Progressive has online bus conversion options

[EastCoastCB]

Yes this thread does need an alteration made to the title.

[Seroflorus]

Anyone reading this now...just reread what Famousinternetjesus said...get insurance through an independent broker. You will likely end up with a business policy if the title still says 'bus'. After legal conversion, you can buy an additional policy to cover your own vehicle.

at last check $250/yr for liability coverage on our "House car" and $495/yr on the "bus" so its worth the conversion inspection. We're in WNC and use Appalachian Insurance, but they work through Strickland Insurance Brokers in Goldsboro, NC. 888-495-4950...call and they will be able to give the name of a local agent.

[CaptainInsaneo]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Yes this thread does need an alteration made to the title.

Just add a question mark to the end
Progressive has online bus conversion options?

Takes it from a statement to a question so as it gets read thru you come to find out the answer is, hell no.

[kanijapukka]

Originally Posted by OMGIBoughtABus

The person you spoke with has no vested interest in doing a thorough job or stopping you from making a mistake. They enter the info, and if your policy goes through, it goes through. Your policy gets reviewed later, and that's when it gets flagged. Or, your policy continues on, you keep paying your premiums, and if you ever have to make a claim, only then do you find out that you have wasted your money and your claim is denied.

But, like John Wayne said in Hondo, "a long time ago, I made me a rule. I let people do what they want to do."

Thank you for bringing that to light for me, I haven't been dealing with insurance companys for long and wouldn't have thought about that.

Originally Posted by Famousinternetjesus

Any kind of dancing around the fact that it is/was a school bus is a no go. Don't do it. Your policy will be voided if you attempt to make a claim. Insurance is not just a piece of paper think about how important it will be if you actually need it. You MUST clearly state and make sure that the company you are dealing with is fully aware of what the vehicle is. Very few companies are willing to insure a school bus. One of the guidelines, one of the guidelines that underwriters look for is an un-modified exterior. Any kind of roof raise or roof addition makes you undesirable. There are simply too many horror stories of rollovers occurring in hippiebuses with vw vans welded to the roofs. National General will still write valid policies on converted schoolbuses. They are one of the only ones left. So don't out a big roof deck on the bus, clearly state hat is WAS/IS a bus, and deal with a company that actually writes policies for buses... Lying and or Omitting information from you insurance company is an absolutely terrible thing to do that will only result in your own misery. This thread seriously needs to be retitled, as Natonal General will insure skoolies...........

I will try National before we get her on the road. Should have read up on this topic before but better late than never atleast. What if I get a professional to verify my work to rv specifications? Would more companys be willing to insure?

[kaisersersae]

For all who need it. I just got insurance with Good Sam National General for the low! Contact Matthew at 314-493-8751. You will get insurance!!

[Scooternj]

Originally Posted by kaisersersae

For all who need it. I just got insurance with Good Sam National General for the low! Contact Matthew at 314-493-8751. You will get insurance!!

Unfortunately, not all states allow Nat General to insure within their borders, unless you and or you vehicle are traveling through.

[The-Breeze]

Georgia here...got Nat Gen so I guess GA is one state that will.

[kaisersersae]

Also in Georgia

[chardog1971]

I have been on hold with them for about 1/2 hr but the first guy I talked to said that it wasnt a problem. I should call matt direct. Any way I seem to remember having to change the title over which involved having the sheriff come by to verify that I had cooking, sleeping, water etc. all of which I had at the time 20 years ago. With the certified paper in hand the DMV gave us a new title.no problem eh? we got insurance thru his fathers military policy. fast forward 20 years the title is still in my friends name and has been lost. getting a replacement title in Montana is pretty easy. I got a call from geico regarding my auto policy so I figured Id ask about insuring the bus. This is where the Imperial Entanglement begins. The gal I talked to was very nice but not too helpful. In Montana the titles back then stated 2 types of vehicles, Your plates were either 6P for passenger vehicles or 6T for trucks, buses, motor homes etc. ( the 6 denotes county). It appears that since I havent registered it since 2000 I now have to recertify with the state. Now all RV's and travel trailers are issued Permanent registrations which is nice until you get stopped out of state and the fuzz cant seem to figure out what PERM on your tag means. seem like no problem, I hope.

