Fire-wiring-bundle-in-2005-meridain-itasca

ggreene · 09-08-2012, 03:31 PM

August 2012 we lost our RV due to an electrical fire. A wiring bundle was routed around a square corner and after 52,000 miles the friction from the square corner on the wires started a fire. We lost our dog from the very black toxic smoke. We were told if it had happened at night while we were sleeping we would not be here to tell the story. It will be 5 weeks this Tuesday and we still have no settlement from our insurance company. We are wanting to get another Class A. The insurance company is being very secretive and we know the case has been sent to their lawyers, but we should be paid before they go after the manufacturer. Has anyone else had problems dealing with insurance companies. AND PLEASE CHECK YOUR WIRING TO MAKE SURE THIS CAN'T HAPPEN TO YOU ARE YOUR LOVED ONES. THE WIRES WERE HIDDEN BEHIND A SHROUD AND COULD NOT BE SEEN TILL THE FIRE MARSHALL TOOK THE SHROUD OFF.

The model year is/was a 2005 Itasca Meridian. The wiring in question was the main power distribution bundle (which is hidden from normal view by a metal panel), and is in the shore power compartment just behind the driver's side left rear wheel. When you open the compartment you will see the shore power cord going into an overhead box, and to the right (rear) of that box is a metal structure with the power distribution behind that. Unknown to us until the fire was a 6x6 inch hole in the floor immediately under the bed (for routing power lines to the circuit breaker panel at the foot of the bet), through which went 90+ percent of the smoke from the fire. If you have this coach, or any one built several model years earlier or later, I'd have someone look into the wiring distribution in this area and mitigate any potential abrasion problems.

GMAC insurance

It is September 22 and GMAC still has not settled with us and the fire was Aug. 7. We have been told Winnebago is finally going to Denver to see the fire damage Oct. 16. Nothing like getting on it fast before someone is hurt or killed in another electrical fire. Can't believe how long it is taking GMAC to settle this claim and they advertise about their prompt and expertise in taking care of RV owners.

Had a fire in our 2005 Meridian Itasca in August and lost our dog in the fire. The fire marshal said it is a manufacture's fault. The main wiring bundle is hidden behind a shroud and wrapped around a square corner where after 52,000 miles of rubbing it started a fire. Look at our post in iRV2 and you can read more about the problem. Have your wiring checked. We are very concerned that someone might die from the oily, toxic smoke. We were told if we had been sleeping we would not be here today to tell you this story.

Also need to add about the Itasca Meridian fire, we are now dealing with GMAC insurance and they are taking forever to settle this claim. They claim to be experts on RV's and they are not proving it to us. We missed the rest of August, and now all of September traveling. We so want to be traveling again in October and they are slowing us down.

We had a fire in our 2005 Winnebago Aug. 8 due a poor wiring harness design. GMAC finally decided to total the coach after weeks of talking to them. We missed the rest of August and all of September traveling. It is now October and we want to be on the road, but still no settlement.
Have others had problems settling quickly with GMAC? They advertise they have "knowledgeable claims representative who understands the intricacies of your motorhome" and that they settle your claim "quickly."
What insurance companies are good to work with that know RV's?
We are the ones that lost our dog, Gypsy in the fire because of the black, oily, toxic smoke. The fire marshal told us if we had been in the RV sleeping we would not be here today as the smoke was so toxic.

August 8, in the afternoon a fire started in our Winnebago due to the wiring bundle being routed around a square corner and chaffing against it after 52,000 miles. The black, toxic, oily smoke covered everything, even in the cabinets, etc. The smoke killed our dog, Gypsy. The fire marshal said if we had been sleeping we would not be here to tell the story. The Dept. of Transportation is now involved in this. The wiring bundle was hidden behind a shroud and you could not see it. Check your coach and see how it is wired.
We are now dealing with GMAC insurance who finally decided to total the coach but they are being very slow in settling our claim. We have missed over 8 weeks now of travel time. What insurance company would be good to go with when and if we ever get a new RV? Needless, to say we will not be looking for another Winnebago product.

datrbone8 · 09-08-2012, 03:37 PM

The RV can/will be replaced but I'm so sorry for the loss of your companion.
I can't imagine losing a pet under those circumstances.

