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Old 06-04-2014, 10:43 PM   #1
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Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Just an update on the insurance with Good Sam for me.

Well they have cancelled me due to they do not insure partial or just a shell of a school bus. Not sure how I got under written and the process when through but they were going to cancel me on the 13th of this month so I had them back date the policy to the creation date so I didn't loose any money. Not real thrilled about this but seems I can't fight the system.

According them them (and I am trying to get some info in writing on this) that a converted bus has to have 3 of the 4 items for them to consider insuring a school bus conversion.
1) divided living quarters. Which means to have a separate sleeping quarters from the rest of the bus.
2) some type of sink/cooking galley type area. With somewhere to wash hands that could have a stove or microwave
3) some type of common area for people to sit while in transit.
4) Some type of bathroom/toilet area.


they are more or less looking for something that is polished and more of a permanent type of fixtures. So if you inquire on getting insured with them make sure you have pics that will document these fixtures. DO NOT TELL THEM YOU HAVE A PARTIAL OR IN THE PROCESS OF CONVERTING YOUR BUS. You will not have a good experience.

All I was trying to do is get it insured so I can drive it here and there for get a weigh slip, some exhaust work , inspected, etc……. so it looks like I am going to have to put commercial insurance on it to get things done. Not a sure huge deal as I will only use it a few days here and there while I am converting but again a major pain in the ass.

If anyone knows a company that I can get my partial conversion insured let me know. So far I have checked with State Farm (they will insure it commercially), Progressive will not take any new school bus customers…… so if you know of anyone that can get this done with out going commercial let me know, If I need to talk to your insurance agent PLEASE PM ME THEIR NUMBER AND I WILL CALL THEM.

Let me know if anyone can help. If you have any experience with commercial insurance also let me know. I know it will be very high but Im gathering info right now to try and make a educated choice.

Thanks

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Old 06-05-2014, 05:42 AM   #2
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

That's interesting, because Good Sam didn't have any problems for me; it was Progressive that dumped me. My problem is that New Jersey is very, very fussy about what companies insure in the state. I've been spending a good portion of this week trying to find insurance as well, and will probably wind up going into NJ CAIP (Commercial Auto Insurance Plan) and hopefully a policy that won't break my bank financially, because National General doesn't underwrite in NJ.

My advice? Call National General, and check with your local independent agents. They might be able to point you in the right direction especially about commercial insurance.

What would be exceptional is a Skoolie-friendly underwriter cleared for all 50 states and Canada. But, that's just a pipe dream it seems.
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Old 06-05-2014, 06:58 AM   #3
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

I went to a progressive agent but they sell or broker a LOT of other companies but they found nothing.

I am going to end up going to going back to good sam but when I have it converted to the point they will under write it. It will just take time to get there. Here is the email I got from a supervisor from Good Sam


I wanted to follow up with you regarding our conversation that we had regarding your bus conversion. I have checked without underwriting department and we do not have anything in writing that we can send to you regarding the specifications around what is and what is not allowed on a converted bus. The best thing would be for you to convert your unit to what you want it to be and when you have it done, to send us pictures to determine if we can approve insuring it or not.

I thank you for your patience in me getting back to you, took longer than I had anticipated.

Thank you

Sarah Wallace
Customer Service Supervisor
St. Louis Missouri
Fax: 336-435-0709
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Old 06-05-2014, 07:08 AM   #4
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Quote:
The best thing would be for you to convert your unit to what you want it to be and when you have it done, to send us pictures to determine if we can approve insuring it or not.
Really? We can't tell you what we want, we want you to spend a lot of time and money to do what you think we want. If what you did turns out to be what we want, we might sell you something.

Dont' know if it helps, my insurance is GMAC through FMCA. Got a package deal on all of the vehicles that saved more than the FMCA membership.
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Old 06-05-2014, 07:32 AM   #5
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Yeah thats what I was thinking. I don't mind doing the things that they ask. I will do it in time but want to make sure what I do will bare fruit and not be wasted time and money. I was going to sling some bs together and take pics to get past the hump then take it back out and redo it the way I would want it to be?

