if you can NOT get insurance please read

[Skunky Bus]

It's as if actuaries and other decision-makers in the insurance industry have seen too many episodes of Criminal Minds. If you fit in some "wrong" category, e.g., drive a Dodge Challenger Hellcat, drive a vehicle that's over 20 yrs old, if your FICO score is below 750, live in the Bronx, or whatever.... then you HAVE to be a mega-dollar claim just waiting to happen.
Amazing what I had to go through just to get a '76 Winnebago insured because it was old and too inexpensive! Ditto for the house!

[Oddball]

I went to my local State Farm agent to get it insured as Commercial with Personal Use and they came back with $120/month! No way I'm paying that while my bus sits parked while it gets converted. I would rather have no insurance and not drive it.

Has anyone else paid anywhere near that amount while their bus was being converted?

[T-Bolt]

Originally Posted by Oddball

I went to my local State Farm agent to get it insured as Commercial with Personal Use and they came back with $120/month! No way I'm paying that while my bus sits parked while it gets converted. I would rather have no insurance and not drive it.

Has anyone else paid anywhere near that amount while their bus was being converted?

I have State Farm and they insured my bus under a commercial policy while I convert it. I pay around $200 for 6 months. The rate will drop when the conversion is done and I can get a RV policy. With State Farm how many policies you have with them and your driving record makes a big difference. For instance I have a 2002 GMC Sierra with 4 wheel drive and I pay around $15 a month for full coverage. No tickets/wrecks for 20 years and 5 policies.

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[Oddball]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

I have State Farm and they insured my bus under a commercial policy while I convert it. I pay around $200 for 6 months. The rate will drop when the conversion is done and I can get a RV policy. With State Farm how many policies you have with them and your driving record makes a big difference. For instance I have a 2002 GMC Sierra with 4 wheel drive and I pay around $15 a month for full coverage. No tickets/wrecks for 20 years and 5 policies.

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Thanks for the feedback. I just spoke with State Farm again and they said they could remove "under-insured/uninsured motorist" coverage but that wouldn't decrease it much at all.

In Arizona, there are 4 conditions which you need in order to register it as an RV. I think I'll just put in an inverter so that it has 1.) 110 V power 2.) a stove, 3.) a heater and 4.) a dorm fridge and then register it as an RV.

The late fees for registering after purchase are only $8/month so if it takes me 3 months it's no big deal and the RV insurance will probably be less than the insurance for Commercial for Personal Use.

[RomaniGypsy]

I want to know if there is any other insurance company that happily insures privately-purchased school buses OTHER than State Farm. State Farm dropped me for too many comprehensive claims. (They're comprehensive, meaning not my fault... think they care? Of course not. That's the way of a good neighbor.)

So, what other companies are best to contact for this?

[golfersmurf57]

Originally Posted by Oddball

I went to my local State Farm agent to get it insured as Commercial with Personal Use and they came back with $120/month! No way I'm paying that while my bus sits parked while it gets converted. I would rather have no insurance and not drive it.

Has anyone else paid anywhere near that amount while their bus was being converted?

I'm in SC paid less than 600 for progressive commercial and had to send some prior insurance proof on autos as this was first skoolie.

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[MarkyDee]

Originally Posted by golfersmurf57

I'm in SC paid less than 600 for progressive commercial and had to send some prior insurance proof on autos as this was first skoolie.

DItto for me, but I'm in Indiana.

[Oddball]

Originally Posted by golfersmurf57

I'm in SC paid less than 600 for progressive commercial and had to send some prior insurance proof on autos as this was first skoolie.

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Thanks golfersmurf57. I thought I would try Progressive then. I went to their web site and found the following:

https://www.progressive.com/rv/bus-c...ssa-insurance/

Non-professional Bus Conversion—Class A
A class A non-professional bus conversion has the following characteristics:
Motor home facilities built into a Class A type bus shell, but does not include changes made to school buses or public transit buses, as these vehicles are unacceptable.

I thought I would give them a call anyway. They said the same thing. Perhaps it's allowed by Progressive in your state. In my state (Arizona) it is not.

I'll keep looking. I hate the idea of driving the bus 20 miles to RV storage without insurance.

[Skunky Bus]

Originally Posted by Oddball

...found the following:

https://www.progressive.com/rv/bus-c...ssa-insurance/

Non-professional Bus Conversion—Class A
A class A non-professional bus conversion has the following characteristics:
Motor home facilities built into a Class A type bus shell, but does not include changes made to school buses or public transit buses, as these vehicles are unacceptable.

How ironic. And I wonder which vehicle Progressive Flo would rather have been aboard in this accident:
Crash Leaves DART Bus, RV Badly Damaged - NBC 10 Philadelphia
News text misses the fact that the front corner hanging from the bus is part of the RV, not the bus.

