So I tried to change my RV policy with Progressive from my old RV to the 4104 and Progressive said no, we don't insure bus conversions. So I asked to speak with a supervisor and explained that there is nothing any different on my conversion and any of the other diesel pushers out there and I said that there are a LOT of people who have the same or similar conversions and are insured by Progressive. His response was that everyone of them has slipped through and shouldn't be insured. He said if they ever need to file a claim that the claim will be denied and their insurance will be cancelled. I said that the state of Florida has titled my 4104 as a motor home and he asked about what it had in it as far as bathroom and kitchen and such and said, well it is kind of borderline so let me ask the RV underwriter and call you back. He called back and said sorry, we can't do it. So if you have Progressive, better make sure you don't every need to file a claim.
I am currently waiting to hear back from Good Sam to see if their underwriter will approve it. They had me send pictures and because of the age, if they approve it, will only do liability, which is fine with me. If Good Sam doesn't approve where next? There are a lot of conversions out there and someone has to be insuring them.
I have National General. Liability only but no questions asked at all.
Thanks, I will check them out.
Progressive website has a check box for professional and non professional bus conversions when requesting an online quote.
I had no problems getting my MCI 'motorhome' insured by progressive earlier this year. They came and took photos and wanted to verify the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. I have good liability coverage and its insured for a stated value. Like everyone else, I hope I don't have to use it.
We have National Interstate and have had good luck. They also have a good deal with coach net for roadside service, don't leave home without it!
National Interstate is the best they insurance about all the charter services buses they know buses and Rv's
progressive here too...10 years.
they have pictures and an Appraisal etc.
fulltime coverage, contents, agreed value, liability and if you fall off my roof...i'm covered.
so call them back and tell them you want a quote on a prevost Marathon 2004 model...bet they don't say no...
you gotta know how to ask.... ???
call AIS POLISEEK....(888) 772-4247
http://www.aisinsurance.com/products/recreational-vehicle/bus-conversion.aspx (http://www.aisinsurance.com/products/recreational-vehicle/bus-conversion.aspx)
http://www.nationalinterstate.com/PersonalLines/Rv.aspx (http://www.nationalinterstate.com/PersonalLines/Rv.aspx)
I dropped Progressive 2 years ago they have to many got u's in the fine print for me
Quote from: luvrbus on September 18, 2014, 08:48:06 PM
I dropped Progressive 2 years ago they have to many got u's in the fine print for me
They all do.
maybe i'll never find out...knock on wood ;)
I should have asked to talk directly to Flo. I did bring up the point that every single diesel pusher on the road was a bus, but they said that the conversion can't have been used as a passenger bus at any time in it's history.
Our bus is insured through Allstate. They told me as long as it is legally registered as a motorhome it qualifies for their motorhome insurance. Usually cost me about 300.00 dollars a year for liability insurance. The insurance card they send me has the VIN number on it so there should be no mistake as to what type of vehicle it is.
I used Progressive liability this summer. My agent didn't even need pictures. Granted I told them the value was scrap as our conversion isn't anywhere near done. Just the necessities to title it as motorhome.
I only wanted liability and they refused. The sad thing is that the bus is much less risk than my old RV or 90% of what I see going down the roads on a regular basis.
Quote from: mung on September 19, 2014, 06:22:08 AM
...The sad thing is that the bus is much less risk than my old RV or 90% of what I see going down the roads on a regular basis.
That is the kicker of it. Some of the things I see around my area make me worried for falling parts when they drive by.
I also have Progressive, but reading your post it makes me wonder if we're actually insured. I'd like to hear from people who have experienced successful claims. That's where the rubber meets the road.
Yeah, I would be very concerned if I had a conversion and had Progressive. If you did it online and never talked with a rep, I would be even more concerned.
That said, I just got off the phone with National General though Good Sam and I have my policy as well as a full Good Sam membership with roadside. Is there any benefit to having Coach Net's roadside as well as the Good Sam?
This is interesting... I just switched to Progressive because state farms underwriter kept insuring mine as an RV. When I signed up for progressive they specifically asked if it was a bus conversion and I told them yes. They asked if it was livable (bathroom, water, kitchen...etc) and I said yes and explained that we lived and traveled in it full time. They then offered me full timers insurance coverage in addition to regular coverage. At no time did they ever ask if it was at one point a seated coach.