I don't think they would have an issue if it was converted as most people do the things they are asking. I just think its bs no one will insure a partial or beginning conversion
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Old 06-05-2014, 08:12 AM   #6
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Quote:
Originally Posted by bapos
I just think its bs no one will insure a partial or beginning conversion
I think its BS that there aren't too many companies that will insure a "non-professional" conversion. If I was going to spend money on a "professional conversion", I would have just bought an S&S RV not a school bus and do it the way *I* want to, and know how to fix whatever goes wrong with it because I built the damned thing. I'm almost at the point where I'm about ready to form a NJ registered LLC, do the conversion, and then tell the insurance agent that "Such & Such, LLC did the conversion."
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Old 06-05-2014, 02:27 PM   #7
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Quote:
Originally Posted by bapos
I don't think they would have an issue if it was converted as most people do the things they are asking. I just think its bs no one will insure a partial or beginning conversion
That's the trouble I'm having. I was insured through gmac (it's national general now) for about 500 bucks a year. I let it lapse in January because the renewal emails were getting sent to my junk folder. Plus, at the time I couldn't see paying that much money for something that is just going to be sitting there. They won't renew my old policy, and any new policy they create must have pictures of the interior proving that it is a complete conversion. I pretty much got out of it that you need to have sleeping quarters, a place to cook food, a place to store food, and a place to eat the food on the bus. It sucks for me because my bus isn't intended to ever be far from home. It's basically just a crash pad for my friends and I. And because I don't have all the aforementioned items, they won't insure it because it isn't technically an rv, even though it is registered and plated as one. I'm going to call one more guy and then I'll cave in and go to my local insurance agency (they acted like It was a huge pain last year to get it insured the first time, so I don't really want to talk to them). If none of that works, I guess I'll be either putting all the stuff I need in temporary, or getting creative somehow.
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Old 06-05-2014, 02:57 PM   #8
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Please do not misunderstand what I am about to say here:
I think you are WAY over complicating the process here..... "THEY NEED PICTURES" If you are submitting pictures to get a policy over the phone and/or internet: how/who exactly will be taking and sending the pictures? I think you may have control over this process if you look at it the right way.


Please allow me a "completely different" story that may help here....

So I bought my bus, the 1 I sold before leaving Texas from the school district in Arlington. As such it was NOT an RV....so I brought it home and tore the seats out and started to lay out the interior as I wanted. All before transfer of title and conversion of title to MH from bus. I intended to "do things the right way" and install the needed systems for Texas to recognize it as a MotorHome, but life got in my way and I needed to title and register it before I was done. "Oh no" I thought "what will I do?" I knew that the DMV people would ask for picture proof that I had converted it, but all I had was the seats out and some painting on the interior (nice clean white). I needed a bed and kitchen and bathroom and all the goodies that make it a "home" and I needed them that day to make it road legal. Well obviously I was not going to accomplish that amount of work in a single day and still be in before DMV closed. And yet I showed up at the DMV with interior pictures and walked out with a MH title and plate. The woman at the DMW was shocked at how GOOD my interior looked and at how fast I had managed to convert a school bus in the 35 days since the auction...

TL;DR Version:
They want pics not DNA evidence and a bloodsworn Oath. Give them pics of a lovely finished bus conversion interior.... if you have an issue later, you can always claim a total gut for a leaky roof while the RV sat under a tree.

Dislcaimor: This is merely a thought exercise and I am in no way advocating the manipulation of the truth and reality to fit the needs, whims and wants of the converter involved.
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Old 06-06-2014, 12:31 AM   #9
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Malkieri

Im there with you. I was going to "borrow" some pics for the state of TX to get the plate/title changed over but to do that I needed it insured……. so that is where I started was with the insurance part of it. I knew National General aka GMAC that most people didn't have any issues and was told … hey once it goes to underwriting well you gold. So I was very honest and open with them about it in the shopping process and no red flags were thrown up from them so I thought this wasn't so bad? Well come to find out that the Sales person didn't follow protocol and ask for pics before it went to underwriting so they insured it till the 13th of this month but I cancelled it since they were not going to get it anything worked out.

