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Forum
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RE: Fulltiming and giftgiving
I'll answer in keeping with the title of the forum, the title of the thread and the intent expressed by the OP's initial sentence. For the 1st 5 or so yrs of FTing, we bought all the presents, wrapped them and then shipped them to the recipients, primarily our kids and grandkids. We'd then fly north for a few days over Christmas and watch them open the gifts, box up our goodies and ship them back south.
When the grandkids were really small, we rented them a park model and they all drove down for a Christmas vacation under the palm trees. The last 4-5 yrs we bought everything online to be direct shipped north. We then wrapped the stuff when we arrived. A much better plan, IMO.
This year, DW undergoes another spine surgery 2 weeks before Christmas so traveling will not happen for us. The grandkids are now in the 8-13 y/o age range and when we visit in the summer, we see how excited they are to get a $20 or something from us to spend on what they want. So we asked the 'rents their opinion and this year they'll each get a card with cash. We're assured that the kiddies will be very excited and based on the overgifting that seems to happen, maybe that will be true. We'll miss the visit though!
Dianne, if you need another mailing address for your goodies, we'd be happy to volunteer! Mmmm!
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avan
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11/25/09 01:24pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Need Rcommendations On (2) RV Insurance Providers
At one time, I had our FT insurance through Millers Agency. Then some years back, a fellow FTer, and insured through Miller, had in ins costs increased and asked of his agent, Miller, a simple question "Why?" He reported the exchange on another RV forum writingAfter inquiring to Miller Insurance Agency regarding the
reason for the outrageously high price of comprehensive
coverage (I was quoted $450 just for comprehensive), I
received the following response from (Miller's) Mr. Mac Upjohn:
_________________________
Mr. Xxxxx,
I know that full-timer's rates are high. This is because there are so many full-timer total losses throughout the country. The principle of insurance, of course, is spreading the risk among ALL policy-holders.
Therefore, the more losses OTHER people have, the higher YOUR rates. But not yours, individually. And.....as more and more folks take to the vagabond life-style of full-timers, there may be even more losses in the future.
I know that this is no consolation nor a solution, but I hope it offers some sort of explanation.
Regards, Mac Upjohn
________________________
I didn't realize that so many of my fellow FT RVr's were out
there crashing and burning............
I then emailed my agent, Mac Upjohn at Millers, asking for data to support his rhetoric writing Hi Mac. I'm forwarding, with permission, a message recently posted to one of the RV related email groups. In it, you are quoted. You might remember that in an email to you last week, I noted that your agency, and the RV insurance company you represent, spend a fair amount of money advertising themselves to RV owners. I questioned, however, the degree of dedication and understanding on the part of that RV insurance company about the needs of RVers and particularly, fulltimers. I believe you had mentioned, for example, that the non-rv, auto (pickup truck) arm of the insurance company just didn't understand full-timers. I had mentioned to you that there were many active RV related newsgroups forums and email lists, etc. on the net and that the insurance company needed to guard its reputation as specializing in the RV industry and full-timers, in particular.
Before and after your quoted primer on the insurance industry's business practice of spreading the costs of risk amongst a base larger than just those incurring the losses, I believe you imply that the fulltimers' premiums are higher because the *fulltimer* has more losses compared to the rest of the insurance population, be they the mobile risks on the road or more stationary risk in a park. Is there some statistical evidence you might point this group to in substantiation of this claim?
My reading of forums and other RV related groups, magazines, etc. seems to indicate that, when on the road, the RVer tends to obey speed limits, etc. and that when parked, the RVer tends to be rather non-destructive. My personal experience on the road, while not statistically valid, verifies that indication. As to the 3rd loss category of "Acts of God", I've never heard that RVers are singled out either favorably or unfavorably. In fact, fulltimers often leave areas where those Acts of God can be predicted in well in advance, events such as hurricanes and spreading forest fires.
You state "And.....as more and more folks take to the vagabond life-style of full-timers, there may be even more losses in the future." As a representative of an agency and insurance company that caters to RVers and fulltimers, this seems to have a negative sound, at least to me. Lacking in your statement is the other half of the equation, that more fulltimers and RVers means more business. More business means more premiums and, all things being equal, the ratio of premiums to claims would remain static.
