 days ($115/day slip fee) for repairs. They did not cover the slip fees.