-Sean
Do they know that your bus was once a seated bus? See that is the sticking point here. If they find out that it was a seated bus at any point it it's life, the person I talked to said they will deny any claim made against it. If it is a bus that never had seats and went right to a professional conversion plant, that is just fine with them. We all know that there is zero difference between the two, well actually our bus conversions are much better than the crap diesel pushers that old people pay 200K for, but Progressive thinks, that a 90 year old guy driving a $200K pusher with a SUV behind it, which has a Hoverround hanging off the back of it, because he can't get around Walmart without it and his oxygen bottle; 1500 miles down and back on 95 every 6 months is MUCH less of a risk than someone who has taken a bus that was built like a Sherman tank and restored and converted it into something that everyone wishes they could have. Go figure.
Now that you mention it mine was never seated...but I do not recall them ever asking either ???
??? the difference is the old people have the 200,000 to buy what they want and don't have enough time left in life to spend years doing a rehab on a old bus. It's unfair you bashing old people because a insurance co pissed you off IMO
Use the smart compass,and dont stand up in the boat, my thoughts....George.
I have progressive, so I hope I'm actually covered. Anyone had a claim with them?
You are covered just that the agreed value is not worth the paper it's written on that is why I dropped it states very clearly the claim will be paid per market value at the time of claim as per the adjuster
I never used mine a friend did when his Eagle burn the agreed valve was 127 grand they tried to pay him 30 grand that is still in court.
Then another friend when his bus was totaled National Interstate paid the agreed value no questions asked that is when I changed you never know what coverage you have till you need it ;D
Quote from: luvrbus on September 20, 2014, 10:48:53 AM
......... you never know what coverage you have till you need it ;D
Wisest words ever typed on this forum.
They've always cashed my cheque but occasionally when it came time to pay out we've had words.
Quote from: luvrbus on September 20, 2014, 10:48:53 AM
You are covered just that the agreed value
his Eagle burn the agreed valve was 127 grand they tried to pay him 30 grand that is still in court.
Then another friend when his bus was totaled National Interstate paid the agreed value no questions asked that is when I changed you never know what coverage you have till you need it ;D
I am not trying to start a peeing contest....but everyday on these boards everyone claims that coach prices are in the tank....not a single person has said they agree that a coach is worth 127K$ unless it is under 6 years old.... that ain't happening with an Eagle. I know progressive asks you to be realistic when you set your price. and I know that I have been with them 10 years. And I know that they review your value. How then can you convince them that your rig has not depreciated... just sayin. mine is probably covered for $35K now,was maybe 60K 10 years ago.....and I actually think it's pretty fair and the rig pretty nice.
They never charged him less of a premium never told him he needed a new appraisal never said anything he paid 385k for his Eagle that was their starting point and 2 years before the fire they had a agreement of 127k then the market just kept falling
He is not pissed about the 127k he kinda knew that would not happen the 30k is what pissed him off and I can assure you his 1990 Monoco conversion was worth a lot more than 30k at the time, they sell today for more than that now if you can find one, he has been with Progressive for over 15 years with different buses fwiw
They made him a offer in July for 65 k to settle and he said no after 3 years of lawyers he said they can pay the agreed amount now he's not going away ;D
well i hope he wins....he wins we all win ;D i would hope they'd go 80%...that's what the county property tax assessor wants.... :-\
We have National General and have had it for many years. The last bus was insured with liability only. That's easy to get. On this one, they said they would do collision if I had it appraised, which we did.
Is National General the old GMAC insurance ?
Quote from: luvrbus on September 21, 2014, 06:07:46 AM
Is National General the old GMAC insurance ?
We had GMAC which changed 2 or 3 years ago to National General. Their rates are great. We pay just over $700 annual for full timers/full coverage. BUT we are currently going through a hail claim from July 7TH and still have no idea when they will settle. Included in the claim was our brand new car and our 6X12 cargo trailer. All I can say is... National General is a Circus and I have talked to every Clown there. They have to hire independent appraisers, (none in Colorado). The prices from them are far from reality. The damage to our car was underestimated by close to 30%. They didn't search for used comps on our trailer. The comps they tried to use were cheap new ones. I had to find the comps myself. IT TOOK APPROX 4 MINUTES of Google to find used, same year, same size, same model, sold this year comps. The used ones sold for 33% more than their "new" comps. The current equivelent trailer sells for TWICE the amount of their comps.
