Since GEICO will not insure my MCI...
I need to know where I can find AFFORDABLE Insurance for a Bus Conversion. Any info such as approximate rates, co name and phone numbers would be appreciated.
don't know what is cheap but I have all mine at Allstate. bus premium /$500 deductable full coverage including towing(I used) stated $75,000 value, includes Glass coverage. $46per month. pays to shop--S.W.Indiana
Call Malissa Thum,
Phone:
(616) 957-2400
(800) 866-0777
Fax:
(616) 957-1204
Address:
Thum Insurance Agency, L.L.C.
3140 3 Mile Rd. NE
Grand Rapids, MI
49525-3165
http://www.thuminsurance.com/ (http://www.thuminsurance.com/)
Rates are going to vary considerably by area, coverage, and number of tickets/accidents (if any). I pay around $750 a year, but I have the highest possible coverages for my auto insurance and I live in a large metro area. I would probably pay a lot less if I lived in a small town and had the state minimums on my insurance. I also have collision/comp in addition to liability.
Here in la. - Allstate has turned me down along with all of the big names...
VERY FRUSTRATING!
GMAC?
John
We have basic coverage from Progressive for 260 a year but it doesn't have towing or collision, just basic coverage. Progressive would be happy to forward the bill for full coverage to anyone that wants to cover it for me. ;D
We all do it different but me I would not drive a bus with minimum coverage something happens people and lawyers think you have assets me I always carried a million worth of coverage does not cost that much more to be on the safe side.
Check with another Geico agent I had no problem with getting coverage from them cost was 680 a year for 250,000 replacement,million liability, full glass coverage with no towing
good luck
The problem we had with finding an insurance agent is if they couldn't locate the bus in their rate books it didn't exist, state farm, allstate, geico, gmac, and several others all told me that they didn't cover bus conversions, only conventional rv's, I think it's simply because they didn't want to take the time to do the paperwork, I went to the trouble of getting estimates for replacement and getting the estimates for the bus value, progressive quoted me 1800 a year for full coverage which placed it out of reach for me. I've never had a ticket except for a parking ticket in 1968, I've never filed a claim since a deer hit in 1974 so my driving record shouldn't have been an issue. I won't do online insurance, I prefer a face to face thing with an actual live agent.
Face to face or know your agent way to do it Cody
good luck
I could get liability insurance to be legal running down the road with AAA. But to have RV insurance, Progressive is the one I have. Plus-My truck is also insured with them. I told Progressive I was doing a truck conversion-there only requirement was that the box was professionally made coming up to all FMVSS standards.
Plus I have Good Sam Emergency tow service-all tow companies I've talked to both enjoy working with Good Sam and honor their PO's. Good Luck, TomC
Quote from: cody on November 18, 2010, 08:30:55 AM
I've never had a ticket except for a parking ticket in 1968,
Cody you shocked me. I didn't know you were a criminal : Here I thought you worked in a prison :):)
Yep, I'm a criminamal for sure, I didn't even see the parking meter, I came back to the car and there sat this little red envelope under my wiper blade, it said to put a dollar in the envelope and put it into the little red box on the meter pole, thats when I saw the meter so I slid a dollar into the envelope and did as I was told and slid it into the little red box on the meter pole, my other option was to appear in court and explain to the judge how I had inadvertantly slid my car under that little red envelope. I kinda felt like arlo guthrie when they found his name on an envelope under that pile of trash in the movie. That was the beginning of my criminal career, life went downhill from there for me, I felt this complusion to break rules where ever I found them, I"ve crossed the street in the middle of the block, I hate to admit it but I even walked on the grass, I need help!!!!!!!!!!!!!, Hello,,,,,, I'm cody,,,,,,,, I have a bus. :'(
I use a company called Secura for all my insurance needs right now. I was lucky that they insured my bus with no issues. Travelers and others can get me lower rates, but they won't touch my bus.
Progressive! They insure both my bus and my daily driver and I got towing or other road side assistance too.
Make sure not to call it a bus, it is a motorhome.
Then tell them it is a class A custom motorhome.
State farm insured my bus in three different states. Oregon, Pennsylvania and Florida! That was full coverage with towing. They took pictures of it, so they know it was a conversion. Maybe try a different agent? HTH JIm
Here in Louisiana, Progressive, State Farm, GEICO and Allstate have all turned me down. I am going to sign up with an independent agent after work-Go Figure! Excuses that I was told by the BIG names was; that bus conversions was not a large enough market share, too high of a risk and no documented value being a custom coach and not an existing RV manufacturer.
Hopefully after today-Insurance problem solved...
Dave, I've heard those same excuses, most of my stuff is already insured thru state farm so I had hoped to get the bus insured there too, my biggest problem is when there is only one bus conversion within the 3 county area here and everyone knows me and the bus it's hard to tell them it's a class A motorhome, they know it's a bus, and because of how they have the state farm structured up here you can't use another agent cause they are set up in regions and you get who they got.
Hiding what you are trying to insure will probably result in not being covered when you need it. it will sound good and allow you to show the proper documents if you are stopped, but if the insurance company has to pay out, misleading statements may get you in hot water and no coverage. imho, deceit is not a good idea.
