Frequently Asked Questions 

Understanding the particular sector of the Texas mobile home insurance industry that pertains to the coverage you seek is difficult and confusing. The Texas mobile home insurance professionals at Mobile Insurance and Purvis Commercial want you to make the best decision for your circumstances. Getting the most complete insurance package requires knowledge of your risk and the best products to alleviate that liability. Allow Mobile Insurance and Purvis Commercial to help with answers to the following frequently asked questions.

For Texas Mobile Home Park Owners

Q. How do I get the best mobile home insurance coverage value for my Texas mobile home park?
A. Purchase coverage from a knowledgeable specialty agent who offers a mobile home park specialty insurance package. By buying from someone who is comfortable with your business type and knows the industry and your potential liability, you get more coverage at a lower rate.

Q. What issues regarding my park affect my insurance premium?
A. These issues have the greatest impact on your insurance premium:

• prior insurance losses,
• park size
• location,
• overall maintenance / condition,
• management procedures,
• water hazards,
• number of park owned rental homes, and
• the values of the buildings and improvements you insure.

Q What can I do to minimize my insurance costs?
A Follow your Texas mobile home insurance agent’s loss control recommendations. We’ll walk you through our recommended operating procedures and show you how they can save you money from day one. Review our loss control recommendations on the “Important Forms” section of our website for specific ideas.

Q. What are the typical mobile home insurance coverages/policies purchased by Texas Mobile Home Park Owners?
A. General liability is the most important. It protects you when your negligence leads to bodily injury or property damage suffered by others. If you have park owned homes, you need property coverage for those homes. If you have vehicles, you need commercial auto coverage. If you have employees, you need workers compensation insurance. And all park owners should carry loss of business income and hired/non-owned auto liability coverage.

Q. What type of insurance claims do you see most often for Texas mobile home park owners?
A. Slip and falls, trees and limbs falling on tenant homes, drowning, dog bites, electricity and gas related injuries, wind and hail damage to park property, employee injuries, and in-park traffic related injuries.

Q. Should I require my park tenants to carry home owners insurance on their home?
A. Yes. When they are insured, it gives them the money they need to repair or replace their house
if it is damaged or destroyed, thus saving you a good tenant. It also can pay to clean up the debris of their home if it burns to the ground, thus saving you that cost. Finally, if you refer your park tenants to us, we’ll send you marketing referral monetary incentives!

For Texas Mobile Home Retailers/Dealers

Q. What are the typical insurance coverages/policies purchased by a Texas Mobile Home Dealer?
A. General liability is the most important. It protects you when your negligence leads to bodily injury or property damage suffered by others. If you have inventory, you need inventory (open lot/ builder’s risk) coverage. If you have vehicles, you need commercial auto coverage. If you own no vehicles, you need hired/non-owned auto liability coverage. If you have employees, you need workers compensation insurance. All dealers should carry loss of business income coverage, too.

Q. I have a number of homes in my Texas mobile home inventory. How much should I expect to pay to cover these unsecured mobile homes while I own them?
A. The rate varies significantly with the primary rate factor being geography. These property insurance rates are higher in the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast and plains states. They are lower in New England and much of the Mountain west. The average national annual rate is about 1% of the wholesale value of your inventory.

Q. My Texas mobile home dealership doesn’t transport or install the homes it sales. Do I get a rate break if others do it?
A. Yes, you do, as long as you get these subcontractors to provide you with proof of insurance and name you as an additional insured on their insurance policy. You should also use a written Performance Agreement with every sub-contractor. And remember, that you are ultimately responsible for your sub-contractor’s negligence in most cases.

Q. What type of insurance claims do you see most often for Texas mobile home dealers?
A. Slip and falls, Texas mobile home insurance product liability, transportation and set-up related property damage and bodily injury, wind and hail damage to inventory, and employee injuries.

For Texas Mobile Home Owners

Q. Is Texas mobile home owners insurance as good as site-built home owners insurance?
A. Yes. In fact, it’s usually better. Many mobile home owners policies have more comprehensive coverage and include flood insurance.

Q. Do I get a discount if I buy my Texas mobile home owners, auto, and Texas boat insurance from the same company?
A. Yes! You do. Discounts can be substantial too. Isn’t that cool!?!

Q. How can I get a really low insurance premium?
A. Work with an insurance agent that is contracted with the best Texas mobile home insurance companies and knows which ones offer the best value in your area. Raising your deductible and choosing to pay in fewer payments also lowers your premium.

Q. I heard on the news that manufactured homes are unsafe in windstorms. Is that really true?
A. It can be true for pre-1986 manufactured homes in poor condition. However, manufactured
homes built in the past ten years actually carry higher wind ratings than most site-built homes. When properly set, a modern manufactured home is very safe.