Our bus is the next fight. So far all they seem to be concerned about is whether or not a previous hail claim was repaired. (It was repaired by me). I submitted a copy of my Oregon title which is branded from that incident as "Totaled" It was inspected by the State of Oregon and deemed "Reconstructed". The new title has both terms on it. Their only focus seems to be on proving that I'm trying to commit fraud. They have sent 2 guys over taking pictures, they have hired 2 different people to try and estimate it's worth. They have now hired someone to go over and compare the old pictures to the new ones. I had to get and send everything from the previous Progressive claim, pictures and all.
Our car was parked 4 FEET away and got 4K worth of hail damage, our trailer was parked 12 FEET away and was totaled, Yet they are worried about whether one or two dents are left from before.
Our trailer has so many hail dents that you couldn't place a dollar bill anywhere without touching several hail dents.
As bad as this current, (nearly 8 weeks old), deal is... the Progressive claim 5 years ago was much worse.
Don
Like someone else said... You'll find out what kind of coverage you have when you make a claim...
so...what your sayin is they all suck... ::) ??? ::)
This confuses me. Because of this topic I got nervous that I may not be properly insured under Progressive. So I gave National General a call. I spent all the time answering the questions including the question about "professional conversion". I explained the conversion, the quality, etc. I sent pictures and waited for a quote. Today I got this email from them:
"You would not qualify for comprehensive or collision because the RV was not professionally converted over.
If you wanted to continue it would only be insured for liability. Would that be ok?"
NO, that would not be ok!
Are you sure your bus was not professionally converted? I mean really SURE?
They said mine was too old for comp and collision, not that the conversion was an issue and said that the conversion was very nice. But are you covered for anything with progressive? If anyone can give any solid proof of being covered with a converted coach that was once a seated coach, I would love to know who you talked to, because I will call and switch to them today.
When the bottom hit some many conversions were destroyed by the man made lighting (gas and a match) all the companies are a little gun shy
I never knew they checked your credit till I had a small claim for the house till I seen a inquiring on my credit report from American Family which I have been with for 30 years with no claims it looks like a one way street with all the insurance co's nowadays
Quote from: luvrbus on September 24, 2014, 09:15:08 AM
When the bottom hit some many conversions were destroyed by the man made lighting (gas and a match) all the companies are a little gun shy
I never knew they checked your credit till I had a small claim for the house till I seen a inquiring on my credit report from American Family which I have been with for 30 years with no claims it looks like it a one way street with all the insurance co's nowadays
Ah... good ol' financial combustion
::)
Mark
LMAO good one Mark
Quote from: mung on September 24, 2014, 09:10:47 AM
.... If anyone can give any solid proof of being covered with a converted coach that was once a seated coach, I would love to know who you talked to, because I will call and switch to them today.
Ya, could someone recommend a company that will actually insure a converted coach for comp and collision. Let me rephrase, does anyone know a company who has a reputation for actually paying out in the event of a serious claim. I'm currently insured with Progressive, including comp and collision, but I fear I'm tossing my money into a dead pool.
National Interstate had no problems paying JC, someone here on this board bought that Eagle after the fire. It is not funny but I still laugh sometimes I had the same insurance co out of NY for 10 years I forgot the name but the agent was big time into bus conversions Jack was always at every rally or Fmca gathering peddling insurance a nice guy he sold a bunch of insurance was even a bus owner himself
I got in a sand storm it sand blasted the paint I got estimates just like I was told they agreed to pay Mike Wilson when he finished the bill was 16,000+ I go to pick the bus up call the Insurance to tell them it was ok to pay what do I get a phone message telling me to contact a bankruptcy trustee 10 years later I get a check for 102.17
I paid Mike when I picked up the bus I wasn't going to shaft him I could have as he was working for me and the insurance co I don't believe Jack ever tried to sell another policy after that ordeal
Here's some research....it's on the internet, but from people I am confident in quoting:
We have had Progressive Insurance through Miller Insurance for several years. They are good people and very helpful. I love their phone greeting when you call their office! Progressive has very competitive rates and their claims process is the best that I have ever experienced. I think you will be very happy with them.