We called Poliseek who insured us with GMAC. Since we full time with no home stuck to land, state farm dropped us. we knew that would happen and started searching ahead of time. GMAC has pictures, inside and out. No room for them to say they didn't know what they were insuring. Poliseek is in the business of handling insureance for people on the road, insuring all sorts of things that others won't. highly recommended by Escapees club.
We've got ours insured for $150k in order to replace it. $1200/year with $1000 ded.
This thread is not the first one Ive read where people complained that Progressive turned down a bus conversion....... strange, they insure mine and other peoples too. I wonder what the deal is with them?
I had no trouble at all insuring both my RTS and my MC-9 as "RV Bus Conversions" with Progressive. I did it all online in just a few minutes and printed out my insurance cards. I also have my personal autos with them as well.
I called USAA since I have had them for years and years. They send all their RV insurance to progressive. I told them it was a 1995 MCI102D3 motorhome which is what the title says.
My insurance agent knows I have a bus conversion. I'm sure I told him it was a motorhome, but I seem to recall they couldn't find my make or model as a motorhome so the agent had to have pictures.
I have a stated value of $36,000 which is the original cost of the shell. I've never tried to get more coverage at this point. The $15,000 it cost for deferred maintenance and repairs plus new tires does little to increase the value of the bus. It might help the bus sell faster since I can produce repair receipts and a professional inspection report that says the bus is sound. (No, I am not selling.)
You're not hiding anything by saying it is a motorhome, that is what my title says and what the old title said.
When you say converted bus a schoolie is the first thing that comes into most people's minds. That is the reason to avoid saying, "bus".
I, too, have USAA and had not one problem insuring it. I didn't know they subcontract to Progressive though, strange for such a large company?
Quote from: gus on November 20, 2010, 05:59:19 PM
You're not hiding anything by saying it is a motorhome, that is what my title says and what the old title said.
When you say converted bus a schoolie is the first thing that comes into most people's minds. That is the reason to avoid saying, "bus".
I, too, have USAA and had not one problem insuring it. I didn't know they subcontract to Progressive though, strange for such a large company?
One of Progressive's choices when selecting what you have is "Class A RV BUS Conversion"... So mine is listed as a MC-9 Class A RV Bus Conversion....
What state farm told me is that if I had a 2004 winnibago brave they could look it up in their book, but because it's a bus they don't have any listings for it and I heard that story all over town, because they don't understand a bus conversion they won't insure it, they still picture the school buses they see going out in deer season with the stove pipe sticking out the window, thats what they envision even tho they know my bus and the state farm agent has been in it several times. The only agent I found that would insure it is a progressive agent that is a little more open minded and actually looked it over closely.
YES, success... Progressive through and independent agent finally insured my MC-9 as "RV Bus Conversions".
Miracles do happen, even in Louisiana!!!
Thanks everybody for the info and encouragement to continue my search.
MCIDave,
I to live in Louisiana, Denham Springs. So You have progressive, I was about to call my agent and find out what the damage would be by them. I'll chime in after I get his quote.
I had Progressive agreed value when the conversion was new. It was expensive. At that time USAA did not offer conversion insurance.
After a few years Progressive notified me with very short notice my premiums would more than double if I was using the Coach more than 180 days a year.
After much searching, as you are doing, I got a quote from Good Sam. It was real reasonable.
I happened to check USAA again and they were offering it then. The quote from Good Sam was actually a bit lower than USAA.
I went with USAA because I have been a member for more than 45 years. They are a great Outfit! Plus a portion of all premiums are rebated to your subscriber savings account. They requested photos to establish condition and I provided them. They explained to me that I should keep any receipts to document upgrades in case of a total loss. Plus they offer the ability to "store" the vehicle at a minimum premium when it is not in use.
Do not conceal any information when dealing with insurance or anything else. The info will surface if there is a claim and be grounds for denial. It also brands you as untruthful. It is my opinion that if more of us were upfront with all our dealings, the world would be a much better place.
I see quite a lot of deceitful advice given on these boards and in my opinion, that diminishes us all.
When I asked USAA to insure my 4107 in 12/10 they said they no longer insured RVs. I already knew they didn't insure trucks over one ton.
They insured my 4104 because it was grandfathered in from '05, but were taking no new ones.
I went to Progressive because USAA referred me to them and have been happy with them; however, I've never filed a serious claim with them either!
I have Good Sam Emergency road service and have been happy with that so their RV insurance is probably good also, GS seems to be a very well operated business.
Don't be fooled by USAA's rebate, they are just returning your money they didn't need like any other insurance company. They are great, I've been a member for 60 years, but they are required by law to return your money!!
You're lucky you didn't get State Farm, they and Allstate are the two worst insurance companies according to Consumer Reports and I have personal knowledge of how bad SF is. Both had disastrous records for home claim service after Katrina.
We got GMAC many years and rigs ago when we were Good Sam members. We haven't been members for 20 years now but still have the insurance. At the time we insured this bus, they only would do liability until we sent them pictures and an appraisal. They then gave full coverage based on the appraisal. I have since raised the coverage based on adding the auto transmission and other work. They did not ask for the documentation at the time but said I should keep it available should I ever need to show the work was done. So far, no problems.