My Webster's defines "vagabond" as 1) a homeless person who moves from place to place and 2) tramp. While I do wander from place to place, I have a home and a very nice one so I'm not homeless. Tramp, as a noun, is defined as 1) a heavy footfall 2) a walking trip, 3) one who travels about aimlessly on foot, doing odd jobs or begging for a living: vagrant, 4) a prostitute or promiscuous person, 5) a cargo ship having no regular schedule. It would appear to me that the word "vagabond" is generally a pejorative.
I have no objection to being called a vagabond, under perhaps a more general and romantic context of enjoying the freedom to go when and where I want and to see the beauty of this country and Canada. However, when the word "vagabond" is used about me in context of higher losses, higher risk and in context of an implication that as we vagabonds increase in number, losses may increase disproportionately, I am distressed. When that is said without providing a shred of evidence, I am even more distressed. And when it is said by a business segment professional, catering to this very group, it rises to an even higher level. I think that characterizations like that, in a negative context, may be what leads to perceptions by others of RV fulltimers as some sort of high risk group.
I, and I presume some members of the RV users groups, would be interested in published statistical evidence on the high risk characteristics of this group so that an analysis of those statistics might point us 'vagabonds' in the direction that could correct some of our deficiencies.
Sincerely,
your customer
Xxxxx
After several attempts to get a response, I canceled my policy and haven't returned to them.
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avan
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11/24/09 10:53am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: first time snowbirding
We're partial to Silver Lakes Golf & RV Resort in Naples (some pix are linked in my sig). A short 6 miles to the Naples beaches and 8 to the Marco Island beaches. During the time you are talking about, there should be at least 1 traveling craft type show set up in the nearby (1 mile) discount mall. There is a small, maybe 200 vendors, flea market 10 miles east on Tamiami Trail and a huge, huge flea market 35 miles north on I-75 at Fort Myers. The Everglades and Big Cypress Nat'l Preserve are immediately east with fun things to do and explore and Miami is a short 100 miles east on Tamiami Trail. There are also boat day trips and overnighters to Key West out of the Marco/Naples area.
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avan
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11/24/09 07:06am |
Snowbirds
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RE: Need Rcommendations On (2) RV Insurance Providers
Assuming the Miller Ins. you're referencing is the one located in Oregon, neither company, Miller or Explorer, are insurance companies nor anything close to same. They are insurance agencies - i.e., salesmen. Big difference and one you should know about.
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avan
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11/23/09 05:58pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Protecting the Diamond Plate
Polishing diamond plate seems like an impossible task because the raised diamonds tear up whatever you use to apply the polish compoundI have a lot of diamond plate and what I use to clean and polish is carpet. I pick up a bunch of carpet scraps - tight loops like indoor/outdoor, berber, etc. Put the polish on and rub (scrub) with the carpet. Still takes lots of elbow grease but it works better than rags.
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avan
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11/22/09 06:44pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: MDT owners
Can't speak to the Cat/Mercedes & Detroit diesels. I've got the Int'l 530E with the Allison 3060 and it is an awesome combination AFAIC. Course it's barely broken in yet with only 225,000 miles :B
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avan
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11/22/09 01:21pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Restrictions on liquid oxygen .... from Apria ..so far
Lincare got DW's Eclipse approved through her Medicare Advantage policy.
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avan
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11/22/09 10:47am |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Progressive Fulltimers Insurance catch
This has never been a problem with Progressive before. Suspect you need to speak with someone higher up the food chain. We've also had our FTer ins with Foremost and Nat'l Interstate over the years. They all are well aware that our vehicle/rig is never at our garaging address (our PMB/domicile) that fact having been specifically discussed. Made no difference.
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avan
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11/20/09 07:45pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Air card usage at home
Don't know if I'm allowed to answer since my 'home' is an RV but we use a router for our aircard so we both can be online at the same time and no swapping. Maybe it would be different at your home? :B
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avan
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11/20/09 07:23pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: New page format???
I get that terrible page format when I access through the Trailer Life gateway but not when I access through Woodalls. Hope that diseased page doesn't migrate to Woodalls.
