I have finally got my conversion to 95% completion and would like to get more than just liability maybe some replacement value. Just got a call back from Good Sam who connected me with an agent and all 4 companies they represent said no and FMCA says no to bus conversions. My present one a Good Sam company National General Ins says no to everything only liability which is what I purchased when I bought the bus to drive it home in case something happened. Everything I read in the Search seems to be dated back several years. Have the companies changed or are we just giving them bs to get insurance. I don't want to give them false info only to find out if something happened they come back and say I lied with false info. Who is still out there and doing bus conversion insurance. Thank you. ??? ???
We have state farm with all our other cars and house with them also
Do you have an insurance agent? Put him/her to work.
Are you planning to or maybe its already been done, re-titling with RV classification. Just curious if that has a bearing in your area.
Good day
Floyd
Try Miller Insurance Agency Inc. in Lake Oswego, Oregon
http://www.millerrvinsurance.com/contact/ (http://www.millerrvinsurance.com/contact/)
They were the agent for my 4104 and for my truck conversion.
GaryD
I definitely agree that you should have an independent insurance agent. That's how we've insured both of our coaches, and they are the ones that will go to bat to get things moving for you. Assuming that the title is already an RV or motor home, you need to be certain that when you have the conversation the word 'bus' never comes into the conversation. You have a Class A diesel pusher motor home that you'd like to have insured. Provide them with the year, make, and model. That's what we did, although the agent did ask for some photos to have on file in case the underwriting team wanted to verify anything.
We have full coverage, but we did it with a 'stated value' policy. That means that we defined the max amount we'll get paid if there is a claim. It doesn't mean that we will automatically get that amount, but that we have a pre-set upper limit. On our current coach we'll be getting an independent appraisal done this spring so that we'll have something to back up our stated value amount should there ever be a need.
National General took me to the cleaners, bad, over a hail claim. Run away...
Progressive
Quote from: TomC on November 13, 2017, 05:19:46 PM
Progressive
aisinsurance.com (http://aisinsurance.com)
call vs online quote. (888) 772-4247
they are in California, i have no vehicles with California plates, but i do have Florida, Alaska, and Alabama<currently> and have had vehicles plated in Minnesota and Arizona.
they write many insurers, mine are Progressive, been with them for 15+ years. Coach, cars, motorcycles and cargo trailers
Finally got new insurance through Millerrvinsurance.com with Progressive. Wasn't easy though, had to provide several pictures and some additional info. Good Sam and FMCA were of no help. When speaking with Roxanne she stated that many companies are not insuring anything old or self converted, they are just insuring store bought units with a name brand and some companies are now having an age cutoff so even if it is a name brand unit and too old they will not insure. Went on the Copart.com auction site and you should see all the stuff from Texas and Florida listed as water damaged.
Quote from: TomC on November 13, 2017, 05:19:46 PM
Progressive
Yes, Progressive Insurance is the way to go! I was insured with them in 2015 after every other insurance agent I called turned me down flat or didn't know what I was talking about. (Note that I'm insured with Progressive out of California.)
Quote from: The Champion Challenger on December 14, 2017, 10:42:04 AMYes, Progressive Insurance is the way to go! I was insured with them in 2015 after every other insurance agent I called turned me down flat or didn't know what I was talking about. (Note that I'm insured with Progressive out of California.)
About 8 years ago, Progressive stopped insuring RVs in NC so I had to look for other insurance. Progressive kept me on the phone for an hour and a half asking questions (and I was smart enough not to use the "b" word, etc.) but they turned me down. NC has stupid state regulatory people who make it hard for insurance companies* in the state and companies are reluctant to take a chance in NC so maybe that has something to do with it.
(They don't make it hard for companies to screw you over about claims but otherwise.)
Quote from: Oonrahnjay on December 14, 2017, 11:05:17 AM
About 8 years ago, Progressive stopped insuring RVs in NC so I had to look for other insurance. Progressive kept me on the phone for an hour and a half asking questions (and I was smart enough not to use the "b" word, etc.) but they turned me down. NC has stupid state regulatory people who make it hard for insurance companies* in the state and companies are reluctant to take a chance in NC so maybe that has something to do with it.
(They don't make it hard for companies to screw you over about claims but otherwise.)
Well, shoot. Sorry to hear that! I keep forgetting that things in California don't necessarily apply anywhere else out-of-state.
Opps you used the California word on the boards, SIS,SIS,SiS ;D
Duck and put your fire suit on...
I still have Progressive in North Carolina. Must not have stopped for everyone. ;D ;D ;D
I dropped all my Progressive policies ,and went through Explorer
I went to the DMV and Retitled the MCI Bus as an RV on day one...I have never looked back and it was the best decision I believe I have made sine purchasing the Bus.
Consequently Progressive Insurance has treated my Bus Conversion as an RV, which simplified insurance issues for me. The DMV in my area said they jst wanted all of the seats ot and a bed frame installed to show an RV layout. Basically you cannot carry a bunch of people as in a charted Bus, then it can be titled as an RV.