Larry

Gadget63 · 09-08-2012, 03:41 PM

Sorry for your loss

JMonroe · 09-08-2012, 03:55 PM

You are right, YOUR insurance company should be taking care of you, they can, and will, go after any product liability claims later. Many states will allow up to 30 days of having recieved proof of loss and supporting information/documents for an insurance company to make an offer. Don't know who you're insured with, but it sounds like they may be trying to get the manufacturer to step in saving them time and money?

So sorry to hear you lost your pup. We can relate, having lost one of ours in an auto accident earlier this year.

This will all get worked out, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Good luck.

DRBARBER001 · 09-08-2012, 04:05 PM

Who made the rv ?

BarbOD · 09-08-2012, 04:29 PM

How awful, I am so sorry for your losses, ggreene and JMoore.

RVThere · 09-08-2012, 06:10 PM

From the public profile, it looks like they have:
RV Manufacturer - Winnebago RV Model - Meridian Itasca RV Length - 40

If would be really helpful to everyone if ggreene could provide the year and the location where the fire started.

bluepill · 09-08-2012, 06:29 PM

You may get some help in speeding up the claim by contacting your state insurance department and finding out your rights. Do some research on the present value of your rig (before the fire) and its contents so you will know what a fair settlement is. You do not have to accept an insurance company's offer if you feel that they are "low-balling" you.

Detective · 09-08-2012, 07:03 PM

Sorry about your dog.

SarahW · 09-09-2012, 06:16 PM

Howdy and welcome to the forum. Sorry for your troubles with the fire and the insurance company. Personally, I would be hounding my insurance agent or hanging out at his office until SOMEBODY gave me a definitive answer about what the heck was going on, and WHEN I could expect a settlement. May I ask which insurance carrier you have?

I'm sorry about your dog, too.

toneumanns · 09-09-2012, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarahW

Howdy and welcome to the forum. Sorry for your troubles with the fire and the insurance company. Personally, I would be hounding my insurance agent or hanging out at his office until SOMEBODY gave me a definitive answer about what the heck was going on, and WHEN I could expect a settlement. May I ask which insurance carrier you have?

I'm sorry about your dog, too.

My experience with agents is that they are worthless when it comes to claims. They take your money but push you off to the claims dept. for damages. I once they, agents, were your ally in claims. Seems not. Sorry about your pet, we worry about that also when traveling with ours.

HHIDan · 09-09-2012, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggreene

The model year is/was a 2005 Itasca Meridian. The wiring in question was the main power distribution bundle (which is hidden from normal view by a metal panel), and is in the shore power compartment just behind the driver's side left rear wheel. When you open the compartment you will see the shore power cord going into an overhead box, and to the right (rear) of that box is a metal structure with the power distribution behind that. Unknown to us until the fire was a 6x6 inch hole in the floor immediately under the bed (for routing power lines to the circuit breaker panel at the foot of the bet), through which went 90+ percent of the smoke from the fire. If you have this coach, or any one built several model years earlier or later, I'd have someone look into the wiring distribution in this area and mitigate any potential abrasion problems.

Did this start in the Transfer Switch enclosure??

smlranger · 09-09-2012, 07:21 PM

So sorry for the loss of your beloved pet. I certainly hope your insurance company does the right thing and gives you a reasonable and prompt settlement.

Thank you for sharing this information with us. I will check my coach tomorrow. We travel with our two pups and we are always thinking of their safety.

cbeierl · 09-09-2012, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggreene

The model year is/was a 2005 Itasca Meridian. The wiring in question was the main power distribution bundle (which is hidden from normal view by a metal panel), and is in the shore power compartment just behind the driver's side left rear wheel. When you open the compartment you will see the shore power cord going into an overhead box, and to the right (rear) of that box is a metal structure with the power distribution behind that. Unknown to us until the fire was a 6x6 inch hole in the floor immediately under the bed (for routing power lines to the circuit breaker panel at the foot of the bet), through which went 90+ percent of the smoke from the fire. If you have this coach, or any one built several model years earlier or later, I'd have someone look into the wiring distribution in this area and mitigate any potential abrasion problems.