For Texas Marine Insurance

Q. When requesting a Texas boat insurance quote for my commercial fishing boat is an inspection / survey of the boat required?
A. Vessel inspections are required for:
All Commercial passenger boats over 10yr s of age
All Saltwater commercial boats – over 10 yrs of age and worth at least $25,000
All Freshwater commercial boats – over 15 yrs of age and worth at least $25,000
In addition, a survey may be required if there are any concerns associated with:
Your Texas boat insurance loss history, custom construction of the vessel, modified engines or drives, instances where the value of the vessel cannot be validated or is valued above the book market value, or if the vessel was previously uninsured.

Q. What is “Crew Coverage”?
A. It is an optional coverage that pays for injuries sustained by on-board crew members relating to
the USL&H/Jones Act. It’s only available on passenger charters of 6 passengers or more. Crew
liability is limited to passenger charters with a maximum crew of 3. The available limits are
$50,000 per crew member/$100,000 per accident or a $100,000 combined single limit.

Q. What is Pollution Liability?
A. It is an optional coverage which provides protection to the insured in case of a sudden, accidental and unexpected discharge or spillage of a contaminant from the insured boat, due to an accident. Limits of $500,000 and $800,000 are available.

Q. When will I need to supply you with a Texas boat insurance loss run (history of my insurance losses)?
A. The insurer may ask for it at any time, but always will whenever $1,000,000 liability limits or
more are requested.

Q. Is an MVR required when I request a boat insurance quote?
A. Yes. If you are seeking liability limits in excess of $300,000

Q. What is Storage and Transit coverage?
A. It provides coverage for your Texas boat when it isn’t in the water. For instance, if your boat is under re-fit, storage, or in transit. This coverage is suspended the moment the insured watercraft is lifted or launched from its trailer to be placed into the water. At that time, your regular boat coverage takes over.

Q. Who is eligible for your specialty Commercial Fish Vessel Insurance Program?
A. Commercial fishermen that operate shrimp boats, lobster boats, hook and line boats, or net fishing boats. This program is targeted to the sole proprietor of a commercial fishing boat. The maximum length is limited to 45’.

Q. Can I buy coverage for just part of the year?
A. Yes, you can, however, it generally doesn’t make economic sense to do so. Most vessel insurance policies are written on a twelve month basis. If you cancel midterm, you will be due a refund. But that refund will be subject to penalties for mid-term cancellation due to the seasonality of boating and the storm season.

Q. What coverage does the Watercraft Rental Program offer?
A. Liability and hull coverage to the rental boat company. Emphasis is placed on the operation itself and the operating history of the business. A proven loss history and a manager that provides plenty of supervision of the rental activities is an ideal choice for the insurance company.

Q. What are some of the factors taken into consideration for the Watercraft Rental Program?

For Texas Health Insurance

Q. Buying Texas health care insurance is complicated. There are so many options. What recommendation would you give me as I begin my search for what is best for me?
A. Use a Texas health insurance agent you know and trust, one that understands health insurance and will take the time to give you not only options, but personalized advise.

Q. I have some pre-existing medical issues that are significant. What should I expect from an insurance offer?
A. If you are purchasing individual Texas health care insurance, you’ll see a higher premium, a coverage exclusion for your condition for a certain amount of time, or an unwillingness to offer any quote. If you are part of a group policy, you’ll be offered a quote without the exclusion, but the overall group rate may be higher.

Q. A low premium is what I’m searching for. How can I get the lowest premium?
A. Consider a Health Savings Account (H.S.A .) policy. The effective deductible will be higher, but you’ll save on your annual premium roughly the amount between the low deductible option and the H.S.A. deductible you choose. And if you don’t use that deductible amount for health care costs, you get to keep it in a tax deductible account. In effect, your deductible expenses become tax deductions!

Q. What key coverage items should I pay attention to when shopping for Texas health insurance?
A. Look at issues such as co-pays for doctor visits and prescriptions, the deductible, the total amount of lifetime coverage (get $2 million or more), the coinsurance you pay above the deductible and to what level that goes, does the company pay the cost of the medical service or their belief of what the cost should be, and are there enough doctors in this company’s network in my area.

For Texas Apartment Complex Owners

Q. How do I get the best coverage value for my Texas apartment complex?
A. Mobile Insurance recommends you purchase a policy from a knowledgeable specialty agent who offers an apartment specialty insurance package. By buying from someone who knows and is comfortable with your business type, you get a much better deal.

Q. I’d like to buy general liability coverage, property coverage for my buildings, and loss of business income coverage. Do I need three separate policies?
A. No. In fact, it’s best to buy them as a package if you can. You save money and get significantly better overall coverage if you buy a specialty Texas apartment insurance package that usually includes all of these coverages.

Q. My apartment complex is located near the Gulf of Mexico. Will I still be able to find wind coverage?
A. In most cases, you will. The wind coverage may be sold separately through either Lloyds of London or a state wind pool, but coverage is almost always available.