09/01/2026
The first insurance number on an RV is almost never the number that actually fixes it.
That is not a conspiracy. That is how the claim process is built.
Here is what actually happens.
You file the claim. An adjuster or appraiser looks at the coach. A lot of the time that person comes from the auto world and is writing the estimate in CCC, Mitchell, or Audatex. Those programs are built around cars. An RV is not a car with a bed in it. It is a laminated house on a frame: fiberglass or aluminum skin, foam or wood core, roof membrane, slide boxes, interior walls, wiring, plumbing, and sealant lines that hide damage until you open them.
The first estimate is written from what they can see standing outside. Dented cap. Torn membrane. Cracked compartment door. Hail dimples on the roof. That is the visible scope.
What they cannot see yet:
Wet or rotten OSB under the roof membrane
Delamination spreading behind the sidewall
A slide opening that racked out of square
Crushed foam, bent structure, or broken wiring behind a “small” impact
Interior water stains that only show after the wall covering comes off
Freight, OEM parts pricing, extra labor to access, and the hours it takes to reseal the coach correctly
Industry shops that do this every week will tell you the same thing: on laminated RV structures, the visible damage is often only a slice of the real repair. One documented example in this space started at a $4,200 adjuster number and landed at $11,870 after proper photos and teardown. That gap is normal, not rare.
That is why the word “supplement” exists.
A supplement is not the shop inventing extra work. It is the formal request that says: we opened the coach, here are the photos, here are the measurements, here are the part numbers, and here is the labor the first walk-around missed. Progressive and other carriers even say in their own process that if additional damage is found, they revise the estimate. Good shops expect to supplement on most serious RV claims. Some RV facilities say they have to go back to the appraiser on roughly three out of four insurance estimates.
What owners get wrong:
Treating the first check like a final bid. It is a starting scope.
Taking a cash-out just to “be done.” Once you accept a cash settlement, you usually lose the right to supplement when hidden damage shows up.
Letting an auto-minded estimate dictate OEM vs aftermarket parts, labor hours, and whether the roof deck actually gets replaced.
Waiting weeks to cover a hole. Water does not wait on the adjuster.
What you should do instead:
Photograph everything before anyone starts. Wide shots and close-ups.
Read the first estimate line by line. If a compartment, cap, roof corner, or slide is damaged and not listed, flag it immediately.
Take the coach to an RV shop that will tear down, document, and submit the supplement with photos and pricing. Do not start structural work on money that has not been approved.
Know whether your policy pays actual cash value or replacement cost. ACV often means depreciation comes off the first check. Recoverable depreciation may come later only if the repair is completed and documented.
Your deductible still applies. That part does not disappear.
We work insurance claims in-house for that reason. We do not hand you a printout and leave you to argue with the carrier. We document the damage, write the estimate the adjuster can actually use, and send the supplement when teardown shows what the first walk-around could not.
If your coach got hit by hail, a tree, a parking lot pole, or a blowout and the first number feels light, it probably is. That does not mean the claim is dead. It means the real repair has not been written yet.
RV Repair Men
Azle, TX
(682) 258-3711
rvrepairmen.com
Integrity first. Fix it right the first time.
