Insurance in Canada?

[askgayle]

Redd, did you ever find insurance in Ontario. Thx. askgayle

[skidfrog]

[QUOTE=askgayle;328219]Hi All, bought a great ole bus and had it converted to a Skoolie in Saskatchewan. I live in Ontario, and would like to get it converted to an RV, insured and on the road. I need some help though. When insurance company hear the word bus, they want nothing to do with me. When I say RV, they ask what kind. Its' a Thompson School bus, then they want nothing to do with me. HELP.

I got mine insured just this past Jan 2019 first time. It's a mini-bus so maybe that's a lot easier.........the dealer had the Ministry paperwork it as a commercial vehicle and not a bus ( cargo ) so I could drive and insure......dealer connected me with a co-operators agent who was completely comfortable just using the VIN and the ownership. My own broker refused to research options saying the VIN was everything.....but then when the VIN didn't have that key word "bus" they reverted to my own email that mentioned the word "bus" and insisted $4800 was my rate. ( I got it for $1000 with Cooperators ) I believe once your conversion is complete you can have it looked at and designated RV for half that in insurance . Good luck .....keep me posted in Ontario !

[askgayle]

[QUOTE=skidfrog;328234]

Originally Posted by askgayle

Hi All, bought a great ole bus and had it converted to a Skoolie in Saskatchewan. I live in Ontario, and would like to get it converted to an RV, insured and on the road. I need some help though. When insurance company hear the word bus, they want nothing to do with me. When I say RV, they ask what kind. Its' a Thompson School bus, then they want nothing to do with me. HELP.

I got mine insured just this past Jan 2019 first time. It's a mini-bus so maybe that's a lot easier.........the dealer had the Ministry paperwork it as a commercial vehicle and not a bus ( cargo ) so I could drive and insure......dealer connected me with a co-operators agent who was completely comfortable just using the VIN and the ownership. My own broker refused to research options saying the VIN was everything.....but then when the VIN didn't have that key word "bus" they reverted to my own email that mentioned the word "bus" and insisted $4800 was my rate. ( I got it for $1000 with Cooperators ) I believe once your conversion is complete you can have it looked at and designated RV for half that in insurance . Good luck .....keep me posted in Ontario !

would you mind re-sharing your co-op contact so we could call and ask him for help. the skoolie is currently in sask and there are all sorts of issues there with out of province, so was hoping to at least have something lined up here when I drive it here to Toronto.

[REDD]

Originally Posted by askgayle

Redd, did you ever find insurance in Ontario. Thx. askgayle

"Luckily for me another skoolie enthusiast from Ontario mentioned James Browning from Wallaceburg The Co-operators. I decided to give it a try."


They may want all your sheet....car, house, business etc.

[askgayle]

We can all start posting James Browning as the insurance agent of choice for Skoolies in Ontario and who knows, with all this business he could be a great friend to the skoolie community. Thanks for reaching out.

[skidfrog]

I double-checked my emails.....the rate i ended up paying was $1600 canadian for one year / 2 million liability. Still a bit high i think so I'm keen to keep shopping once i get status as an RV. On the other hand my friends 24 yr old son got quoted over $20,000 for a new motorcycle he wanted to buy.....so he looked for a less highly rated motorcycle and $2500 was his lowest rate for an under 500 cc bike. ( mine is $277 a year for my little street legal dirtbike for the bumper )

Any tips on Ontario bus owners meets / info etc ?

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by skidfrog

I double-checked my emails.....the rate i ended up paying was $1600 canadian for one year / 2 million liability. Still a bit high i think so I'm keen to keep shopping once i get status as an RV. On the other hand my friends 24 yr old son got quoted over $20,000 for a new motorcycle he wanted to buy.....so he looked for a less highly rated motorcycle and $2500 was his lowest rate for an under 500 cc bike. ( mine is $277 a year for my little street legal dirtbike for the bumper )

Any tips on Ontario bus owners meets / info etc ?

does that include collision insurance?