So I have to agree with you….and make sure that your pics are clean enough to get them past the bs phase and more or less tell them what they want to see and hear. I will give it till the fall and my bus will some how….. Ummmmm Hummmm…. be done and we will re rack this deal and get past the state and get past the insurance Nazis.

Hope this helps others out. I think its total BS but common sense is not very common any more.
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Old 06-06-2014, 12:41 AM   #10
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Something I learned a long time ago that I still forget from time to time..... Don't tell people things they don't NEED to know. Be inquisitive, ask "why" many times, hell, act like you don't understand the question if you don't want to answer it.... chances are slim the person on the phone will ever deal with you again and their opinion of you don't matter no how! I hear you on the waiting part, good luck!
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Old 06-06-2014, 05:40 AM   #11
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Quote:
Originally Posted by Malkieri
TL;DR Version:
They want pics not DNA evidence and a bloodsworn Oath.
But bloodsworn oaths are easy. Its not like you're selling your soul to the devil or anything...
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Old 06-06-2014, 06:32 AM   #12
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

To quote Forrest Gump….. Momma said it was a little white lie and wouldn't hurt anyone.
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Old 06-06-2014, 09:27 AM   #13
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Quote:
Originally Posted by Booyah45828
... you need to have sleeping quarters, a place to cook food, a place to store food, and a place to eat the food on the bus.
Easy (none of this stuff needs to stay in the bus, just there long enough for pics)
#1. Sleeping Quarters: Pic of a blow up air bed (with blankets covering it) or sleeping bag (air beds are pretty comfy once you add a 3" thick memory foam mattress topper... that's our permanent bed)

#2. A Place to cook food: Microwave oven

#3. A place to store food (I'm assuming refrigerated food): cooler

#4. A place to eat food: a folding card table and a couple of folding chairs.

We acutally don't even have a table in our bus. And that was not a requisite for TN when w had the Eagle. For the Eagle, I didn't have to do pics, "just in case" I did take pics and print them out anyway but I did have to have a notarized statement to get the title. They required sleeping area (sleeping bag from the pop-up), a place to cook food (microwave from the pop-up), cold food storage (one of our many coolers), and a toilet (portipotti from the pop-up).

Scrounge around your home and see what you can repurpose, temporarily. If I had to prove a table, I would simply use our two folding metal tables (bought years ago for $13) that we sometimes eat on (for big holiday meals or when we have a shrimp & crab leg boil). I suggest you use folding tables and chairs as the insurance company may have a problem with unsecured ones. Plus you can reuse them outside your bus. We use ours as saw horses, work tables and added two poly cutting boards to one to make a folding grill table. Look in the patio stuff, thrift stores/craigslist/freecycle and get something cheap and temporary.
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Old 06-07-2014, 08:45 AM   #14
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

lornaschinske

I threw those things at them. Just saying that I didn't want the nice shinny finished looked of a off the shelf bus. Told them if I wanted that I would have bought a 80k bus off the shelf. She didn't like my answer but I don't really care. I told her that it seems like the underwriters kind of do and say what they want on a case by case basis? I said this inset right and thats when I asked for something in writing that outlines what they want? She then got an internal email from the under writer, which is not able to be sent outside the company. WHich is ok but I said I am having a hard time trying to wrap my head around how and what they are doing.

I don't know how some do these companies can insure one person and they have no issues and the others have an up hill battle
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Old 06-07-2014, 11:49 AM   #15
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Day of the week? Good/Bad cup of coffee? I'm having a bad day so everyone is going to have a bad day? Who knows.
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Old 06-07-2014, 08:49 PM   #16
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

I called Farm and City Insurance in Forrest City, Iowa, and they said they would insure my bus as a bus, or as an RV it didn't matter to them. I was told it would be around $313.00/year for liability on the bus so I could drive it around during the conversion.
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Old 06-08-2014, 08:58 AM   #17
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

I sent an online quote request to see what they can do
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Old 06-15-2014, 07:42 AM   #18
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Kirk

I submitted info to them and got the generic info we will get back with you email…. automated. I corresponded with Tony as they seemed they could insure it but for whatever reason needed more info…

I have attached the quote you requested for your 1983 GMC RV. I called you at 1-682-459-1737 to get clarification on the length and type of motorhome (class A or conversion van) as I could not find it online.


