RV insurance is essential to protect your investment, including the RV roof.
While insurance for the RV is legally required, only the comprehensive level may cover roof damage sufficiently.
It is important to obtain an appropriate level of RV insurance to get accidental damage coverage for your RV.
Otherwise, the risk is of not being protected from a negative outcome.
RV Roof
Our related articles on RV roof maintenance, repairs, and replacement:
> How Often Should You Seal Your RV Roof?
> Can I Use Flex Seal on My RV Roof?
> How to Protect RV Skylights from Hail
Does RV Insurance Cover Roof Damage?
Insurance coverage depends on what type of RV insurance you have. This includes coverage for your RV’s roof too.
There are at least 4 types of RV insurance to be aware of:
- Liability
- Uninsured
- Collision
- Comprehensive
RV Liability Insurance
RV liability insurance protects against property damage to others, bodily injury, claims from other people, or lawsuits from accident victims.
RV Uninsured Insurance
When there’s an uninsured driver involved in an accident with your RV, this type of insurance covers that despite only your having insurance cover.
RV Collision Insurance
RV collision insurance covers accidents with a secondary vehicle or object that’s not a person.
However, it does not usually cover animal or pet-related accident coverage.
RV Comprehensive Insurance
RV comprehensive insurance covers the cost of either repair or a replacement for damages to the RV not caused by a motoring accident.
What Type of RV Roof Damage is Covered by Insurance?
With RV comprehensive insurance, the roof is generally covered from accidents and more.
With that said, the root cause and any mitigating factors relating to how and why the roof was damaged become pertinent too.
The roofing materials including the substrate, along with roof fixtures that have become damaged, usually fall under RV roof damage insurance claims.
Here is a basic rundown on the potential damage to the RV roof that could occur and whether it’s often covered by Comprehensive RV insurance policies.
(Please read your RV insurance policy document to confirm what is and is not covered; they all vary in the type and extent of the damage coverage even with RV roofs):
Storm Damage
Should you park up and a tree comes down on top of the roof during the storm, that’ll likely be covered as accidental damage.
If a storm were to rip up part of the RV’s roof materials, that likely would be covered too.
Wear and Tear
Wear and tear for a roof are not generally covered.
However, there are exceptions to this depending on the RV insurance carrier and policy clauses.
At the time of publication, Progressive offers a special “Roof Protection Plus” that does include coverage for wear and tear on the RV roof.
It also covers replacement or repairs of the roof for a motorhome, and a travel trailer that is still being used, i.e., it’s classified as “non-stationary.”
Furthermore, if your tow vehicle is damaged due to a roof failure, there are indications that that may be covered too.
Water Damage
Water damage is often covered by RV comprehensive insurance.
There is sometimes also so-called “Full water damage” on some policies that go beyond what a standard comprehensive RV policy offers.
With questionable claims, the distinction is likely to be whether the roof was already in such poor repair that any storm would have further damaged the roof, flooded the interior, and damaged property inside.
However, generally, water damage is covered.
Hail Damage
Hail damage to an RV roof is quite common.
Whether that’s hail damage on a fiberglass camper or hail damage to an aluminum trailer, hail can cause substantial damage to a motorhome or towable.
Given that hailstones can be the size of golf balls or larger still, they can pepper the roof with impact dents and potentially cause damage to a roofing membrane.
Comprehensive RV insurance usually covers hail damage not only because it is costly to repair but also because it may noticeably reduce the value of the RV too.
However, some policies may exclude it or offer a settlement for cash instead of attempting a repair.
Typically, after a hail-related claim, no further claims can be made on the same RV should another hail damage event occur again.
RV roof skylights are also vulnerable to hail too. We’ve written about that before too.
Extreme Cold Temperatures, Snow, Ice, etc.
Some RV insurance policies will exclude extreme cold temperatures.
Also, problems on the roof relating to a build-up of snow or ice due to the temperature level may fall under that exclusion.
For example, should a larger volume of ice put sufficient extra weight on the roof that it collapsed in one itself, that might be questionable in an insurance claim.
Roof Maintenance
RV roof maintenance is seen as part of the responsibility of the owner to keep up.
It is not usually directly covered under a comprehensive insurance policy.
Maintenance includes mildew, mold, or rot being addressed in the roofing materials too.
The reason is that proper maintenance would prevent these from being an issue on the roof.
Similarly, when neglecting to seal the RV roof or failing to perform an RV fiberglass roof repair in a timely fashion, it could be seen negatively in a claim because one thing led to another.
Also, when the RV is getting on in years, this materially affects what will and will not be covered under insurance and if an RV insurance claim gets denied.
Faulty Manufacturing
If the model or RV roof materials are known to have issues with durability or suitability for purpose, then the insurance may not cover them.
At that point, it’s a matter to pursue with the relevant manufacturer rather than the insurer.
Do You Have to Have Insurance on a Camper?
Insurers typically classify non-motorized vehicles as not requiring insurance cover.
This might include a camper, trailer, and other towable. Check this detail with the RV insurer you’re most interested in taking out a policy through.
However, it’s important to check with your RV insurance carrier whether that’s the case with them.
Certainly, accidents can happen with a truck and at a time when it’s towing a camper or another towable.
When the towable is not insured, you could lose considerable value because you’ll be unable to make an insurance claim.
Therefore, regardless of whether RV camper insurance is needed, it’s important to have it.
Closing Thoughts
Broadly speaking, as long as you keep up with roof maintenance, have comprehensive RV insurance, and don’t have a very old RV, it’s more likely that RV roof damage will be covered by insurance.
As is the case with any type of insurance policy, there are always exceptions, exclusions, and so on.
Therefore, an RV owner must read the fine print to verify what will and will not be covered before taking out a policy.
Don’t assume RV insurance covers roof damage; it all depends on the type of damage and how it happened.
Related Articles
How to Protect RV Skylights from Hail?
How Often Should You Seal Your RV Roof?
Can I Use Flex Seal on My RV Roof?