the state will probablly try to ding me for 16 years worth of tags. One thing Montana is good with is abandoned vehicles. Its been abandoned on my property for years. I send the Dmv a signed and notarized affidavit of the circumstances surrounding the vehicle. I send a certified letter to the last known address of last owner stating my intent to assume ownership in said vehicle. When there is no reply or I recieve the letter back the state issues me a temporary registration. 90 days later I recieve the title in the mail free and clear with my name on it.

back to the insurance. the gal told me that since it was originally titled as a bus its still a bus to them. This brings me back to the 6T notation on the existing plate from 2000. when it was still in service it had 6T plates on it. when we had it certified as an RV we were issued 6P plates. Insurance company worries that I am driving around with a bunch of drunken sea hags causing trouble in a house made of straw. when in reality the interior of my home is far more solidly built than most of the crappy motor homes on the market. Theres no micro bus duct taped to an un- reinforced hole in the roof. ( I saw a winnebago from the early 90's that rolled on its side @ about 5-10 mph just fanned out like a pile of pick up stix all over the road.)read on.

a friend in the insurance game said that the way to go is to title the chassis only. In my case the chassis is a LoadStar 1700. Here in montana there are 1000's of these vehicles in service in the AG buisness and construction. Grain trucks, flat beds, gin pole tricks, dumpers, Etc. Most of the AG vehicles are used rarely so the insurance is similar to what National seems to offer which can suspend your policy for up to 6 months per year. I havent heard back from her yet but she seemed to think that it may have to be a commercial policy which might be better for me as I own a couple of other construction vehicles. she also said that many companies who will underwrite conversions often do not pay out in case of a claim citing the vehicle was not being used for its intended purpose thereby voiding the policy. I will check out national but I will have to ask a number of questions as to coverage.

I think insurance is the biggest hustle in the world. Thats all you see on TV commercials. they are getting rich off my good driving history. no accidents in over 35 years of driving. That being said, in this society one has to have insurance ( or if you happen to have a pile of spare cash laying about you could post a bond and forego most of the head ache). Lets face it, if you back over a mercedes in the mall parking lot its not just going to be a scratch. that car will become a fine piece of German engineering squashed like a bug on your windshield. last time I checked those things cost probablly 2 years wages and if your company denies your claim on some technicality your in a bad spot real quick.

when I perfect the Flux Capacitor I can go back to november 1955 when you didnt need any of that jive plus Id buy up a bubch of those awesome flexibles and such that you just cant find anymore.

Good luck and Have fun storming the castle..

[CaptainInsaneo]

Originally Posted by chardog1971

I think insurance is the biggest hustle in the world.

Indeed it is. Lets face it they don't make money by paying out. So they try to deny EVERYTHING they legally can. If it is cheaper (and legal) to cancel your policy and send back your premiums than cover an accident they will. The worst part is you HAVE to do business with them because the government says so. Don't give me that crap about you don't have to use roads and there fore don't need insurance. Go ahead try to see if people will just let you walk across their property let alone drive across it, or live life in North America with out a car.

Seriously insurance and under storage is making me reallllllllllly consider an old highway bus more and more over a skoolie every day. I also think on a bus a dash cam is also almost a required safety device.

[EastCoastCB]

They denied me, and I won't be fooled again.

[Jolly Roger]

Originally Posted by Seroflorus

Anyone reading this now...just reread what Famousinternetjesus said...get insurance through an independent broker. You will likely end up with a business policy if the title still says 'bus'. After legal conversion, you can buy an additional policy to cover your own vehicle.

at last check $250/yr for liability coverage on our "House car" and $495/yr on the "bus" so its worth the conversion inspection. We're in WNC and use Appalachian Insurance, but they work through Strickland Insurance Brokers in Goldsboro, NC. 888-495-4950...call and they will be able to give the name of a local agent.

Western,n.c.? Talk to one nation under goat (fellow schoolie in your area )
I have nationwide with no issues (my wife and I have been covered by them for 20)
One nation had an issue but but might be able to give western nc advice

[Booyah45828]

Not skoolie related, but here is a good read on the morality of insurance companies(and I guess you could throw lawyers in there too)

PREMIUM FISHER | My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance to Defend Her...