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avan
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11/20/09 02:38pm |
Forum Technical Support
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RE: Fulltiming and State Farm auto insurance
You don't FT in your car and I doubt that there is FTer insurance available on a car - don't know but doubt it. The FTer ins. gives you the extra liability coverages that you lose when you no longer have homeowner's ins - not extra $ coverage but extra events like slip & fall etc. Can't see how that has anything to do with a toad. My FTer coverage through NI is on my 5ver. Don't see any mention of the coverage, also through NI and bought as a package, on the actual TV part of the policy.
To the extent your insurer on the car asks questions like what you do for a living etc when getting your car ins., you could answer 'retired, travel a lot', otherwise I fail to see how it would be relevant to the car ins. JMO and worth what you paid for it.
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avan
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11/20/09 10:32am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Problem with mail forwarding--advice?
For reasons that are worthwhile to us, we use a mail forwarding service in a state that is not our domicile state/ins state. Many people use addresses that are not their domicile - having mail sent to the PO Box, or accountant etc. However, years of dealing with bean counters causes one to learn that there are sometimes that it is easier not to have questions come up rather than trying to explain. So we maintain an address, solely for our ins. mail, with a relative in our ins. state. We furnish the relative with postage and envelopes so that, monthly, they can mail whatever they've rec'd to our mail forwarding service.
Whenever we are anywhere close to our domicile/ins state, we stop at a health clinic with a 'cold' & get some prescriptions filled so that we have at least a little track record of being "home".
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avan
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11/20/09 07:47am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: New site Format
I'm going to assume that they didn't 'test drive' the new format on a testing server but just dropped it onto the working servers and that now that they've seen how horrible it looks and how much it interferes with the functionality of the site, they'll take it off until they can figure out how to have work right. The site is really too much work to use the way it is.
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avan
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11/19/09 07:44pm |
Forum Technical Support
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RE: Allisson trasmisson question
Don't know what model you have in yours but mine is the Allison 3060. I do not run the synthetic. My tranny takes 32 quarts of fluid and mine, without the synthetic, requires changing every 25,000 miles. I always have the fluid and filter changes done at an Allison shop and it runs $200-210. Dunno, but $300 from a GM dealer sounds way out of line.
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avan
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11/19/09 06:28pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Disabled and Work?
Bumpy is right and depending on what you were disabled from, you may have a problem with even volunteer work if they knew. For example, if your prior job was an office type job and your disability was such that you were disabled because you couldn't concentrate or couldn't stay awake etc., evidence that you could even do volunteer tasks like greeting campers or manning a cash register might (should?) get you in trouble when it comes to answering any follow up questionnaire they may send (the younger you are when you get your disability, the more likely you are to be followed up on).
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avan
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11/19/09 03:04pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Question about deeded lots
Have bought and sold homes over the years but never a lot with a HOA. But as I said only 4 lots out of 60 sold so far. Just offered this fall. Looking for all the ideas I can find. My keyboard is worn out researching HOAs. But not much on what happens when a new one goes belly up.
So here's your scenario. You are one of 4 non bankrupt individual lot owners and a bankruptcy trustee is the owner of the other vacant, non-income producing 56. The fact that the developer went bankrupt pretty much proves that the market for more individual sales by the trustee is, at best, a soft market. The streets and common areas need maintenance. The pool has a broken pump which is expensive to replace and a waterpipe in the office/rec room bathroom burst and since there's no on site mgt to ramrod things to get done, all that soggy carpet is starting to smell and - what's that black stuff that is starting to grow on the walls?
The Trustee doesn't want to get into the real estate sales business or into the active RV park mgt business so his best 'out' is to try to find someone to buy the balance of the park. For that reason, he doesn't need to maintain things in pristine condition - in fact the windows of the clubhouse have been boarded up and the park's fancy sign is sort of 'lost' behind the 8' plywood sign proclaiming "For Sale by Bankruptcy Trustee".