[Yukon Cornelius]

Another option you can look into is Novex Insurance, which I believe is a subsidiary of Intact. they deal with all kinds of different things, personal small auto through up to commercial trucking, through marine. My Broker here in NL has me with them and the prices are quite reasonable.

[Yukon Cornelius]

Originally Posted by skidfrog

I double-checked my emails.....the rate i ended up paying was $1600 canadian for one year / 2 million liability. Still a bit high i think so I'm keen to keep shopping once i get status as an RV. On the other hand my friends 24 yr old son got quoted over $20,000 for a new motorcycle he wanted to buy.....so he looked for a less highly rated motorcycle and $2500 was his lowest rate for an under 500 cc bike. ( mine is $277 a year for my little street legal dirtbike for the bumper )

Any tips on Ontario bus owners meets / info etc ?

I heard rumours the ON Gov't was going to get involved with the insurance extortion going on there..... it's F***en crazy.....One of the things I'm dreading the most about moving back there to be honest.....well that and the fact it's basically California if you're a gun owner that drives a diesel.......

[askgayle]

Thanks everyone for responding to our insurance in Ontario query. We currently have three quoting....and will keep you posted on which direction we go. A couple of them want all or some of your business, which is fine with us.

The bus is nearing completion in Sask. An operation called Paved to Pines is the contractor, and we will be driving it back from there in July. Cant wait.

Let me know if there are any Ontario meet ups for Skoolie owners.

Askgayle.

[Bon Voyage]

My insurance company said an Aviva Elite broker would be able to help in Ontario. Might be worth a try.

[Live for the Hype]

Any luck with insurance in Alberta??

[Bon Voyage]

Yes. Are you looking for some?

[Live for the Hype]

We live in Lethbridge and are looking at a bus near Leduc. Every insurance place we have talked to has given us a quote around $6000 for the year and said there is a cancelation fee if we try to cancel the insurance once we get it to our land.

[Bon Voyage]

The only company I could find that will take a preconverted bus is Nordic; You could probably get it through any broker that deals with them or you could try RV Direct insurance. Or Awin insurance; rv direct is run by Awin.

Nordic charges about $2000 for a year liability only and there would be a early cancel penalty. I’d be upfront with them about cancelling early.

After it’s converted it can be insured for about $500/yr with Elite.

[Live for the Hype]

If it’s only 2000 for the year we would probably just keep it insured because that’s the cheapest I’ve heard of and we don’t mind paying for that much it’s just crazy because We got quoted like 6000 the other day which is crazy. Thank you for the info

[Bon Voyage]

Yeah that’s what I’ve done is just took the $2000 hit and kept it insured; I’ve been able to drive it around and use it too. I didn’t want to run into any problems in the future. Let me know what you end up buying.

[Dearoldad]

I recently purchased a 1967 Bus conversion...getting the runaround. I will try RV Direct in Calgary, fingers crossed it doesn't cost me a kidney!

[skidfrog]

Originally Posted by Live for the Hype

If it’s only 2000 for the year we would probably just keep it insured because that’s the cheapest I’ve heard of and we don’t mind paying for that much it’s just crazy because We got quoted like 6000 the other day which is crazy. Thank you for the info

My own broker refused to accept that the Ministry granted me an ownership / plate as a cargo van and insisted that $4500 was THE rate. Cooperators advertises on their website that they insure converted buses.....but when I asked my local Cooperators for a quote they insisted that the website was outdated and they do NOT insure buses of any kind. Fortunately the dealer knew a different cooperators office and got me $2 million liability for $1065....no problem and "yes of course we insure buses".

So I'm insured as a cargo van ( GMC 3500 ) for now......with the intention to get to RV status when I can for a further savings.

[Dearoldad]

Originally Posted by Bon Voyage

The only company I could find that will take a preconverted bus is Nordic; You could probably get it through any broker that deals with them or you could try RV Direct insurance. Or Awin insurance; rv direct is run by Awin.

Nordic charges about $2000 for a year liability only and there would be a early cancel penalty. I’d be upfront with them about cancelling early.

After it’s converted it can be insured for about $500/yr with Elite.

RV Direct advised me today that they don't insure bus conversions. I'm still searching.