Cheryl Howarth from Miller Insurance in Lake Oswego, Oregon and another agent from South Dakota, both of whom have a lot of RV owners as customers, took it upon themselves to contact National Interstate on our behalf. The response from the company was immediate, and within an hour or so the same claims adjuster who had been giving us grief was on the telephone bending over backwards to accommodate our every need..."I appreciate your help very much. For anyone interested, Gina's office phone number is 605-271-8100 and her company website ishttp://www.epic-ins.com/] [url]http://www.epic-ins.com/ (http://[url)[/url]. She is another agent whom I highly recommend."
Epic Insurance, Sioux Falls SD
As soon as life gets back to normal after the holidays, we will be talking to Cheryl at Miller Insurance about placing all of our business with her. From all of the good feedback I have gotten from customers of Progressive, I think that's who we'll end up with, if Cheryl represents them. She has earned our business, and I'd much rather she makes a commission on our insurance policies. PoliSeek has seen the last penny they'll ever get from me. If you are looking for RV insurance, or are thinking about moving your business, I'd readily recommend Cheryl. I'd recommend the agent in South Dakota as well, but I never did get her full name or the name of the agency she works for.
So these folks are saying Progressive is good, National is not,
poliseek is not a good agent (in 2009) and the girls mentioned will get your claim.
She is a sweetheart that Cheryl I was with her dad John for many years before he passed away we would set and drink cold ones at rallies or Quartzsite his Prevost had the appropriate name for us "Miller Time" in big letters
John never wrote very many polices through Progressive when he was alive,Cheryl does for some reason I think because some co's dropped her as a agent when John died
Quote from: luvrbus on September 24, 2014, 04:27:01 PM
She is a sweetheart that Cheryl I was with her dad John for many years before he passed away we would set and drink cold ones at rallies or Quartzsite his Prevost had the appropriate name for us "Miller Time" in big letters
John never wrote very many polices through Progressive when he was alive,Cheryl does for some reason I think because some co's dropped her as a agent when John died
she does write national I think...but their adjusters are/were the problem
fwiw the blurbs i copied were not an accident...they were a vandalism/burglary gun deal type claim that AON was not helping and the guy has an inter-net blog that Cheryl was made aware of and she prodded National to instantly pony up...
I think that both National and Progressive were deemed good choices but if you have a crappy agent u are screwed...
The incident was 2009 so...AON is out of business....I think at my renewel I'll be giving her a call...I don't really care who the risk holder is...a good agent will get you made whole and a crappy one will take your $$$'s
I called national interstate since that was where the PO had his insurance through and they were happy with it, and they would not insure my bus. They wanted to see pictures of it and once they did they said that they could not cover it.
In the end we called Foremost and we were able to get antique insurance, it is liability only but only cost a little over $100 for the year. I will shop around for better coverage once we start to use it for traveling right now I will be just working on it and test driving it.
I am paying a lot more for mine, but I also have high limits and low deductibles. I figured while I am new, it will be better to have higher limits.
I'm paying National General $710 a year for full timers/full coverage. Liability limits are @ 250/500K
1K deductable. For just liability I was quoted $139 annual with the same limits. Contents coverage is based on the coaches value. In our case contents are @ 9K.
Claims, on the other hand, are a joke. Finally after near 3 months they have deemed our bus a
"Total Loss" from a hail storm on July 7th. If the valuation process is handled like our trailer and car it will be a fight. Their adjuster undervalued the damage, to our brand new car, by over 30%. They tried to compare our trailer, (for value purposes), to trailers that literaly cost 1/2 as much.
What I've learned... Great rates are great, BUT is it worth it ? Next insurer I use will be based on service and satisfaction rather than price.
Don & Sheila
Don are you saying you get what you pay for ? I always find that to be true on everything
What coach do you have and who is your agent ?
are they a local or a national agent ( do they have an office in your home town) ?
I'm starting to think a "hometown" connection might be best ...
Quote from: skihor on September 25, 2014, 06:08:17 AM
I'm paying National General $710 a year for full timers/full coverage. Liability limits are @ 250/500K
1K deductable. For just liability I was quoted $139 annual with the same limits. Contents coverage is based on the coaches value. In our case contents are @ 9K.
