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. 

Key Takeaways:

Average RV insurance rates 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.

The typical RV insurance cost will 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 part-time residences are surely going to cost more than that teardrop weekend warrior you can haul around with your truck or SUV. 

While the average cost of RV insurance varies based on your usage, its size, and where you live, your average premium will likely be anywhere between $12 and $415 monthly. If you live in your RV full-time and use it as your daily driver, you’ll likely pay premiums at the higher end of the range, as the full-time RV insurance cost is higher. In contrast, if you only take your trailer out twice a year, you’ll probably pay less in premiums.

Just like homeowners and auto insurance, average motorhome insurance rates are determined based on several factors about the policyholder, the vehicle, and the coverage on your policy. The main factors used to determine your rates are your coverage amounts, RV age and type, location, driving record, claims history, and RV usage. 

Let’s break down how each of these factors affects motorhome insurance prices so you can better understand your insurance premiums. 

Just like auto insurance, the average price of motorhome insurance varies 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, your recreational vehicle insurance rates cover 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 typical motorhome insurance cost are undoubtedly the age, condition, and type of RV you own. Class A RV insurance rates are by far the highest 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 camper trailer insurance rates for 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, how much it costs to insure an RV is 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, the number of RVs on the road, the 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 RV trailer insurance 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.

The last factor to determine the insurance on an RV cost, but certainly not least, is your RV usage. If you’re a weekend warrior who takes your RV on the road occasionally or sets out for a few weeks every year, you’ll likely pay less for RV insurance than those 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 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.

There really is no base RV trailer insurance cost due to the many factors explained above. For smaller, part-time use trailers, like a fifth wheel you take out a few times each summer, the base price will be lower. In contrast, if you live in your luxury motorhome, your base price for insurance will likely be high.

The type of RV you drive makes a significant difference in how much your insurance premiums will be. RVs are classified into three different classes, Class A, Class B, and Class C. Let’s see how the motorhome insurance cost average differs by RV class.

Class A motorhomes are the largest and can cause more damage to both itself and other vehicles if involved in an accident. Therefore, the Class A motorhome insurance cost is higher than most other RVs, 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 fewer accidents. Thus, the average Class B RV insurance cost is about $300 to more than $2,000 per year, depending on various 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 insurance cost for a Class C motorhome is around $500 to more than $4,000 per year, depending on a variety of factors.

The average campervan insurance cost is about $1,000 annually, depending on several factors, such as your policy, usage, vehicle age, and others. A campervan is considered a Class B RV; thus, insurance on these vehicles is the cheapest of the RV classes. 

The verbiage can get confusing when discussing the different classes and types of RVs, so let’s keep it simple. A campervan, which will likely measure the same length as an average van and contain few amenities like a kitchen sink and a cooktop, is the smallest class of motorhomes. 

The average cost of insurance on a campervan will likely be similar to the average insurance cost for a travel trailer or fifth wheel, without the added hassle of needing auto insurance, too.

The average cost to insure a pop-up camper is similar to the cost of your auto insurance policy, which averages about $2,069 annually in the United States. Some coverage from the vehicle towing the pop-up camper extends to the camper, like liability and uninsured motorist coverage. To get additional coverage from an RV insurance policy, you might be looking at an extra $200 to $300 annually. 

However, the average travel trailer insurance cost doesn’t include coverage for the camper itself should it sustain damage. This would require a separate RV policy. The coverages from your auto insurance policy that don’t extend to your pop-up camper are collision and comprehensive coverage. These are the coverages you would invoke to help repair any damage your camper might sustain during an accident. 

On average, camper trailer insurance costs much less than motorhome insurance, since camper trailers aren’t driveable. An RV insurance policy for a trailer will range anywhere from $150 to $1,000 but generally land at about $200 to $300 annually.

Camping trailer insurance rates are low because they aren’t driveable and, thus, have fewer parts that would need replacing after an accident. Similarly, they wouldn’t contain any passengers while on the road so there’s no need for personal injury protection (PIP) on such vehicles.

An RV trailer can refer to several different types of RVs, which can cause the average rate of RV insurance to widen to a range of $150 to over $5,000 annually. On average, fifth-wheel trailer insurance is less costly than an RV insurance policy for a campervan or a Class B RV, whereas Class A RV insurance is going to be more expensive than Class C RV insurance rates.

Travel trailer insurance rates range from about $10 to $83 monthly, depending on the policy and type of vehicle. Since travel trailers aren’t drivable, they’ll cost much less to insure than drivable RVs. 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, RV insurance claims will be for lower amounts, which is reflected in your premiums.

A fifth wheel is considered a travel trailer, so fifth wheel RV insurance will be similar to that for a travel trailer, ranging from $500 to more than $1,500, depending on various factors, including the size of the fifth wheel. 

Since they’re not driven, fifth-wheel insurance coverage is provided by the liability coverage from your auto insurance policy while on the road. Additionally, fifth wheels and travel trailers are covered in some ways by your homeowners insurance when at home or stored at a facility. However, you still need 5th-wheel camper insurance or an appropriate RV insurance policy to cover any damage caused to the fifth wheel or travel trailer itself.

Whether you’re looking for low-cost RV insurance for your luxury motorhome, campervan, or trusty old fifth wheel, getting quotes from several insurers is your best bet at finding affordable premiums. While costs may vary greatly depending on whether you’re getting a Class A motorhome or 5th wheel insurance quote, savings are out there if you know how to look. 

Luckily, your search may end right here at Clovered. We offer a free quoting tool you can use to get the best RV insurance quotes for your rig and budget. If you’d rather chat with an agent, you can contact one of our licensed professionals at 833-255-4117 or agent@clovered.com.