I just got my Vermont registration

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Oldyeller

To continue my story. I just got a quote from Allstate in New Jersey by calling Kelly Newsome. The quote is for my primary vehicle (2004 Expedition) and the bus. It looks like it'll come at around $2000 per year for liability on both vehicles. I don't have time right now to delve into the details but wanted to report on what I just got. More later as I discuss it with the agent.

That sounds steep, what is your driving record like. I pay State Farm $127/month for full coverage on the bus and liability on the MIata and the Dakota. I just switched it to full coverage on the Miata and liability on the bus and Dakota with no rate change. Didn't realize I had full coverage on the bus while it sits in the driveway.
State Farm surprised me when I found out I had full coverage. I asked about changing it to the Miata. They said I had one month to go on the policy. If I added the Miata they would have to charge the difference for the past year, but if I changed the bus to liability now, they would reimburse the the difference from the year. So I dropped the full on the bus and got a rebate, and waited till the end of the month to add the full to the Miata. State Farm has been the best insurance company I've dealt with in 50 years of driving.

[Oldyeller]

Originally Posted by o1marc

That sounds steep, what is your driving record like. I pay State Farm $127/month for full coverage on the bus and liability on the MIata and the Dakota. I just switched it to full coverage on the Miata and liability on the bus and Dakota with no rate change. Didn't realize I had full coverage on the bus while it sits in the driveway.
State Farm surprised me when I found out I had full coverage. I asked about changing it to the Miata. They said I had one month to go on the policy. If I added the Miata they would have to charge the difference for the past year, but if I changed the bus to liability now, they would reimburse the the difference from the year. So I dropped the full on the bus and got a rebate, and waited till the end of the month to add the full to the Miata. State Farm has been the best insurance company I've dealt with in 50 years of driving.

It's New Jersey, do I have to say more? I don't have tickets, I don't have accidents, I'm old and I have old vehicles -- it's just New Jersey.

[Oldyeller]

Here's a picture of the last patch for the rear cap. I laid the gutter section in place so you can see what will happen there. Once my friend gets it welded in place I'll do the final screw in, cinch the rear cap down and call it done - except for some odds and ends I have to take care of.

Anyone know why some pictures uploaded rotate? This picture was taken vertically in the camera but, for some reason, it uploaded into the forum rotated counter clockwise.

[Native]

Musigenisis can give you details on how to do it ... but if you convert the .jpg images into .png images you can position the images any way you want and they stay that way.

[ladybird_bus]

Originally Posted by Native

Contact Kelly Newsome with Allstate (352-326-9300 KellyNewsome1@allstate.com). Kelly knows skoolies and can write in many states. For those she can not write in, she has agent/contacts to serve you.

So I've been talking to Kelly and she did get back to me very quickly but she advised me not to register my rig in Vermont because she said it's very difficult to get insured there. But I'm not there, I'm (currently) in Oregon and actually have no fixed address now.. so I'm seeking some advice.

She said title it there but register in Oregon.. but I didn't realise that those were different things (I'm British and the system here in the states can sometimes be pretty confusing to us foreigners).

I thought the point of registering in Vermont is that it's easy to register a commercial vehicle one is converting as an RV, whereas in other states you may have to jump through a lot of hoops - it hadn't actually occurred to me that you have to be insured there too - is this actually the case?

Can anyone advise? And especially if anyone is in Oregon and has a Vermont-registered skoolie and has found great insurance, I would be forever grateful to hear where you got it!

[Rock-N-Ruth]

Originally Posted by ladybird_bus

So I've been talking to Kelly and she did get back to me very quickly but she advised me not to register my rig in Vermont because she said it's very difficult to get insured there. But I'm not there, I'm (currently) in Oregon and actually have no fixed address now.. so I'm seeking some advice.

She said title it there but register in Oregon.. but I didn't realise that those were different things (I'm British and the system here in the states can sometimes be pretty confusing to us foreigners).

I thought the point of registering in Vermont is that it's easy to register a commercial vehicle one is converting as an RV, whereas in other states you may have to jump through a lot of hoops - it hadn't actually occurred to me that you have to be insured there too - is this actually the case?

Can anyone advise? And especially if anyone is in Oregon and has a Vermont-registered skoolie and has found great insurance, I would be forever grateful to hear where you got it!

Insurance is based on the state in which you park it. We are currently registered in Vermont and we live in New Mexico. Are Vermont registration has our New Mexico address on it. Our insurance company doesn't ask us where is the vehicle registered they asked where do you park. You are just fine to register in Vermont and get your insurance in Oregon. If you insure as commercial for private use you can get liability insurance through Progressive at a reasonable price.

