Some thoughts on insurance companies turning us down:
Go to AIS Insurance's web page on
bus conversion coverage and you will find the following: "Very few insurance companies will insure this type of vehicle [converted school buses]. The main reason cited for this is the axle of a school bus is generally a narrower axle than that of a regular bus. Thus, when the additional weight of the conversion is added, it can result in a top-heavy vehicle, which is more susceptible to rollover accidents..."
So they'll insure
these, but not school buses, which stay together, albeit rumpled, in roll-overs. Sounds pretty ass-backward to me. Also, my 1976 Winnie (like most other RVs of its era) has a much-shorter wheelbase and narrower front/rear tracks than typical school buses. And I'm sure it'd blow over more easily in a crosswind. Insurance risk assessors act like Sir Isaac Newton is either a cookie or variety of apple.
I'm reminded of the oft-quoted maxim, "Figures don't lie, but liars do figure," and also A.K. Dewdney's book,
200% of Nothing: From Percentage Pumping to Irrational Ratios. Dr. Dewdney doesn't mention skoolies, but he does discuss several instances of misunderstood probabilities. The issue also brings back memories of when I was in my early 20s and the annual cost of my young-bachelor-therefore-UR-irresponsible policy on my Dodge Aries "K" station wagon was almost half the value of the car. Never mind that my only claim was for a cracked windshield; one minor traffic ticket in tens of thousands of miles.
Do any insurance companies bother to examine S&S RVs before issuing policies on 'em? Allstate didn't bat an eye when I went in for coverage on mine.