If you own an RV, you have enough on your mind. You shouldn’t have to worry about what your insurance company will think or do if you live in your rig too long, drive too many miles — or decide to make money renting it out.
A company called Roamly agrees. They’re RV enthusiasts who set out to make RV insurance more flexible and affordable, even if you wanted to rent out an entire fleet of RVs.
So how much better is RV insurance created by RV owners? And could RV insurance with Roamly really save you up to 25%?
What Is Roamly?
Roamly is an RV insurance company that provides all sorts of policies for recreational vehicles, both towable and drivable.
Roamly offers RV insurance for everyone, including weekend warriors who only use their rigs for occasional trips, full-timers and even commercial policies for people who own multiple rigs. And regardless of what kind of policy you have, Roamly allows you to rent out your rig when you’re not using it.
If you’ve dealt with RV insurance before, you may have doubts about coverage. That’s because most traditional insurance companies don’t know the ins and outs of RVs — or the lifestyle that comes with owning one. You’ve likely seen some precarious holes in other policies that could cause you to be dropped by your insurance company.
Roamly has its roots in the RV rental space. The insurance agency grew out of the success of RV rental marketplace Outdoorsy, which recognized how prone insurers were to drop coverage for those who rented out their RVs.
While Roamly fills a need in the modern RV rental marketplace, with policies free of rental restrictions, it seems to have put just as much thought and care into other types of RV insurance, too.
What Types of Coverage Are Offered?
If it’s a recreational vehicle, Roamly will most likely cover it — even if you need commercial insurance for more than one rig. Determining what type of coverage you’ll need all depends on how you intend to use your vehicle.
Basic Personal Coverage
Spend more time at a fixed address than in your RV? You probably only need a basic plan with liability coverage, though picking up extra protection like collision and comprehensive truly helps you get that peace of mind, no matter who’s at fault.
Even with basic coverage with personal liability, you still won’t run the risk of having to pay grossly out of pocket or have your insurance dropped if you rent out your vehicle.
You can also get even more peace of mind for your RV and your bank account by adding protections for hospital stays, underinsured motorists and roadside assistance.
If you do rent out your RV on a marketplace like Outdoorsy or via consignment, the renter will need their own RV insurance during the rental period. However, this won’t be something you need to worry about in most cases — nearly all modern peer-to-peer rental marketplaces require that the renter purchase episodic RV insurance for their trip, or have their own separate kind of insurance for rentals, meaning your rig is protected.
Full-Time Coverage: Long-Term RV Living
If you’ll probably live in your RV at least six months out of the year, you’ll likely need full-time coverage, and Roamly can assist there as well with a comprehensive plan — again, no rental restriction attached.
Since your RV will be your home for the better part of the year, if not all year long, additional insurance here looks more like the home insurance coverage you’d have for a fixed address.
You’ll still get all of the automotive coverage for the roadways, but you’ll get more safeguards for the time your home sits parked:
- Personal property coverage: This coverage protects the things you bring with you, including pets in most states.
- Emergency expense coverage: This coverage can pay for lodging if your RV is ever totaled.
- Vacation liability: This covers your guests, including slips and falls.
- Adjacent structures: This covers freestanding structures that make your campsite home, such as a carport.
- Loss assessment: This covers damages assessed by an RV park or campsite’s HOA.
- Medical payments: This covers medical payments for people injured in your RV, or near it when it’s parked.
- Diminishing deductibles: This perk lowers your deductible after each year you go without filing a claim, a good option if you have a great driving record.
Coverage for DIY and Upfitted Campervans
Not every recreational vehicle rolling off the assembly line starts as a recreational vehicle. Many started as a van before being upfitted with enhancements to create living spaces.
Insurance companies will often classify these upfitted campervans as conventional automobiles and require you to pick up supplemental coverage for the upgrades — all of which tends to add up to a more expensive policy than if they were simply classified as RVs.
Roamly has just a few simple requirements in order to insure DIY and professionally upfitted campervans as RVs. Your vehicle needs to have a fixed and semi-permanent fridge, stovetop or toilet. As long as they’re bolted or strapped down, they qualify as semi-permanent.
To determine cash value, Roamly accepts a buildout sheet and bill of sale from your mechanic to help appraise your conversion van. If you upgraded it yourself, just detail the parts that went into upfitting it.
Savings, Without All of the Exclusions Hidden in the Fine Print
Roamly’s policies can save you up to 25%. How? They won’t force you to double-dip on coverage or bury loopholes in the fine print. With Roamly, you don’t pay for coverage during the times your RV is covered by a short-term rental policy. In fact, with Roamly’s Rent and Save Discount, the more you rent out your rig on Outdoorsy, the more you’ll save on renewal!
Roamly also offers several other discounts for RV owners. In addition to normal discounts for things like being a homeowner, having a good driving record or maintaining continuous auto insurance prior to purchasing an RV policy, Roamly also offers other unique discounts. If you’re an Outdoorsy member, you’ll automatically qualify for a discount, and if you’re a member of popular RV groups like KOA or Harvest Hosts, you’ll also qualify for additional discounts.
Roamly Customer Support
No matter how good insurance plans may sound, it takes top-notch customer support to elevate policies from good to great. And with Roamly, you’ll find strong customer support backing the RV insurance plans the company offers.
Roamly makes it easy to get in touch with them, and you can communicate via phone, email or social media.
And starting coverage or filing a claim with Roamly is simple. You don’t even have to interact with people, if you don’t want to.
Simply visit their website and select the option to “Get a Quote” or “File a Claim.” The website will walk you through the process in a matter of minutes, if not less.
Bottom Line
Roamly offers competitively priced RV insurance options for just about any driveable or towable RV that can be considered a recreational vehicle, whether you’re looking for coverage for occasional travel, full-timers coverage or a more robust plan for multiple vehicles.
Tell them about your converted vans, your campers, travel trailers, Class A, Class B, toy haulers and more — then they’ll quote you a competitive insurance policy.
The biggest savings come for RV owners who want to rent out their RVs, whether they want to make money off one or two rigs or a whole fleet of them.
The structure of their policies offers the potential for significant savings to those renting out their RVs on RV rental marketplaces that assess insurance fees from renters.
Getting a quote from Roamly is part of your due diligence, especially if you intend to rent your RV. Get your free quote here.
