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Old 01-06-2022, 10:45 AM   #21
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Hello, read my thread and call the number on it.

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Old 02-08-2022, 01:08 AM   #22
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Smile Insurance from Napoleon and Arizona DoT Inspection info

Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylark001 View Post
Hello, every one, I have a direct answer to insurance wowes! In a nut shell it’s National General.
Call: Napoleon A. (Yes, that’s his real name) A is for last name but I will leave out for internet reasons).
314-493-8422 (Missouri). This is his direct line, Mr. Napoleon is through Good Sam insurance company which is a side company of National General which is, get this, a side company of State Farm. Any how if you call national general and ask if the cover converted school buses they will put you on hold to transfer you to these guys. So, I just gave you the direct number.
A FEW THINGS TO NOTE. He was VERY adamant about not having a deck or smoke stack chimney, automatic no coverage. I was told, each to its own here I said no but I have solar panels mounted like a “deck.” He said that was fine. Also, he asked if there any markings including lights, signage to resemble a school bus. I said no (my rig is painted, all school stuff is deleted/removed any way). Next, they asked for pictures before it went to underwriting all four outsides and two pictures of the inside, front to rear rear to front-6- take note again each to it’s own 4 outside pictures and 2 inside.Total, he asked about electrical plumbing and water. Did not ask about propane/batteries. What I am getting at, pay attention what there asking and stop to clarify if needed. They also asked if I was full time or part time. They asked about purchase price and estimated total cost of the conversion. They also asked if there were any high dollar items, I thought about this. I did not further investigate this question in rewards to charge controllers, electrical components , tv’s etc.. Five minutes later quote was in my email. For my state (IN) 65$ (64.30$) for 12 months. Not bad, obviously you want more coverage I’m sure they will be happy to sell it to you. Also, I have a full 40’ rig and I asked would it matter if I pulled a tow dolly for a car or a tandem trailer, all I got out of it was quotes for the trailers. I’m going to say this with caution, pulling a trailer with a 40’ rig did not disqualify me. What I got from that part of the conversation was everything just had to be insured.
I hope this helps, great guy very knowledgeable and professional, yes this guy is a licensed insurance person. I hope this helps this was a major hurdle on my list. Any questions, just message me.

See yous guys down the road!
I phoned Napoleon and within a day I had my bus insured and didn't have the conversion completed. I just had pictures of a couple of the seats removed. He asked for Left Side, Right Side, Front Back, Interior to Back and Interior to Front and I was insured. $700 for the year. State Required Liability. He said he couldn't insure for more than that but that's good enough for me.

I now have all the seats removed and started the extensive cleaning process. I have been hitting Amazon for all the required equipment to get it to meet the inspection requirements for Arizona.

In THAT regards, I have been talking to an awesome officer named Jeff Pfaffenbach out of the Glendale AZ DOT/MVD office ( 602-712-2434 - 16380 N. 59th Ave Glendale,AZ 85306 ) and he emailed me the list of what I need to have and he assured me so long as I made an effort to meet at least 4 of the requirements and nothing looks "dangerous", I'd pass with no problem.

They allow grey water to be dumped straight to the ground. No holding tank in order to pass.
A Solar Generator will suffice as an on board power source so long as it has a 110V outlet/capacity.
There's no water tank size requirement so a battery powered water faucet with a hose going down to a 5 gallon water bottle and a sink draining in to another 5 gallon bottle or down through the floor on to the ground will pass.
The bed does not have to be attached to the frame in any way. He'll accept a cot if that's all you have.
If you're running a 20lb propane bottle it can be inside the living area but he'd like to see it secured in some way so it's not rolling around loose inside the bus.

There's no weighing that has to be done either before or after the process. I've heard the horror stories about Texas' process but Officer Pfaffenbach said that's not a requirement for Arizona.

My appointment is for March 1st so I'll update you all on how it all goes.
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Old 03-16-2022, 04:50 PM   #23
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Good question! Im in the same boat, was there a way to get this done by chance?
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Old 03-16-2022, 10:25 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by Aurel View Post
Good question! Im in the same boat, was there a way to get this done by chance?
What question/comment in the thread were you responding to? Maybe I can help?
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Old 03-22-2022, 10:44 PM   #25
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Awesome and Comprehensive Info. Thank you.
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Old 06-13-2022, 07:54 PM   #26
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Just wanted to update this... I just finished on the phone with him and secured coverage.
Napoleon A. is legit. Nice guy, and helped me quickly get covered. I'm in Michigan.



Brad
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Old 06-28-2022, 11:05 PM   #27
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What states are they licensed for please?
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Old 06-29-2022, 04:35 AM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ojpcali87 View Post
Hello All,

My primary residence is in MA. I got my 2006 chevy skoolie registered in VT. I'm having a tough time getting insurance. Ive tried kelly Newsome but she can only insure it in the state that it is registered in. Does anyone know any company that will give me insurance in MA with a VT reg?
The Vermont route seems to be a good way to go, but it is not recommended to use as the registration for the bus, but only to change the designation from commercial to private (motor home), while doing the conversion instead of after, and that the motor home can be immediately reregistered in your state by way of a transferable registration.
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Old 07-25-2022, 11:28 AM   #29
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Hello , Skylark001- Can your man get my bus in the state of NC. To converted into a RV (on paper). Thank you
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Old 09-20-2022, 06:19 PM   #30
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Hey there! Loving your post as I've not had success yet with my personal agent here in WA. What type of policy did you receive and was it for the bus? or motorhome?

