From the Front Lines: RV

• By: Olivia Overman
• August 18, 2025

Heather Gablehouse

Owner

Consumers’ Choice Insurance Agency

Tabor City, North Carolina

By Olivia Overman

How did you get started at your agency?

I started working at my mom’s insurance agency right after high school and believed it would be short-lived. I thought insurance was going to be so boring and it was definitely only going to be temporary until I could decide what I wanted to do with my life. I quickly came to the realization that I was wrong and that maybe this was going to be my niche after all. I worked for my mom for nearly 14 years and then decided to branch off on my own. I opened my agency, Consumers’ Choice Insurance Agency, in 2019.

Why recreational vehicle (RV) insurance?

RVs are one of the many lines of insurance my agency writes. However, it’s certainly a market we’re seeing grow rapidly. Some of this growth is likely due to our location—we’re only 40 miles from Myrtle Beach—where they hold several bike rallies every year and golf carts are as commonly used as cars. We also have numerous RV campgrounds and dealers, as well as countless waterways for boating and fishing close by.

Changes in the RV market?

The underwriting process is becoming a little more tedious than it has been in previous years. A challenge I’m finding lately is that a lot of companies are no longer writing golf carts licensed for road use. This trend is understandable, but unfortunate since these customers are obviously required to carry liability insurance on anything they’ll be driving on the highway and finding a market for them is becoming so complicated.

Future trends?

The RV insurance market will see more companies offering coverage for a wider variety of products. Several personal lines companies we currently represent are already offering to write coverage for at least one type of RV. Since this market is growing so rapidly, companies will begin writing more of these types of products in the future.

Advice for a fellow agent?

For any fellow agents looking to enter into the RV market I would say: Do it and do it fast! If not, you’re potentially missing out on a lot of quick and easy sales, especially if they are existing personal lines clients. Lots of companies offer the ability to cross-sell these products, making it too simple to pass up.

Olivia Overman is IA content editor.