[Oddball]

Originally Posted by Skunky Bus

How ironic. And I wonder which vehicle Progressive Flo would rather have been aboard in this accident:
Crash Leaves DART Bus, RV Badly Damaged - NBC 10 Philadelphia
News text misses the fact that the front corner hanging from the bus is part of the RV, not the bus.

It's the single largest reason I bought a bus instead of an RV. There are few things more important to me than my safety and the safety of the people riding aboard my vehicle.

[Skunky Bus]

Originally Posted by Oddball

It's the single largest reason I bought a bus instead of an RV. There are few things more important to me than my safety and the safety of the people riding aboard my vehicle.

Here's another news link: this one involving a new (or very recent) Winnebago that rolled after being hit in the side by a pickup truck.
Crash in Galesburg area leaves Winnebago split-in-half
They goofed on the video caption: "roof sheared off." It looks like most of the body was sheared off the floor. Thank goodness all aboard survived.

[Megabea]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Curious....

I have two buses insured with State Farm. In my case they are insured as commercial vehicles for personal use. When I am done with the conversion they will switch the insurance to RV. I did have to send pics showing that the seats were removed.

I went through the same process with my last bus and State Farm had no problem insuring it as an RV.

I hope your luck improves!!

I called my independent ins. agent, told him i was going to buy a school bus and needed coverage to drive it home.
he could not get me a personal policy , in my name. BUT he was able to cover it under my business commercial policy , as a bus for personal use.
I had to sign a paper saying that I was NOT going to use it for hauling passengers for commercial transportation.
4 months go by and I get the conversion finished
{ cover }
and get it re-titled as an RV which was effortless i must say,,
Call my agent and inform him that it is now an RV no longer a bus , he says ok great , i show him the web site and he calls back to say how impressed he is .
3 days later he calls me and tells me he has called several different underwrites and none of them will cover a converted bus to an RV.
he never really said why , but that they just didn't offer it
he said he could get me bus ins. or he could get me RV insurance BUT he was not able to get me RV insurance on my VIN # because its a bus , and now that I have done the conversion , it is no longer a bus.
so I am still looking ..... my agent is a good friend , hes not jacking me around , i have had him for 45 years .
He pointed me to AIS

[Skunky Bus]

Originally Posted by Megabea

Call my agent and inform him that it is now an RV no longer a bus , he says ok great , i show him the web site and he calls back to say how impressed he is .
3 days later he calls me and tells me he has called several different underwrites and none of them will cover a converted bus to an RV.
he never really said why , but that they just didn't offer it...

I doubt the companies offered him an explanation - at least not one that made any sense.

And to think that those same underwriters will serve up coverage for a stix-'n-staples rig without batting an eye.

[evathedefiler]

WA State

We’re registered a private 7 passenger vehicle, body type bus. We paid extra weight tax but there is no gvwr or scale weight listed on our registration. We are not converted and may never fully convert it.

We have a commercial for personal use policy with Progressive. Progressive was explicit that registering as a motorhome would cause them to drop our policy.

We truly phoned every option and lead looking for other insurance. A few agents thought they might be able to get coverage after conversion but not as it is currently.

So we’re paying out the nose with Progressive. But we just got our renewal papers in the mail, so at least they haven’t dropped us.

[Huskerbus]

I was successful in getting a policy with Farm Bureau insured as a bus under a personal policy. This company is not in every state, but if they write insurance in your state, definitely give them a call. I am paying about $40 per month to insure.

[gypsyfiredance]

Edit..sorry new here and still learning how to use this forum. Was trying to repond to a post. Should have hit the quote..so this looks out of place and I can't delete it. ��


Same reason why I'd rather have a metal bus. Also... planned obsolescence...I just don't think RVs were meant to last.

[gypsyfiredance]

Originally Posted by Oddball

It's the single largest reason I bought a bus instead of an RV. There are few things more important to me than my safety and the safety of the people riding aboard my vehicle.

Same reason why I'd rather have a metal bus. Also... planned obsolescence...I just don't think RVs were meant to last.

[Chess]

Originally Posted by Huskerbus

I was successful in getting a policy with Farm Bureau insured as a bus under a personal policy. This company is not in every state, but if they write insurance in your state, definitely give them a call. I am paying about $40 per month to insure.

I dint know that was possible! I'm just a state over so I'll give them a call Monday!

[mikeypj]

Im glad i stumbled across this.. needing insurance to go pick up a bus 7 hrs away...

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by mikeypj

Im glad i stumbled across this.. needing insurance to go pick up a bus 7 hrs away...

My insurance automatically extends to New purchases for 14 days. You may want to check with your carrier and see if they offer something similar.

I have heard from some that they have that coverage but it won't cover a bus.

I emailed my agent with the vin number and verified coverage before I went to pick up my buses.