If you could email me or call me at 1-800-331-1520 with this information I will update the quote for you. I most likely will not change the quoted premium, but I won’t know for certain until I make the change.

If you have questions please do not hesitate to email or call me.

Thank you
Tony

I have attached the quote you requested for your 1983 GMC RV. I called you at 1-682-459-1737 to get clarification on the length and type of motorhome (class A or conversion van) as I could not find it online.

If you could email me or call me at 1-800-331-1520 with this information I will update the quote for you. I most likely will not change the quoted premium, but I won’t know for certain until I make the change.

If you have questions please do not hesitate to email or call me.

Thank you
Tony


Tony Reynolds
Farm and City Insurance
www.FCISInsurance.com
Ph: 1-800-331-1520
Fax: 641-585-5166I have attached the quote you requested for your 1983 GMC RV. I called you at 1-682-459-1737 to get clarification on the length and type of motorhome (class A or conversion van) as I could not find it online.

If you could email me or call me at 1-800-331-1520 with this information I will update the quote for you. I most likely will not change the quoted premium, but I won’t know for certain until I make the change.

If you have questions please do not hesitate to email or call me.

Thank you
Tony


Tony Reynolds
Farm and City Insurance
www.FCISInsurance.com
Ph: 1-800-331-1520
Fax: 641-585-5166I have attached the quote you requested for your 1983 GMC RV. I called you at 1-682-459-1737 to get clarification on the length and type of motorhome (class A or conversion van) as I could not find it online.

If you could email me or call me at 1-800-331-1520 with this information I will update the quote for you. I most likely will not change the quoted premium, but I won’t know for certain until I make the change.

If you have questions please do not hesitate to email or call me.

Thank you
Tony


Tony Reynolds
Farm and City Insurance
www.FCISInsurance.com
Ph: 1-800-331-1520
Fax: 641-585-5166I have attached the quote you requested for your 1983 GMC RV. I called you at 1-682-459-1737 to get clarification on the length and type of motorhome (class A or conversion van) as I could not find it online.

If you could email me or call me at 1-800-331-1520 with this information I will update the quote for you. I most likely will not change the quoted premium, but I won’t know for certain until I make the change.

If you have questions please do not hesitate to email or call me.

Thank you
Tony


Tony Reynolds
Farm and City Insurance
www.FCISInsurance.com
Ph: 1-800-331-1520
Fax: 641-585-5166I have attached the quote you requested for your 1983 GMC RV. I called you at 1-682-459-1737 to get clarification on the length and type of motorhome (class A or conversion van) as I could not find it online.

If you could email me or call me at 1-800-331-1520 with this information I will update the quote for you. I most likely will not change the quoted premium, but I won’t know for certain until I make the change.

If you have questions please do not hesitate to email or call me.

Thank you
Tony


Tony Reynolds
Farm and City Insurance
www.FCISInsurance.com
Ph: 1-800-331-1520
Fax: 641-585-5166

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


I i give them length of the bus….. and what do you know….. He said they CANT insure it.


So not sure how certain people can get this done and others can't. Really starting to piss me off.
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Old 06-15-2014, 09:55 AM   #19
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

Quote:
Originally Posted by bapos


I i give them length of the bus….. and what do you know….. He said they CANT insure it.


So not sure how certain people can get this done and others can't. Really starting to piss me off.
Welcome to my world. I had done the email quote request with them, got a phone message to call back, talked to one of the young ladies there, and was told that they couldn't do bus conversions. I've currently got two independent agents looking for me for New Jersey coverage.
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Old 06-16-2014, 12:39 PM   #20
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Re: Not so good at Good Sam Insurance

FIght the good fight.

As I said in one of the other threads it looks like a commercial policy during conversion will really be the only option.

I am just trying to nail them down and have them tell me what they want so when i do it there will be no BS as to if it is "converted?'

Well lets keep sharing info when we can.

Bapos
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