Why Standard Insurance Doesn’t Cover Burst Pipes

There are plenty of good reasons for investing in RV skirting from AirSkirts. One of the most important is financial, and it relates to the amount you would spend to have burst pipes replaced. Standard RV insurance generally doesn’t cover pipes that burst due to cold temperatures. Trailer and RV skirts are designed to prevent that from happening, making protecting your pipes the primary reason for purchasing skirting.

A good RV skirting that offers an insulating barrier against cold temperatures will pay for itself by preventing pipe damage. If you are curious as to whether or not our product is worth investing in, check out our pricing and then compare it to what you would pay to have your pipes replaced.

Insurance and the Question of Neglect

The lack of insurance coverage for frozen pipes that burst is a matter of neglect. In other words, it is understood that an RV or motorhome isn’t equipped for cold temperatures like a standard home. Therefore, it’s also understood that RV owners will take the steps necessary to protect plumbing.

Insurance companies view frozen pipes as the result of a failure to take such steps. To them, that is neglect. Even if you, as an RV owner, didn’t purposely do anything to put your rig at risk, the insurance company’s position is that you neglected to take care of it properly, thus allowing damage to the pipes. They will not cover that damage.

Protecting your trailer or motorhome with AirSkirts RV skirting demonstrates that you are not neglecting your RV. In fact, you are taking the most effective step to protect it against cold weather. You won’t have to worry about what your insurance company thinks about frozen pipes because yours will be safe.

Water Damage Coverage

You can go online and find posts encouraging you to purchase special water damage coverage for your RV. It’s not a bad idea if you’re worried about damage caused by water seeping in through vents, windows, etc. But very few water damage policies cover frozen pipe damage by default. If you want that kind of coverage, you have to add it separately. And even at that, most insurance companies don’t offer it.

It boils down to the fact that RV plumbing is not designed nor built to withstand cold temperatures. Therefore, there is the expectation that pipes will be damaged if not protected by the owner. As far as RV insurance companies are concerned, that’s too much risk. They will not cover it because they suspect doing so would result in disproportionately high claims.

RV Skirting as Insurance

This brings us back to the idea of RV skirting. Whether you have a full-size motorhome, a fifth wheel, or a smaller trailer, skirting acts almost as a physical insurance policy. Rather than just a promise to pay out in the event you make a claim, RV skirting helps to prevent the damage that would result in a claim.

Bear in mind that the type of skirting you use makes a difference. A thin layer of plastic hanging down like a curtain will certainly cut down on airflow underneath your RV or trailer. But that plastic, on its own, doesn’t insulate all that well.

AirSkirts is different because our design creates a barrier that fills empty space rather than hanging like a curtain. Not only that, the air inside our skirting acts as an extra layer of insulation. It will help protect your RV against broken pipes rather than forcing you to rely on an insurance policy that probably won’t cover frozen pipe damage anyway.