FAQ cluster 03
Insurance Claims and Adjusters
OCRV Center writes and submits estimates and supplements directly to carriers, meets adjusters for reinspection, and documents hidden damage with photographs and measurements. Naming a carrier on this site indicates claim handling experience with that company, not affiliation or endorsement. Owners select their own repair facility and pay only the policy deductible.
At a glance
- Cluster
- Insurance Claims and Adjuste
- Questions
- 15
- Other clusters
- 5
- Service model
- In shop only
- Market
- Eastvale, CA
An RV claim is not a car claim with bigger numbers. Adjusters who handle mostly automobiles are often unfamiliar with laminated sidewall construction, slide mechanisms, house electrical systems, and the way water damage propagates through a wood frame. A large part of our claims work is translating what a technician found into language and documentation a carrier can approve. That means measured photographs, part numbers, published labor times where they exist, and written reasoning where they do not.
We work with every major carrier and are affiliated with none of them. If a carrier name appears anywhere on this site, read it as a statement that we have handled claims through that company, nothing more. There is no endorsement, no referral arrangement, and no commitment running in either direction. Under California practice the vehicle owner chooses the repair facility. Your carrier can recommend a shop, and you can decline the recommendation without affecting what the policy owes you.
01Can I choose my own shop, or does the insurer pick?
The choice belongs to the vehicle owner. California practice allows an insurer to suggest facilities in its network, and it may not condition payment of a covered claim on using one. You can take the recommendation or decline it. What the carrier owes under the policy does not change based on where the work is done. Practically, the shop you pick should be the one that can document a repair well enough to get the supplement approved, because that is where claims stall.
02How is a supplement written and submitted?
After teardown, the estimator builds a supplement listing each newly discovered item, the part number and price, the labor operation, and the hours. Photographs attach to each line, taken with a scale reference where the damage is dimensional. The package goes to the adjuster electronically, usually the same day teardown finishes. Most carriers respond within a few business days. If a line gets denied, we ask for the reason in writing and either supply more documentation or discuss it with the owner.
03What is a reinspection?
Some carriers send an adjuster back to physically verify supplement items before approving them, particularly on larger RV losses. The unit stays torn down and staged so the damage is visible when the adjuster arrives. Torn down units are kept accessible rather than reassembled and reopened, since that would be labor billed twice. Reinspections typically add three to seven days to the calendar. Scheduling sits with the carrier, and we push for a date rather than waiting to be called.
04Who pays the deductible and when?
The deductible is your share and it is collected at pickup, along with any owner elected upgrades and any betterment the carrier assigned. The carrier pays its portion directly or by check. A shop that offers to absorb or waive your deductible is committing insurance fraud and creating a problem for you as well, so nobody here will do it. On a claim, the deductible appears as its own line on the final invoice so the math stays transparent.
05What is the difference between actual cash value and agreed value?
An actual cash value policy pays what the unit was worth immediately before the loss, meaning purchase price minus depreciation, which on an older motorhome can be a fraction of what the owner expects. An agreed value policy sets the number when the policy is written, and that is what pays on a total loss. Agreed value costs more in premium and is worth it on coaches with custom work, restorations, or specialty builds. Read your declarations page before you need to know.
06When does an RV get totaled?
Carriers compare repair cost plus expected supplement against a percentage of vehicle value, commonly somewhere between 70 and 80 percent depending on the company and the state salvage rules. RVs cross that line faster than cars because values depreciate sharply while parts and labor do not. A ten year old travel trailer with a crushed corner and frame damage often totals on the first estimate. On a high value coach, a comparable hit gets repaired without discussion.
07What is an appearance allowance?
An appearance allowance is cash the carrier pays instead of performing a repair, usually on cosmetic damage the owner is willing to live with. A scuffed lower skirt on a unit that already carries road rash, or a small dent in a panel that would otherwise require a full side reblend. The owner takes the money, the item comes off the repair plan, and the unit leaves with that damage present. It is a reasonable option when the cosmetic fix costs far more than the annoyance.
08Will the insurer pay for original manufacturer parts?
That depends on the policy language and the age of the unit. Many policies allow the carrier to specify aftermarket or LKQ parts where they exist and are of like kind and quality. On RVs the practical problem is that aftermarket alternatives frequently do not exist, since the original supplier built a run for one model year and stopped. When an aftermarket part does exist and will not fit or finish correctly, we document why and request the original part with supporting photographs.
09What is an LKQ part?
LKQ stands for like kind and quality, meaning a used original part pulled from a salvaged unit. On recreational vehicles this is often the only path to a discontinued component: a specific window frame, a molded fender skirt, a slide fascia, a compartment door in the right size. A good LKQ part is inspected on arrival for cracks, hidden repairs, and chalking from sun exposure before it goes on your unit. A bad one gets rejected and reordered rather than installed.
10How do you document hidden damage so it gets approved?
Photographs from consistent angles at each stage of teardown, with a tape measure or scale in frame when the damage has depth. Moisture meter readings recorded by location on a mapped diagram. Structural measurements against published dimensions where a chassis or frame is involved. Part numbers pulled from tags rather than guessed. Written notes explaining why one repair method was chosen over another. Carriers approve what they can see and verify, and deny what arrives as a bare line item.
11Does the carrier pay the shop directly or send me a check?
Both happen. Some carriers issue payment directly to the repair facility once the work is documented as complete. Others issue a two party check made out to you and to the shop, or to you and your lienholder if the unit is financed. A two party check needs your endorsement before it can be deposited, and a lienholder check often has to be mailed to the lender for signature, which adds a week or more. Plan for that on pickup timing.
12Are you affiliated with any insurance company?
No. If a carrier is named anywhere on this site, that reflects experience handling claims through that company and nothing else. There is no affiliation, no endorsement, no network membership, and no arrangement in which a carrier steers work here or the shop shades an estimate in a carrier favor. Our estimate is written from what the unit actually needs. That independence occasionally means a longer negotiation on a supplement, and it also means the repair plan is not shaped by an outside cost target.
13Does my policy cover a rental or loss of use while the RV is here?
That depends entirely on your policy. Many RV policies include loss of use or emergency expense coverage, which may reimburse lodging or a rental for a defined number of days or up to a dollar cap. It is rarely enough to cover a ten week structural repair. Read the declarations page and ask your adjuster in writing what the daily limit and total limit are before the unit comes in, since the number affects how you plan the repair window.
14Comprehensive or collision, which one applies?
Collision covers impact with another vehicle or object, including a rollover. Comprehensive covers most everything else: hail, falling tree limbs, fire, theft, vandalism, animal strike, and blown out glass. Deductibles for the two are often different, and comprehensive is frequently the lower of the pair. Low overpass strikes on tall coaches usually get written as collision. Wind damage to an awning while parked is usually comprehensive. Which one the adjuster codes it under changes what you pay out of pocket.
15What if the adjuster estimate is much lower than yours?
That is common on a first pass and usually means the adjuster wrote from photographs without teardown. The path forward is documentation rather than argument. We tear down, photograph, measure, list part numbers, and resubmit with the reasoning attached. Most gaps close at that point. If a specific line stays denied, you get the stated reason from the carrier in writing plus a clear explanation of what it means for the repair plan and for your out of pocket cost.
- DWG
- FAQ-03
- SCOPE
- INSURANCE CLAIMS AND ADJUSTERS
- SHEET
- 04 OF 07
- SCALE
- 1:1
- MARKET
- EASTVALE, CA
- SHOP
- YORBA LINDA, CA
More questions about insurance claims and adjusters
Answers specific to one vehicle need the length, the construction and a photograph. Owners in Eastvale get those in writing without a trip.