Quote from: tomhamrick on December 18, 2017, 02:31:10 PMI still have Progressive in North Carolina. Must not have stopped for everyone. ;D ;D ;D
Hi, Tom. Yeah, I'm not sure what that little brain f*rt from the Ins. Commission was all about but Nationwide cancelled my bus (although they would have kept my car/house) saying that due to the Commission's decisions, they were dropping them all. Either that was a fib to conceal their real reasons, or maybe something real was going on. I don't know how Progressive handled that situation (and I can only guess that the Commission's ruling applied to all companies but it may have only been to Nationwide, but I don't know). It is very possible that Progressive was in a position that they could keep existing customers or maybe they just couldn't figure out what I have and didn't want to be bothered -- or they could figure out what I have and didn't want to cover *me*. Of the hour and a half that they kept me on the phone when I applied, there was at least half an hour taken up on hold "while I go consult with my manager about this". But they turned me down after I gave them all kinds of info, offered to move my car and house insurance to them, and answered all their questions. This was about 2011, so I don't know how it is now with Progressive in NC.
After years of messing with on-line insurance in NC, I went to the local agent in town and got good coverage from State Farm on house, car, and bus -- with great customer service. I'm probably paying more for going through an agent, but after a few insurance fails over the past 12 - 15 years, I'm happy to have the service from the agent.
I can't say enough how important it is to have an ongoing (and long-term, if possible) relationship with a GOOD insurance agent. We've been dealing with a great insurance agency in town for years, with the same agent. They are a multi-line company and can write policies which best meet the customer's need.
My house, car, and business are all insured through one company. When it came time to write the policy for our first bus the agent ended up going through Progressive, even though all our other policies were with a different insurer. Reason was that it was a better fit for us. Nice to have an agent that can shop around for us.
When our first bus was involved in the accident this fall, it was our agent who was able to help run interference and get us in touch with the proper people to get things moving.
Does it cost more to go through an agent? Don't know. Don't really care. For me the access to a person knowledgeable in the field who is able to steer us towards the proper coverage is more valuable than the few bucks extra the coverage may cost. More than once I would have been either over insured or under insured if I had done this on my own based on my own knowledge/research.
Quote from: richard5933 on December 19, 2017, 10:23:06 AM... Does it cost more to go through an agent? Don't know. Don't really care. For me the access to a person knowledgeable in the field who is able to steer us towards the proper coverage is more valuable than the few bucks extra the coverage may cost. ...
I agree with that. I'm in the middle of helping my 95 year-old aunt (who lives at home by herself and does fine) with a storm damage claim. She had severe roof damage and associated damage inside the house -- her agent jumped in and told the company "send out an adjuster and tell him/her not to even think about denying this claim" - although my aunt didn't *really* keep up with the maintenance like she should have and a picky insurance co. could have come up with a "reason" to give her a hard time. They contractors doing the work are about 85% through and it's going every easily.
We have been with State Farm in North Carolina for 40 years for cars, home and life insurance and when we had our home built Eagle bus we had liability with them also. When we bought the Prevost and it was a factory conversion from new in 1991, we wanted collision as well. This is where the problem with State Farm came in. They wanted to insure the Prevost at the value it was when it left the convertor which was a whole lot more than it was worth in 2011 making the premiums way to high. I went to an Independent agent who is a friend and he hooked us up with Progressive and an agreed value for much less premium. So a lot depends on what type coverage you are needing. I still have everything else with State Farm.
Quote from: tomhamrick on December 20, 2017, 12:54:45 PMWe have been with State Farm in North Carolina for 40 years for cars, home and life insurance and when we had our home built Eagle bus we had liability with them also. When we bought the Prevost and it was a factory conversion from new in 1991, we wanted collision as well. This is where the problem with State Farm came in. They wanted to insure the Prevost at the value it was when it left the convertor which was a whole lot more than it was worth in 2011 making the premiums way to high. I went to an Independent agent who is a friend and he hooked us up with Progressive and an agreed value for much less premium. So a lot depends on what type coverage you are needing. I still have everything else with State Farm.
Thanks for that info, Tom. I have State Farm for everything (incl. bus liability) too. Maybe Progressive will let me in when I'm ready for collision.
How much liability do you guys carry on your buses I see so many people just running the min 15 to 25k.Heck I may want to carry dynamite and I wanted a high liability like on my other vehicles and Progressive didn't want to write mine
5 million on all our vehicles. If you ever put a young high earning professional in a wheel chair for the rest of his life, 5 mil will get used up real quick, then they'll come after your assets. We only have collision coverage on the newer vehicles. Anything older than 10 years we don't bother and "self insure" them. I don't trust the insurance companies to give us what they are worth. So the bus isn't insured other than liability.
JC
LOL I carry 5 million also you can haul dynamite with 5 mil,like you JC I don't care about the value of the bus you can always replace it
This all reminds me of a previous lifetime long ago when I was building VW powered "trikes". The business was great in those days but getting insurance was problamatic and many new owners were insuring on a homeowners policy to get any at all. It eventually became impossible to insure one , so the business ended. The main gripe then was that if damaged, the trike could not be repaired at competitive outlets ,,so had to go back to the builder,,insurance companies don't like that..>>>Dan