[ladybird_bus]

Originally Posted by Rock-N-Ruth

Insurance is based on the state in which you park it. We are currently registered in Vermont and we live in New Mexico. Are Vermont registration has our New Mexico address on it. Our insurance company doesn't ask us where is the vehicle registered they asked where do you park. You are just fine to register in Vermont and get your insurance in Oregon. If you insure as commercial for private use you can get liability insurance through Progressive at a reasonable price.

Thanks for chiming in! That's what I had been assuming - but then Kelly said otherwise and she is mentioned so often here and on FB Skoolie groups as the go-to person I thought "she must be right". Now I'm just confused as to why she would say so - particularly since insurance is her thing.

[Rock-N-Ruth]

Originally Posted by ladybird_bus

Thanks for chiming in! That's what I had been assuming - but then Kelly said otherwise and she is mentioned so often here and on FB Skoolie groups as the go-to person I thought "she must be right". Now I'm just confused as to why she would say so - particularly since insurance is her thing.

You are welcome. I don't know why Kelly views it that way. I have been buying, selling, driving all kinds of vehicles for forty +years in numerous states. I have found that I get what I need by avoiding agents and taking the time to communicate with insurance companies directly.
Call some insurance companies and tell them what you currently have. No need to go into detail about your plans with the bus. You'll gave plenty of time to iron out insurance on the completed build while you are doing it. Right now you need viable insurance for your unconverted bus. As I mentioned earliar, Progressive commercial lives will get you a good liability policy for private commercial use very reasonable. Everyone has opinions. Some may be right. But at the end of the day you just want to get er done. I have insured hundreds of vehicles and have never been asked what state is it registered in. They want to know where it is. And where it resides.

[Oldyeller]

Originally Posted by ladybird_bus

So I've been talking to Kelly and she did get back to me very quickly but she advised me not to register my rig in Vermont because she said it's very difficult to get insured there. But I'm not there, I'm (currently) in Oregon and actually have no fixed address now.. so I'm seeking some advice.

She said title it there but register in Oregon.. but I didn't realise that those were different things (I'm British and the system here in the states can sometimes be pretty confusing to us foreigners).

I thought the point of registering in Vermont is that it's easy to register a commercial vehicle one is converting as an RV, whereas in other states you may have to jump through a lot of hoops - it hadn't actually occurred to me that you have to be insured there too - is this actually the case?

Can anyone advise? And especially if anyone is in Oregon and has a Vermont-registered skoolie and has found great insurance, I would be forever grateful to hear where you got it!

I was surprised to see activity in this thread again but I guess I shouldn't have been. I posted it to maybe help folks that came after me and I guess it did so - success.

What Rock-N-Ruth said. I can elaborate a bit which you might find useful. I got mine registered in Vermont as you see from this thread. It wasn't a big deal, you just have to be careful to cross the T's and dot the I's in the forms. I got my registration and plates and then I learned what Rock-N-Ruth said I needed to find insurance in my state.

In my case Kelly put me in touch with an agent in New Jersey. It wouldn't have been a big deal after that for me if it weren't for the requirements for insuring a bus in NJ. When I was finalizing the insurance the agent told me I'd 'have to' or 'might have to' take the bus for an inspection. In NJ (and other states as well) a bus has to meet certain criteria to be considered an RV, things like permanent kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, some others. At the time I was just finishing the shortening of my bus and I had planned to leave for Florida with the bus and finish all that stuff over the winter. That put the kabosh on my plans for last year. In your case you'll also have to meet whatever criteria required on Oregon for insuring a bus converted to an RV - if there are any.

Not sure you're interested, but if you have no fixed address you could establish permanent residence in one of several states that would take care of a lot of issues in one fell swoop. There are threads here that discuss this subject. If I recall correctly South Dakota is one of the big states for this service and it IS a service, companies sell themselves by providing such services to full time RVers - permanent address, mail handling, vehicle insurance, etc. Were I in your shoes I'd likely end up taking that approach sooner rather than later. I've been snow birding this winter and the USPS's mail forwarding service is kind of a joke. If I get things forwarded at all it takes a couple weeks to arrive beyond what it SHOULD have taken to get to my home address in NJ.

[2mchprssr]

Originally Posted by Native

Contact Kelly Newsome with Allstate (352-326-9300 KellyNewsome1@allstate.com). Kelly knows skoolies and can write in many states. For those she can not write in, she has agent/contacts to serve you.

she just hooked me up with her MI rep last week. ill be going bare bone policy for about $450 a year

[john61ct]

https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f9/a-place-for-my-head-a-place-for-my-mail-and-a-place-for-my-bus-33738.html#post413912

SD is for rich people tax avoidance, overkill.

Florida or Texas is better for normal legal domicile issues for nomads