Does Homeowner’s Insurance Cover Campers? (The Truth!)

Have you ever wondered if Homeowner Insurance covers campers or trailers? Look no more. We´ve got you covered.

Insurance in America is a convoluted, confusing battlefield. There are so many types of insurance out there, and it can be difficult to determine what each type does and doesn’t cover.

So, does homeowner´s Insurance cover Campers? Well, Homeowner´s Insurance will cover your camper when the camper is at home or on your property. The reason is that the camper is a possession in your home and would thus fall under the realm of any other home possessions, such as a television or a couch. Of course, this is assuming you got a homeowner’s insurance policy that covers possessions.

However, homeowner’s insurance may cover your camper, but only under certain conditions, not all the time.

Before that though, please remember that all insurance policies are different. One insurance company might have different rules or caveats than another, so you should always read the fine print and do your own research on any particular company you are considering.

What is Homeowner’s Insurance?

We should probably have an understanding of this before moving on. Homeowner’s insurance is property insurance that covers a private residence. It combines many different aspects of personal insurance protections.

Those insurance protections can include losses that occur to your home, your home’s contents, loss of your home’s use, or even personal possessions of the homeowner.

It also often includes liability insurance for any accidents that happen at home or accidents caused by the homeowner if it falls within the policy’s territory.

The unfortunate thing about this definition is that it leaves a lot of room for interpretation. There are many things that could fall under this umbrella, including a camper.

That’s why it’s so confusing for anyone looking into the matter, which is unfortunate.

As we said, different companies may have different policies and we can’t speak for all of them. However, we can speak to the general rule.

Read also: Is Good Sam RV Insurance Any Good? An Honest Review[Updated]

Does Homeowner’s Insurance Cover a Camper?

Unfortunately, homeowner’s insurance only partially covers a camper. The rest of the coverage is actually handled by auto insurance.

We’ll go into detail, don’t worry. It’s worth noting that this doesn’t apply to a motorhome, which is different from a camper. For a motorhome, you’ll usually need specialized RV insurance or auto insurance.

What insurance applies to your camper depends on where the camper is and what it is doing at any point in time.

For instance, while towing your camper on the road, it would be covered by your auto insurance, but that auto insurance would usually only cover basic liability.

So if you were the cause of an accident involving your camper, that would be covered. But the same insurance wouldn’t cover damage to your camper, even if you were the one getting hit by someone else.

But what about when your camper isn’t on the road? Well, that’s when homeowner’s insurance comes into play. When your camper is at home or on your property, homeowner’s insurance could potentially cover damages or loss.

If your house happened to burn down, with the camper situated in the garage, the homeowner’s insurance could cover it.

The reason why homeowner’s insurance takes effect, in this case, is because the camper was a possession in your home and would thus fall under the realm of any other home possessions, such as a television or a couch.

Of course, this is assuming you got a homeowner’s insurance policy that covers possessions. 

Read also: Is Progressive RV Insurance Good? What You Must Know

Specifics on Auto Insurance and Campers

Generally speaking, auto insurance extends to towable campers. This can include but is not limited to:

• Caravan Trailers
• 5th Wheel Campers
• Toy Haulers
• Gooseneck Trailers
• Pop-Up Campers
• Travel Trailers

If you’re wondering why these campers fall under auto insurance policy while they are being towed, it’s because they are considered in the same light as trailers.

Of course, this also means that most auto insurance policies will only offer liability coverage in these cases.

As we said before, that means damage to the camper or items inside the camper will not be covered. At the same time, theft of the camper or belongings in it will not be covered either.

If the camper was stolen and somehow ended up causing damage, your liability coverage wouldn’t cover that because the camper was not attached to your vehicle.

This is why you probably wouldn’t want to rely solely on auto insurance to cover your camper.

Usually, a company that offers auto insurance would also have special policies available that would offer more protection for your camper.

Specifics on Homeowner’s Insurance and Campers

Homeowner’s insurance will usually cover your camper if it is parked inside of your garage. Unfortunately, it’s a little unclear how much coverage it will actually offer in most cases.

It comes down to the policy, in most cases.

Some policies will state explicitly that they do not cover cars or RVs even if they are parked in your home.

If the homeowner’s insurance does cover RVs or campers parked in your home, there’s something else to take into consideration, that being how much money your insurance is worth.

After all, if you have $150,000 worth of homeowner’s insurance, but you buy a camper worth $50,000, you’ll need to factor that into your insurance coverage.

If you were to lose everything covered by your homeowner’s insurance, camper included, it might not cover the full expense.

That said, buying a camper may also mean paying for additional coverage with your homeowner’s insurance.

You may even need to document its addition to your property with pictures and the title. Of course, it’s also important to remember that campers tend to depreciate in value relatively quickly.

That means, if you financed your camper, an insurance company might pay less than what you even own on it. For this reason, a lot of people would rather go for RV insurance, which usually has full coverage built into it.

Summary

When it comes to insuring your camper, there are two ways to go about it: you can get RV insurance to cover it at all times, or get both homeowner’s and auto insurance to cover it when it is both at home and on the road.

With the latter, make sure you understand just what is and isn’t covered for your camper, lest you wind up hurting financially.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_insurance

https://www.godownsize.com/camper-insurance-covered-homeowners-insurance/