Do you by any chance have a picture of the specific area you're talking about?

historyljc · 09-10-2012, 01:04 AM

Hi ggreene, welcome to the forum. Sorry about your loss. I have a friend who suffered a similiar loss, from a different cause, earlier this and, like yours, his insurance company was most concerned about who they could go against and not settling the claim. I strongly suggest that it is time to get your lawyer involved. My friend made no progress on his claim until he got his lawyer involved.

Mikeflyme · 09-10-2012, 11:13 AM

Similar situation with frayed wires caused by mounting and/or even nylon ties holding hydraulic and electrical lines together, which could have also ended in a fire situation...

Read about it...then check your mountings too...probably came from manufacture process..

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/nylo...ou-133734.html

Mike

jeryan59 · 09-10-2012, 11:59 AM

I had a fire in our Motorhome, 40' American Eagle insured with Progressive with Agreed Value on total loss. First thing I would recommend as an insurance agent is to review your coverage. Determine which valuation clause you have in your policy. This is very important because if you have an agreed value, replacement cost or something similiar, you may only have so many days to replace the unit.

The advise of contacting an attorney may be necessary, but I think if you inform yourself of the value as previously stated, know the language in your policy to what you are entitled too, you may ultimately be satisfied. If not, I would certainly look into previous suggestions of contact your State Insurance Department or legal representation.

In addition, I would start inventory list of everything you had on board, you may have contents coverage under your RV policy but you may also have contents coverage under your Homeowners/Renter's Policy if you have one.

I am sorry for your loss, but there will come a point when you look back and see everything will be ok, I am not quite there yet from our 3/25/12 fire, but get closer every day.

George Schweikle · 09-22-2012, 08:02 AM

As others have suggested, contact your state insurance commissioner's office. They are the function that allows insurance companies to do business in your state and should be able to help with your issue. Ask if they know if GMAC has an Ombudsman. This a position within companies that is supposed to resolve problems with customers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggreene

It is September 22 and GMAC still has not settled with us and the fire was Aug. 7. We have been told Winnebago is finally going to Denver to see the fire damage Oct. 16. Nothing like getting on it fast before someone is hurt or killed in another electrical fire. Can't believe how long it is taking GMAC to settle this claim and they advertise about their prompt and expertise in taking care of RV owners.

Bigd9 · 09-22-2012, 08:29 AM

ggreene, you have gotten a lot of good advice in this forum. We suffered a complete loss due to a fire in our coach about 3 years ago. State Farm was very prompt in making an offer, and after making a few adjustments we settled. I'm thinking it took 3 weeks and a half dozen phone calls. That was for the coach.

Contents: This was a 2 year ordeal. We had replacement cost coverage. As you have already been advised, you need to make a list of EVERYTHING that was inside the coach. Toilet paper, silk flowers, pens and pencils, tools, throw rugs, toys, books....etc. EVERYTHING. My wife made one list room by room, and I made another list, then we consolidated our list. You would be surprised what one thinks of that the other forgets. I set up a spreadsheet with item, Amazon.Com cost, age of item. This became invaluable to us. With our insurance company, they sent us a check for the depreciated value of all items listed. Then as we replaced a item, they reimbursed us for the difference of the deprecated coast and the actual replacement cost.

I am sadden about your loss of the pet. That has to be hard to accept. I hope everything starts to work out for you soon. Keep us posted.

Dsouthw524 · 09-25-2012, 05:31 AM

I hope that you had replacement insurance!

when our's went in 05 we had some difficulties but they got resolved through the intersecion of Farm and City, our agent. We wound up with the amount we paid for the coach and some expenses. It showed the value of having Motorhome insurance and not a car insurance company!