My agent is stating: "National General will not insure your conversion with a comprehensive or collision deductible until the conversion has been completed. Not ideal at all since you will be driving it back to WA."

Our bus we've purchased and paid in full for is in New Mexico, so need to sort insurance before we can get it up to Seattle...with winter (yes, I said it) right around the corner, we are eager to get this process moving ASAP.

Any thoughts or ideas appreciate!

Kat and Tim
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Old 09-20-2022, 08:28 PM   #31
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I paid for a Progressive policy and it took them 30 days to cancel my policy -- and they gave me a full refund! I had the Bus home on day six of the policy.
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Old 11-24-2022, 08:53 PM   #32
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Thanks!

Great informative post!! Thank you Skylark
Napoleon is still doing Skoolie insurance. He gave me a tentative quote Wednesday and said we should have everything completed Monday. Same questions about roof deck and hot stove pipes through the roof. Same 6 photos required.
You saved me lots of time searching. Perfect post title! Thanks again.
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Old 11-30-2022, 10:27 PM   #33
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should have searched here and saved time.

Wish I had seen this post sooner I just spent the last week trying to find someone to insure a partial conversion. The seller has it insured through Allstate and figured I would be able to go through the same agent...nope they will not cover or transfer the policy. The agent was great and gave me the number for National General and they transferred me to another agent of Good Sam that I guess subs for them to do skoolies.


All the same questions as original posts said and same pictures required. Lauren, the agent is licensed in 47 states, so they cover pretty much everywhere. She is even trying to get it rushed through for me. From what I am seeing they are the only company that will touch the skoolies now.



Hope anyone that needs covered calls National General first
800-462-2123 they are happy to transfer you to an agent...I think they send you to an affiliate for whoever referred you to them, because I was referred by Allstate and my new agent is under Allstate. Others said state farm and got state farm...
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Old 12-01-2022, 04:21 AM   #34
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American Family Insurance, anyone?

Another option I don't see often mentioned,
American Family Insurance.
I've found them great to work with, though I've never filed a claim, mind you
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Old 01-24-2023, 08:52 PM   #35
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Rated Cap: just the 2 of us
I contacted my independent ins agent today.
Got a quote for just under $450/yr full coverage ($25000 stated value), with road side assistance.
$500 deductibles.
I told the agent to doublecheck the roadside coverage because if they will cover my bus, I absolutely want it. (Only adds about $25 to the policy)
It's with Safeco insurance. Once insured, I'll get my tags and then we head to the truck repair shop.
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Old 01-25-2023, 11:33 PM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp View Post
I contacted my independent ins agent today.
Got a quote for just under $450/yr full coverage ($25000 stated value), with road side assistance.
$500 deductibles.
I told the agent to doublecheck the roadside coverage because if they will cover my bus, I absolutely want it. (Only adds about $25 to the policy)
It's with Safeco insurance. Once insured, I'll get my tags and then we head to the truck repair shop.

If things change be sure to let us know. A lot of skoolie folks have insurance issues.
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Old 01-26-2023, 08:42 AM   #37
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looks like the roadside service will be a problem after all...
So, I do have insurance coverage...Isn't there roadside coverage offered by some one like Coach.net or something along those lines?
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Old 01-26-2023, 12:56 PM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp View Post
looks like the roadside service will be a problem after all...
So, I do have insurance coverage...Isn't there roadside coverage offered by some one like Coach.net or something along those lines?
I have a AAA RV policy but never tried to use it. They asked what the vehicle was and I told them 2006 international ....
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Old 01-26-2023, 09:26 PM   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbacks2k4 View Post
I have a AAA RV policy but never tried to use it. They asked what the vehicle was and I told them 2006 international ....

Be careful with AAA RV. We've had issues twice and we had their maximum RV coverage (and below).


1st issue: No one wanted to come tow our F350 and 21.5 fifth wheel when we broke down on the freeway. They finally found a contractor that would come tow us but had to go to one over 50 miles from us and it took 4 1/2 hours.


2nd issue: JUST the F350. We lost our oil pan plug and all the oil in the mountains between Redding and Weed. Because it has a utility body on it they tried to say it was a commercial vehicle and was modified. I took the phone from the GF and explained to them that we had the top level RV coverage and this was a trailer tow rig. That it was NOT modified, it was sold by Ford to a body fitter who then sold it as a new vehicle. It was a low profile utility body which gave additional storage for RVing, had an RV fifth wheel installed, was NOT a dual wheel set up, and was registered as a private vehicle. That if they did not cover us we would be using our social media with thousands of subscribers to pass the word that AAA did not perform after taking your money and contacting a law firm about forming a class action lawsuit.
They agreed to tow us to the state line but then we'd have to get another tow to get us the remaining 30 miles home.
Fortunately a good samaraton (sp) offered to drive me into town so that I could get a new plug and oil so we told AAA to pound sand.
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Old 02-17-2023, 10:42 AM   #40
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Roof raise issue

I spoke with National General and the underwriters came back saying they wouldn’t cover a partially converted bus with a roof raise. Back to square 1 for me…
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