Being the good guy you are, you keep paying your maintenance fees each month but your fellow 3 owners are no longer convinced that they made the right decision buying into the park so they are no longer paying. The promises made by the developer are, of course, no longer effective having been washed out in the bankruptcy. You're being sc**wed by the development and your fellow 3 owners and your recourse is to take it, walk away or spend your money, time & effort to rectify what you can. You don't have a HOA. You just have dysfunction, at best. What good is an Association if all it is is a bunch of rules but the only other players in the Association are in default, one way or another.
Is this what you paid your money for?? Would that be recreation in any sense of the word? You ask what happens when a new development goes belly up. If you're one of the few owners, what happens is a catastrophe and your buy in price had better have been cheap enough that you can afford to walk away. If the price is too much for you to walk from, then you'd be better off buying in a park that is already established, which has a budget that has been tested and proven realistic and has demonstrated resales.
Now if you can afford to leave your money on the table and walk, you should be able to buy in at entry level prices, take the risks and if the development is successful in its first 5 yrs or so, be well rewarded for your risk taking.
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avan
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11/18/09 08:09pm |
Snowbirds
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RE: Question about deeded lots
Read your docs which will tell you at what point the developer turns over control of the project to the HOA - the HOA type laws vary from state to state.
If the developer has some experience or his attorney does, he will retain total control as long as he can and even then he'll probably retain a board seat until the project is totally sold out. Since the developer controls sales, he therefore has complete control of when he turns the project over - all he has to do is not sell that lot that finally puts it in control of the HOA.
While the developer is in control, you will be at his mercy. The board will be made up of his minions. He will probably set the maintenance fees at a number that will help sales (lower $ than what it should be) without much regard for the future. Since most of the project is new, reserves will be set low because again low fees increase sales and when control is turned over there probably will be a need for special assessments or higher fees to build up reserves. A developer oriented set of docs will probably mean that the developer's unsold lots don't have to contribute monthly maintenance fees and the developer will award maintenance, landscaping etc. contracts on a no-bid basis to his own company. While in control, the developer can even change the docs and, therefore, the character of the project by a simple vote of HIS board.
If you are serious about being an early buyer, be sure you get a copy of all the docs and have someone knowledgeable read them and point out to you your risks. While at the early stage like this, if the developer or his agents opens their mouth and says something, get it in writing. Future clubhouses, pools etc are easy to draw on a site plan, easy to model for a sales office but can easily never materialize especially when you control the BOD.
The price has to really be low to make up for the extra risks of being an early joiner.
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avan
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11/18/09 03:15pm |
Snowbirds
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RE: Medigap and under 65
OP - DW is disabled and has had a medigap or equivalent policy since she was in her early 50's. The process is soooo simple. Go here. On the left side, click "Find and compare Medigap policies" icon. Then answer the 4 questions posed and click "Continue". It will bring up a page of all the medigap plans available and sold in your county. Just above the table of plans, you will see a link "Show only policies available to people under age 65". Click on it and you will have your answer.
You can view the details of each Plan by clicking on the appropriate "Details" link. When you've selected the Plan that makes the most sense for your health needs and anticipated 2010 usage, you can click on the details for that Plan and on the right side of that details sheet will be a section "Where to buy a policy" and clicking on that link, you will be provided a list, including Plan Name, web links, phone numbers, addresses etc. of all offerings of said plan in your county.
To the second poster - Mike. A Plan F is a Plan F no matter where in the country it is offered or by whom. These are standardized plans though not all plans are offered by all companies in all states or counties. Prices for a Plan may, and usually do, differ in the same company dependent on which county you are in. So the best priced Plan in county X of state Y may be the worst priced Plan in county A of State B. So, like above, put in your zip code etc., follow the links and you will see who offers Plan F in your county and by checking their web sites or calling, you will find who has the best price. Since the Plans will be the same, the only things you need to compare are price and reputation - i.e., "Fly By Night and Gypem Ins. Company" may have a lousy reputation for prompt payments to medical vendors and therefore it might not be the best choice even if the lowest price.
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avan
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11/17/09 02:11pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Good Place to Eat near Colllier-Seminole ???
An answer to your very similar post this past Feb.
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avan
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11/16/09 06:28pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: North Carolina campgrounds
You might try Ho Hum CG in Haynesville, NC
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avan
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11/15/09 06:58pm |
Snowbirds
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