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Traffic accident with CI?
- Thread starter Trippster
- Start date
We've had 3 CIs, that I know of, that have been in accidents. Cary may know of more.
One was an older one. It was one of the few wood sided CIs that were built. It happened in South Dakota. The teardrop & the tow vehicle rolled. Other than the hatch coming off, the teardrop held together. However, it was damaged beyond repair.
About a year ago, one was rear ended in Nebraska. It came back to the shop for repairs.
This spring, one in California was on it's maiden voyage when it was hit & it also came back to the shop for repairs.
Determining what, if any, repairs could be done & who would do them would depend on what is damaged & the extent of the damage.
One was an older one. It was one of the few wood sided CIs that were built. It happened in South Dakota. The teardrop & the tow vehicle rolled. Other than the hatch coming off, the teardrop held together. However, it was damaged beyond repair.
About a year ago, one was rear ended in Nebraska. It came back to the shop for repairs.
This spring, one in California was on it's maiden voyage when it was hit & it also came back to the shop for repairs.
Determining what, if any, repairs could be done & who would do them would depend on what is damaged & the extent of the damage.
Cary Winch
Camp-Inn Staff
Oh yes, we have repaired some pretty wrecked ones. So far only one has ever been written off as too badly wrecked. That was the one Betsey mentioned that was rolled in SD. Thing is, it was rolled something like 6 or 7 times. It was really smashed, yet it looked like it held up as well or better than the Jeep towing it. Pretty impressive actually.
The one that was hit on it's maiden voyage recently was an interesting one. Young gal talking on her cell phone drove into the side of the trailer at high speed. Spun the camper around so hard the trailer caved in the side of the pickup towing it (yet barely dinged the trailer on that corner). So, basically the camper got T-Boned right in the side of the door. Replaced the frame under (got twisted pretty good) and replaced the side wall and door on the one side of the trailer. Came out great.
Cary
The one that was hit on it's maiden voyage recently was an interesting one. Young gal talking on her cell phone drove into the side of the trailer at high speed. Spun the camper around so hard the trailer caved in the side of the pickup towing it (yet barely dinged the trailer on that corner). So, basically the camper got T-Boned right in the side of the door. Replaced the frame under (got twisted pretty good) and replaced the side wall and door on the one side of the trailer. Came out great.
Cary
Jim 2011
Novice
Of course getting one back to Wisconsin from California, or anywhere else for that matter, would be another issue. I suppose you could rent a U-Haul truck and put it inside. I don't think that my AAA or State Farm towing coverage would get me very far. I was in heavy stop-and-go traffic coming south through LA and "flinched" everytime I had to come to a stop hoping the cars behind me were paying attention.
Jim
Jim
Cary Winch
Camp-Inn Staff
Yes they did.
Cary
Cary
Cary Winch
Camp-Inn Staff
Not really sure. It would have been the insurance of the gal talking on her cell phone crashing into the camper that would have covered it, not the customer's I guess.
I think what it really came down to was good negotiating skills on the part of our customer. This was a brand new unit, his first outing in it. He had another trip planned in a couple of months for which he needed the trailer. If we built a new one there would have been no way to get it done in time for this trip so the insurance company would have had to provide a interim solution. They quickly figured out that used replacements like his did not exist and the customer was in no way going to go for a used unit since this one was brand new and unused (we had shipped it to him). Basically their options were build a new one and supply the customer with a interim solution or ship it to us and have it rebuilt. They were under the gun because it had to happen soon to get it done in time for his trip. Lots of room for arm twisting there.
One thing the insurance agent did that worked out really well on solving this though. The insurance agent knew the insurance company would balk at the shipping charges of course. So, he went to the local collision repair center that rebuilt the customer's truck. Had them bid it. So, nudge nudge, wink wink, the collision center went to us to have us quote it (with transportation cost included). They then put in their quote to the insurance company to repair it. It was less than replacement cost so the insurance company accepted the collision center's bid. This was really nice working with those guys. They handled getting it shipped to us and such. We shipped it back to the collision center when completed and they then arranged with the customer to pick it up. So, anyone having to go through a insurance repair should probably follow this agent's lead on how to do it.
Cary
I think what it really came down to was good negotiating skills on the part of our customer. This was a brand new unit, his first outing in it. He had another trip planned in a couple of months for which he needed the trailer. If we built a new one there would have been no way to get it done in time for this trip so the insurance company would have had to provide a interim solution. They quickly figured out that used replacements like his did not exist and the customer was in no way going to go for a used unit since this one was brand new and unused (we had shipped it to him). Basically their options were build a new one and supply the customer with a interim solution or ship it to us and have it rebuilt. They were under the gun because it had to happen soon to get it done in time for his trip. Lots of room for arm twisting there.
One thing the insurance agent did that worked out really well on solving this though. The insurance agent knew the insurance company would balk at the shipping charges of course. So, he went to the local collision repair center that rebuilt the customer's truck. Had them bid it. So, nudge nudge, wink wink, the collision center went to us to have us quote it (with transportation cost included). They then put in their quote to the insurance company to repair it. It was less than replacement cost so the insurance company accepted the collision center's bid. This was really nice working with those guys. They handled getting it shipped to us and such. We shipped it back to the collision center when completed and they then arranged with the customer to pick it up. So, anyone having to go through a insurance repair should probably follow this agent's lead on how to do it.
Cary
rwkrause@gmail.com
Novice
Since we are picking up our trailer soon we just called our insurance to get that set up. They (GEICO) had a person who just handles RVs and was actually familiar with teardrops. Our coverage includes unlimited towing and she said for us that would almost certainly mean back to Camp-Inn since finding any repair facility that was experienced in that type of repair was unlikely.
rwkrause@gmail.com
Novice
Well, of course they aren't going to put that line in writing and even if they did and really wanted to get out of it I'm sure they could find a way. But unlimited towing is in writing which is better then some. Hopefully I'll never have to test it to find out.