How Much Is RV Insurance?

Just like insuring your daily driver or the home you’re living in, which you can do both with an RV, many internal and external factors go into insuring your (permanent or temporary) home on wheels. With the vast variety of choices in RVs — Class A, B, C, fifth-wheel, pop-up camper, teardrop trailer, and many more — that come in so many different shapes, sizes and costs, figuring out how much you’ll pay can be tricky. But we’re here to help.

The average RV insurance cost in the United States can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars ($150) to a few thousand dollars a year ($5,000+), depending on a variety of factors. The biggest factor is the type of RV you have. Class A motorhomes are the largest and most costly to insure, averaging thousands of dollars per year, while smaller pop-up and teardrop campers can be insured for just a few hundred dollars.

Average costs also depend on what type of RV insurance coverage you get, the age and condition of your RV, where you live, your driving record and claims history, and your RV usage. Newer, larger motorhomes that are designated as a part-time residence are surely going to cost more than that teardrop weekend warrior you can haul around with your truck or SUV. Let’s take a look at all the external factors of RV insurance rates.

Just like auto insurance, you’ll pay a different amount on the same RV depending on whether you opt for liability or full coverage insurance. While liability only pays for damage you cause to someone else’s vehicle or property and the other people involved in the accident, full coverage protects your RV and the people inside it — whether or not you’re at fault in the accident.

If you bought your RV using a loan, your lender will probably require you to have full coverage on your RV until you pay it off anyway. This is to protect their investment. See, they still technically own the RV until you pay it off. So if it gets totaled, requiring you to have insurance guarantees they’ll get their loan back.

Additionally, RV insurance offers extra perks, such as vacation liability insurance in case you break down and need to find a place to stay and towing coverage in case you break down in the middle of nowhere and aren’t fond of paying a few thousand dollars to have your rig towed to the nearest shop.

The biggest determining factors for the average RV insurance cost are undoubtedly the age, condition and type of RV you own. Class A motorhomes are by far the most expensive to insure because they’re the largest, hardest to drive and can cause the most damage. But a 25-foot Class A you bought in 1995 will still be cheaper than the new rig you bought in 2015.

Insurance for any drivable RV is also going to be more expensive than a pull-behind as well. Non-drivable RVs technically don’t require liability insurance because the liability coverage on the auto policy of the vehicle pulling it transfers over to it. So any damage it causes would likely be covered by your auto insurance. However, damage to the RV wouldn’t be covered unless you had RV insurance.

As with any type of insurance, average RV insurance rates are based on a collective pool of policies in your state, county or even city. RV insurance uses similar factors as car insurance, taking in everything about the location in which they’re insured, including the frequency of natural disasters, number of RVs on the road, prevalence of auto accidents and the population.

So RVers based in Florida will pay a different price than those based in Michigan. And RVers in Fort Lauderdale, Florida will even pay a different price than those RVers based in rural Florida. Where there’s less risk, the premiums will be lower. Where there’s a higher risk, the premiums will be higher to offset those risks.

Your driving record and claims history are also driving factors that determine your average RV rates. If you’ve had a lot of speeding tickets or accidents that result in insurance claims — even in your primary vehicle — you’ll be deemed by insurers as riskier and, therefore, your insurance premiums will be higher than those drivers with fewer tickets or accidents.

Last, but certainly not least, is your RV usage. If you’re a weekend warrior who takes their RV on the road occasionally or sets out for a few weeks every year, you’ll likely pay less for RV insurance than those who are living in their RV a few months out of the year.

The reasoning is quite simple. The more time you spend in your RV out on the open road, the more likely you are to get in an accident or sustain damage to the vehicle. If you only take it out a few weeks a year and it’s in storage the rest of the year, you’re less likely to get in an accident.

Plus, the personal belongings you keep inside are a determining factor of the cost of RV insurance as well. If you live in your RV part time, you’re much more likely to keep more belongings inside the RV than someone who’s just on a weekend road trip.

Class A motorhomes are the largest and can cause more damage to both itself and other vehicles if involved in an accident. Therefore, it costs more to insure than any other RV, tipping the scale anywhere from $1,000 to more than $5,000 per year, depending on a variety of factors.

Class B RVs are the smallest drivable RVs on the road. They’re similarly sized to a van or cargo vehicle, so they’re easier to maneuver around tight spaces, leading to the potential for less accidents. The average cost of Class B RVs can be from $300 to more than $2,000 per year, depending on a variety of factors.

Class C motorhomes are in between sizes A and B, so they can still cause quite a bit of damage, but are more maneuverable than the largest sizes. Therefore, the average cost of Class C motorhome insurance is around $500 to more than $4,000 per year, depending on a variety of factors.

Since travel trailers aren’t drivable, their rates are much lower than drivable recreational vehicle insurance rates. They can tip the scale anywhere from $100 to more than $800 per year, depending on a variety of factors that include the type of travel trailer. Pop-up campers will cost less to insure than a 14-foot pull-behind.

For starters, there are far fewer mechanical instruments, like an engine or radiator, that need to be replaced after an accident. Therefore, insurance claims will be for lower amounts, which is reflected in your premiums.

Since they’re not driven they already have liability coverage from your auto insurance policy while on the road and they’re covered in some ways by your homeowners insurance when at home or stored at a facility. But you still need RV insurance to cover any damage caused to the travel trailer itself.

A 5th wheel is considered a travel trailer, so RV insurance for your 5th wheel is going to be similar in the range of $500 to more than $1,500, depending on a variety of factors that include the size of the 5th wheel. 

The average cost of full time RV insurance depends on a variety of factors, but most importantly the type of RV you have. Since it’s considered a home, insurance will be more expensive than part-time counterparts, usually coming in from $1,000 to more than $5,000 per year.

Comparative to auto or homeowners insurance, RV insurance comes in right on par. For instance, a full-time RVer may not pay homeowners or auto insurance, but instead would just have one policy. If they’re insured in a cheaper area of the country, the average RV insurance rate could be drastically cheaper than buying both homeowners and auto insurance.