Will the damage from recent flooding in Dallas Texas total my RV?
Its been a rough couple of weeks here in Dallas Texas. A squall line of storms stalled over Dallas, dropping record-setting rainfall and triggering a Flash Flood Emergency in North Texas. The most recent rain added to the damage inflicted by thunderstorms that have killed at least 23 people statewide, including two overnight in North Texas and left 13 missing.
As Dallas residents, we are all digging out from the storm debris and assessing the damage to our property. For those reading this post, this probably includes your RV as some Dallas Texas RV owners live in their RV almost year round.
What is the number one killer of RV’s?
Water. Plain and simple, water can kill or total out an RV faster than any other type of damage, even collision damage. And RV’s are extremely vulnerable to water. Unlike a car that is stamped out of steel and sealed tight, RV’s are made of a variety of materials that are expanding and contracting all day every day. These materials expand and contract at different rates, and thus gaps and cracks appear. Water is always seeking those openings, and water will always find those vulnerabilities in your RV.
The problem is, you might not see it at first. In fact, you could have a water problem for month even years and not know it. Small trickles or even small drips can easily get into electronics and rot out wood sub structures.
Will my RV get totaled from the floods in Dallas?
With all the flooding in the Dallas area these past few weeks, if your RV was submerged in water for any period, the chances greater than 90% that your RV is going to get totaled. When you start adding up all the components that are submerged in a flood, the cost to repair and replace them add up fast.
First there are the RV’s frame and mechanical components such as the engine, drive train, transmission and rear axles. Then underneath the floor of your RV are some of the HVAC systems, pumps and power systems.
Then any water that got into the RV interior will start to split mold over and rot any of the wood components inside. We are talking about flooring, wall structures, carpeting, and cabinets. To fix a flood damaged RV, we would almost have to build it up from scratch. The sad news is, your RV is going to get totaled if it was flooded.
But what if you received damage during the storm, but the RV wasn’t flooded?
Well depending on the extent of the damage, there is a good chance that your RV might get saved from the salvage yard. That is where a really good RV repair shop comes in. And I’m not talking about a dealership who is going to be quick to sell you a replacement RV, I’m talking about a dedicated, RV repair shop such as ours here in Mansfield Texas.
When it comes to RV’s, not all insurance claims specialists, know how to write a damage claim for an RV. With all the claims that insurance adjusters will be writing for flood-damaged homes and autos, the staff is going to spread very thin, and the adjusters are going to be over worked. They will likely choose the easiest solution to close out a claim which in many cases means just writing it off as a total loss and handing you a check.
The problem with that approach is many RV owners are financing their RV’s for so many years, that they could be upside down in the loan, and might not be able to afford to replace the RV, or worse, still owe money on an RV that just got shipped to a salvage yard.
At Coach Specialists, we know how to write a claim and educate a claim adjuster. We can fast track your claim and get it paid so that we can move on to the repair of your RV. In fact, some insurance companies send their claims adjusters to our facility to train their employees in one of our claims seminars. Prior to opening the Doors at Coach Specialists, we were auto body repair professionals. We know what claims adjusters look for in an auto body repair estimate. Since most adjusters are more familiar with auto body repair claims, we write our RV repair estimates the same way. This gives the adjuster a level of comfort, and they accept our estimates more than the average shop.