Colorado Hail Storm

[Bailey'sMom]

Wow! Not what you want to see on a less than one year old camper. Definitely check with your TM dealer for full extent of damage and if you need new shells.

[pauloh]

I’ll add 2 cents (or maybe 4) and my experiences with insurance to this post since my situation is similar and possibly from the same same storm system (but up in S. Dakota, north of Denver a ways.) Maybe it'll be of use to someone: Aug. 3, 2013, we had a major hailstorm during the night, just before leaving on 2-week camping trip. Golf-ball size hail for maybe 10 minutes. Our TM 3124KB was folded down (and hooked up to the tow vehicle) or things would have been much worse. The hail destroyed the 2 manual roof vents (including breaking through the screens inside them, made holes in the more durable Fantastic Fan vent cover, and damaged the AC cover (somewhat brittle from being in the sun, as were the roof vents.) Also broken or damaged were a tail light lens, the LP gas tanks cover, and one side light lens.

The exposed roof shells were pretty well beat up, several hundred dings up to quarter size, as well as a few on the driver’s side of the TM where the storm blew in from. Since it was folded down, the destroyed roof vents only “leaked” rain onto the other shell beneath. No water got inside, yahoo!

After an assessment and realizing we had no major leaks from the storm, we decided to go on our trip anyway, stopping at a (non-TM) RV dealer on the way to get 2 MaxxAir vent covers which were a quick fix at the campground to cover the broken manual vents (it rained again later and the MaxxAir covers kept all the water out.) The dealer also gave us a FREE Fantastic Fan vent cover under the lifetime warranty of this truly “fantastic” company. I got a new taillight lens and put that on also.

Back home again later in August, I contacted our insurance company (USAA, also “fantastic” in my opinion), they sent an adjuster to my home, who I tried to “educate” about the specifics of fixing up a TM. I had called TrailManor dealer “The Car Show” in Colorado Springs for their advice...they said it would cost around $13,000. to actually fix the kind of damage I described, since the shells which are dented have to be REPLACED, they cannot be “skinned” with new aluminum as is apparently done with other RV brands. They also were very helpful with a “retail value” estimate of an undamaged TM like mine (which has most of the options), pegging it at around $9000. in good average condition. (I paid $13,500. about 3 years ago.) I gave this info to the adjuster.

USAA contacted me in a couple days, saying the trailer was “totaled” and came up with a value of about $8450. using 3 comparable sales of similar-age TMs around the country in the past 9 months or so (2 private sales, 1 dealer). After I pointed out a couple things the adjuster had missed (over sink cabinet, power vent, etc.), this was raised to about $8800. At my request they put it out for bids for purchase by salvage companies and within minutes they were offered $1500. This meant that we could optionally keep the trailer and receive a payment of about $7100. We have accepted this offer and will fix the vents and live with the dents. (Hey, that rhymes!) Tow vehicle was also damaged and payment received from USAA for optional repair.

[MarkoPolo]

I thought I might follow up on the hail damage. State Farm required an adjuster to look at the Trailmanor at the dealership to come up with a supplemental payment. I could use the payout to either reduce the note or give it to dealer for repair or trade. The numbers worked out to order a new 2922KD with a cassette toilet and special "Rocky Mountain" striping. The payments remains the same, just a one year newer trailer. So, in few weeks we will have a new TM, and someone will get a good deal on a 2922KD with "character". I thought long and hard about keeping the trailer--but decided to go new. The Trailmanor is our semi-retirement present to ourselves, so new will be nice. Now if we can just keep more hailstorms away

[Redtail Cruiser]

Mark, isn't trying to keep hailstorms out of Colorado like trying to keep sand storms out of Arizona.

[MarkoPolo]

Tim, you are right, but this is the first roof replacement on our house that was built in 1992. Seems like these things come in bunches, so I hope next year is no repeat. That is why I am thinking of trying to fit a rather large car port with one solid side on our property to avoid this in the future. This is the main reason this was a hard decision--I will definitely kick myself if it happens again.

[Redtail Cruiser]

Hey Mark I hear ya, I only mention it because I was caught in two sand storms within in three years back in the late seventies and had to get two front end paint jobs on two different trucks. The insurance company paid for both, but my rates went up.

Kudos to you for gettin exactly what you wanted out of this.

[MarkoPolo]

Well, our new 2922KD has arrived in Colorado Springs and we will go down The Car Show to pick it up (and trade our 2013!) on Saturday. Not sure if I will have a chance to put it up and take any photos--with the shank of winter coming it probably will be stored until spring to outfit and get ready for next year's camping season. If you don't mind cosmetic dents, there should be a pretty good deal on our 2013 2922KD!

[LoveToCamp]

Great! Hope you don't have any more hail!