Claims, on the other hand, are a joke. Finally after near 3 months they have deemed our bus a
"Total Loss" from a hail storm on July 7th. If the valuation process is handled like our trailer and car it will be a fight. Their adjuster undervalued the damage, to our brand new car, by over 30%. They tried to compare our trailer, (for value purposes), to trailers that literaly cost 1/2 as much.
What I've learned... Great rates are great, BUT is it worth it ? Next insurer I use will be based on service and satisfaction rather than price.
Don & Sheila
Hometown used to be good too, but even that isn't always great. My ex-wife let my boat insurance with AllState laps (through a local agent) and when I tried to get it reinstated, they said, nope, we don't insure boats over 26'. I said, well what about the policy I had with you a few months ago. Oh, you were grandfathered in, but since it lapsed, we can't give you that policy back.
Quote from: eagle19952 on September 25, 2014, 09:19:21 AM
What coach do you have and who is your agent ?
are they a local or a national agent ( do they have an office in your home town) ?
I'm starting to think a "hometown" connection might be best ...
We have a '67 MCI MC 5A. Pro conversion from Leisure Time RV in Bakersfield, Ca. Conversion done in '83. National General is based in Ohio and have no offices, adjusters, appraisers, etc... in Colorado.
I was asked to provide pictures of the damage. I told them where to go. They had to "hire" independent appraisers/adjusters. I had to do some of the "homework" just to get a fair deal. I pay all of my insurances annualy and next May I will be shopping based on service rather than price.
Don & Sheila
IN the interest of sharing I will attempt to tell my insurance experience thus far:
Keep in mind that I will be using my bus for business commercial use before I convert it to a camper in a couple years so initially I just wanted to get insurance to move the 30 foot (only 27 foot body) BlueBird FE transit (2002) from it's old home top my shop about 2 hours away. Leaving out all the confusing and gory details about attempting to register and tagging the rig, I wanted to make sure I had at least liability in place before I moved it. So I called my local friendly State Farm agent and inquired. She said " we don't do cammercial - call this guy" - so I did. This guy asked lots of questions and I won't repeat them all but lets just say the sticking point was that it was a transit bus and for some reason, no one was interested in insuring it with ONE exception simply due to the fact that the VIN came up an "Does Not Qualify" So in dealing with the "ONE exception" company, they insisted that any driver have had a CDL for at least 2 years. I insisted (having a CDL myself) that the intention of the bus was to use it commercially but that it was NOT being used to transport people (for hire while moving) - except for the driver and a passenger or two (not for hire). Also, the bus is under 26000 pounds and does not have air brakes so it does NOT need a CDL. I went round and round with this clown in almost 100 email communications! I told him that it was my opinion that if he did not call the underwriter in person and explain the situation - they would not change their position. But Nooooo, He just did it the way he always has and could not for the life of him (he SAYS he did call personally) get them to drop the restriction. (I will hire other people to drive at some point and do not want to limit my options). I even called the state BMV and asked them to confirm the use and requirements for the vehicle.
So, I actually ended up going through this TWICE! - The first agent insured me that she had it figured out and , on the day I was supposed to go and drive the bus back, we met in the AM to sign the papers and she said, "Oh, I just need to run the VIN" - and I froze, dumbfounded, after all the phone calls I had been through, I could not believe she had not even run the VIN!! I had taken every precaution to stress to her how she needed to call in person to be sure they got the whole story. Sure enough, the system would not take the VIN and when she called to ask why, they said it was "not qualified". So that blew the whole plan for the day, my ride, etc.
So, I'm at a party at a friends house one night expressing my woes to another friend who I thought did only health insurance. He says, "tell me what the issue is - I do commercial vehicle insurance". So, This friend gets the same result at first and presses further and ends up straightening the whole thing out with the SAME underwriter that BOTH the previous insurance agents had said they dealt with!! Turns out there are like 3 or 4 different policies to cover the vehicle, contents, liability and business. I sign next week.
now let's see what happens if you ever file a claim...that's the test.
Well for me, That was part of the struggle, - Getting the details into the policy that spelled out what was covered specifically for my vehicle.
that's the test...of any policy >:(
Quote from: Newbob on September 26, 2014, 08:26:07 AM
Well for me, That was part of the struggle, - Getting the details into the policy that spelled out what was covered specifically for my vehicle.