I hate progressive to death, I despise the owner and his political leanings, but my local agent said they would be the only one to insure my stuff(bus included) at a reasonable amount. What's a person to do

[Tinyhousebus]

This is how I have reasonable skoolie liability insurance through Progressive. I've waited awhile to post this to see whether or not they were going to drop me. I started the policy in NW Wisconsin online and came up with two different quotes, one outrageous and one quite reasonable.
Note: This is Progressive Commercial and I have my skoolie titled as TRUK chassis, BUS model and registered as MOTOR HOME. I do not have my skoolie anywhere near complete and I can't change the title to Motor Home until it is complete.
To get the outrageous quote (thousands of dollars premium) I did this:
Business: Motor Carrier
Vehicle: Other/Bus
# of passengers: Seats have been removed
Business structure: Individual

To get the good quote of $407 a year (was a little less before I moved cities):
Business: Musician
Vehicle: Other/Bus
# of passengers: Seats have been removed
Business structure: Individual

When you complete the online quote, you have to call them and they go over the information. You can call them outright but they have to type everything in themselves. I think I may have gotten a newer representative as he had to ask customer service what exactly their cancellation policy was. He asked what my business was, and I told him that I was using the bus (never did I say "school bus") for private use. He then asked what it was going to be used for and I said that I use it for transporting instruments and as a practice space (I have a degree in music and do have instruments, so this wasn't entirely untrue). I was not asked for any business information.
Note: Comprehensive option is not available, this is liability only. I set up the policy a couple days before moving to SE Wisconsin in December 2015. To this date they haven't cancelled me and I actually just got my coverage changed over to "storage comprehensive" so I don't have to keep paying $40 a month for liability. The other option would be to cancel the policy and write a new one when I need it, but this way all I have to do is add the liability back on and I keep the policy number.
I hope this helps for someone, I think the trick would be to have the Business field relate to you somehow if in the event you had to prove you are using it for your stated purpose.

[Nerslly]

Maine

Just talked to my insurance lady and had an "off the record" conversation (we go way back). Told her exactly what I was doing and she said she has a couple ways to "make sure I get at least liability insurance." she said the first one will probably be dropped in about a month. But I'm covered to get the bus home that I just purchased. She said as soon as I get it home, go to the town hall and register it as a motor home so I can get a title in the mail that says "motor Home". She said that will help a lot when she writes the second policy after the first (most likely) gets cancelled. So my plan is to hit the town hall and have my nice town hall lady push it through as a motor Home. I hope being on the planning board in my town will pay off with this one. I've had friends in maine that have buses converted to motorhomes with active insurance policies, so I know it's possible. Only time will tell. I'll keep you hooligans in the loop....

[FlyboyHPD]

I have liability only insurance through Allstate and it's only $14.42 a month. Your quote may differ somewhat based on age, location and driving record. It helps immensely if you have your bus titled as an RV to begin with.

[Nerslly]

Maine

Little twist to the story. Picked up my bus today. The nice man said via email he had a clean title in hand. Turns out, he had a title that had been signed over to him by the school department. Since he never registered the bus, the title was still in his name on the back part where you sign. So now I have filled out the "double title" application and have to pay two title app fees. We will see if this throws a bunch of poop in my Cheerios when I go to the town hall tomorrow to register my bus as a motor Home. BUT, in a positive find on the maine DMV website tonight, the definition of "Motor Home" is: ""40. Motor home. "Motor home" means a motor vehicle that:
A. Is originally designed, reconstructed or permanently altered to provide facilities for human habitation; or [1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
B. Has a camper permanently attached to it. [1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
"Motor home" does not include a mobile home""

The important part being letter "A".... So i think I'll be good with the whole "use magic to turn a bus title into a motor Home title"..

Stay tuned..

[Nerslly]

All registered and insured (for now). I'll post again when I get a cancellation notice...

[milkmania]

My progressive policy started at 8:01am ET
PROGRESSIVE listed it as a box truck for personal use, by VIN#

$179.00 a year equates to $14.91 a month

Arkansas previous owner transferred the title into his name listed as a bus.
I visited with my Oklahoma tag agent, and she said since it was an out of state vehicle... She'll title it as a RV.
Receiving Arkansas title Saturday, so Monday I'll be on the tag agent's front steps

[FlyboyHPD]

Originally Posted by milkmania

My progressive policy started at 8:01am ET
PROGRESSIVE listed it as a box truck for personal use, by VIN#

Nice. Hopefully it will stick and underwriting won't drop you.