Quote from: eagle19952 on September 24, 2014, 02:41:58 PM
Here's some research....it's on the internet, but from people I am confident in quoting:
We have had Progressive Insurance through Miller Insurance for several years. They are good people and very helpful. I love their phone greeting when you call their office! Progressive has very competitive rates and their claims process is the best that I have ever experienced. I think you will be very happy with them.
Cheryl Howarth from Miller Insurance in Lake Oswego, Oregon and another agent from South Dakota, both of whom have a lot of RV owners as customers, took it upon themselves to contact National Interstate on our behalf. The response from the company was immediate, and within an hour or so the same claims adjuster who had been giving us grief was on the telephone bending over backwards to accommodate our every need..."I appreciate your help very much. For anyone interested, Gina's office phone number is 605-271-8100 and her company website is [url=http://www.epic-ins.com/]http://www.epic-ins.com/] [url]http://www.epic-ins.com/]http://www.epic-ins.com/]http://www.epic-ins.com/] [url]http://www.epic-ins.com/ (http://[url=http://www.epic-ins.com/)[/url]. She is another agent whom I highly recommend."
Epic Insurance, Sioux Falls SD
As soon as life gets back to normal after the holidays, we will be talking to Cheryl at Miller Insurance about placing all of our business with her. From all of the good feedback I have gotten from customers of Progressive, I think that's who we'll end up with, if Cheryl represents them. She has earned our business, and I'd much rather she makes a commission on our insurance policies. PoliSeek has seen the last penny they'll ever get from me. If you are looking for RV insurance, or are thinking about moving your business, I'd readily recommend Cheryl. I'd recommend the agent in South Dakota as well, but I never did get her full name or the name of the agency she works for.
So these folks are saying Progressive is good, National is not,
poliseek is not a good agent (in 2009) and the girls mentioned will get your claim.
I called Miller Insurance in Lake Oswego Oregon yesterday (they are just a few minutes from where we live), they gave me a quote within 5-10 minutes with National Interstate that was 1/3 of what we are paying with Progressive now, same limits.
It appears that the original owner, John Miller, was a big RV'er (which I think Clifford mentioned) and they were very familiar with Prevosts, which I was insuring. They told me to take another look at my Progressive policy "stated value", I found out that Progressive had left out what they told me on the phone and just put in replacement value. With NI I have a stated value WRITTEN (typed) on/into the policy which they agree to pay in the event of a total loss.
So my take of Millers is that they prefer National Interstate to others as far as coaches are concerned.
my main point..was that the agent, was more better to have the right one vs. the underwriter.
i think that the agent writes what gets the best return for them..i know i would...
but ... what's more important is the ink...if it ain't in ink it ain't paying.
and if the agent won't back the gorilla in the corner..well you'd have less luck alone.
Just checking to make sure I am getting the correct feedback from this thread, had never heard of National Interstate before and want to make sure it is a good one. 😊
I had an interesting conversation with one of the insurance agents in my local AAA office when I dropped by to renew my membership. I asked him if AAA insured bus conversions specifically. I was a bit surprised that he knew exactly what I was talking about. He said that AAA's direct insurance does NOT insure bus conversions BUT they work with and recommend an agent who does. The AAA referral was to --
Joanna Hassell, phone (469) 221-7589 or (888) 416-2402
Does anybody here know anything about Joanna ?
edward
I am an Insurance Broker and I insure my 4106 with Safeco a division of Liberty Mutual. You can't compare insurance from one state to another. I will help any one from this board in any way I can. I am not looking to write policies all over the country. you are better off local. If you need help translating insurance to English let me know.
About 5 years ago, Allstate wrote me a letter saying that they would no longer cover any RV's in North Carolina and I had to go find other (liability only) coverage -- oh, they'd be happy to keep taking my money for my car and house. I called them and asked if this was right and they said it was. I told them to go throw water up a rope and cancelled all their policies. I called Progressive and they quoted me really good rates on the car insurance but kept me on the phone for 45 minutes on my bus conversion asking a lot of d**n fool questions. Final decision -- they wouldn't cover it. I took all my business elsewhere.