Progressive has online bus conversion options - Page 10

milkmania · 08-04-2016, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyboyHPD

Nice. Hopefully it will stick and underwriting won't drop you.

Edited original post above

milkmania · 08-04-2016, 07:17 PM

I can finally get off the back roads!!!

milkmania · 08-08-2016, 06:57 PM

Guess what I got done today.....

I got legal!!!

$284 later (titled from out of state)
Next year... $22.50

I just noticed.... They ripped me off by a month!!!

BusFiend · 08-08-2016, 07:32 PM

The man gets you comin' and goin', milkmania...

Congrats are in order, none-the-less!

milkmania · 08-08-2016, 07:37 PM

Insurance, title, and tag was a little bit of a financial setback coming out of one month's pay...
I'll recover, and soon will be ahead of the game!

Next year... For the whole year, $179 insurance & $22.50 for tag

Ramen noodles till then!

FlyboyHPD · 08-08-2016, 08:09 PM

Congratz Milk. I know what a relief that must be. Forward progress is a good thing

.

TN Redneck · 09-22-2016, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bapos

Good luck with that….. the underwriters seem to be related to Satan so just be aware.

I agree if the state deems it a rv then it is but……. if you have a bus type like I do…. GMC B6000 and its not a choice to selects as an rv…. well your down hill slide will start to happen.

I am really getting frustrated at this whole process. Not sure why people won't put in writing whats converted and what is not

I just got my 1997 Thomas 40' insured today. Easy process... THEY called ME!!! ANyways, here is my info, at about $68 a month and $87 down...

So... This was for TN, your state might be different. Here is the contact info for my insurance.
National General insurance
Call Max, 1 216-592-7064. He'll hook you up.

All my seats are still in too...

AlleyCat67 · 09-26-2016, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TN Redneck

I just got my 1997 Thomas 40' insured today. Easy process... THEY called ME!!! ANyways, here is my info, at about $68 a month and $87 down...

So... This was for TN, your state might be different. Here is the contact info for my insurance.
National General insurance
Call Max, 1 216-592-7064. He'll hook you up.

All my seats are still in too...

Is yours titled as an RV? I'm in the process of purchasing a 2005 Thomas that's currently in Illinois so I'm gonna be jumping through these hoops very soon.

TN Redneck · 09-26-2016, 11:07 AM

Titled as a personal vehicle. Insured the same too.
All star dependent though.

AlleyCat67 · 09-26-2016, 11:17 AM

That might work until the conversion is done..... when I go to Gallatin to transfer the title, I'll have to see what options I have since it will be an out-of-state transfer, and find out what the requirements are to get titled/tagged as an RV... I'll get a 45 day drive-out tag when I pick it up so won't have to rush to get it done but at the same time don't want to drag it out either.

In either case I'll be reaching out to your insurance guy before I head to Illinois to pick it up. I quoted Progressive for a commercial policy and I'm pretty sure I can beat their rate (just over 500/year for liability w/uninsured motorist addon).

TN Redneck · 09-26-2016, 11:50 AM

I had my agent reach out and see if they could find something, but as a bus, still had seats, noone would touch it. Gallatin titled it as a personal vehicle and asked me a ton of questions, like... Is it going to used for business, are you carrying passengers? Are you sure? Blah blah blah. She set it as a personal vehicle. I will retitle it later as an RV.if necessary... But right now, I can use it as a daily driver if I had to. Would be weird... Message me, and I'll give you my number, I live off new hope Rd.

AlleyCat67 · 09-26-2016, 01:49 PM

I thought about going that route too but I'd rather title and insure as an RV right out of the gate if I can pull it off.... I'll settle for titling as an RV if I can't insure it that way before the conversion is done. Just have to see what happens when the time comes.

AlleyCat67 · 10-05-2016, 11:13 PM

So I went up to pick up Jasmine today from Indianapolis... I wanted to inspect and test drive to make sure I was going to go with her before getting insurance. I had quoted Progressive but when I called them to complete the purchase, there was some kind of glitch with the VIN number or something.... long story short, they wouldn't even issue me a commercial policy on her. They put me in touch with a local agent, who basically said the same thing. I tried a couple of other options, again getting shot down each time. Even TN Redneck's guy Max was unable to help (Max wasn't available so I went through to another agent in the office... when I got shot down there I left a voicemail for Max but I haven't heard back from him yet). I was doing my level best to avoid using the words "school bus" by referring to it as a motor coach, or just a "bus" since from what I've read here most agents just shut down and won't even try after they hear it's a school bus.

To be fair, some of these companies said they would insure it AFTER the conversion is done, but that didn't help me today. So I'll have to pay a delivery company to drive her down here for me.

Gonna have to spend some time looking at other options to see if there's anything else I can do prior to delivery...

If all else fails, I figure I can do a very basic conversion to just the bare minimums they stated (sleeping/plumbing/cooking facilities onboard), submit the photos and documentation to get the policy written, then rip it all out and do it the way I want. If I just fasten the components to the inner sheet metal walls (which probably are going to be ripped out anyway) I figure I can do it quickly to get the policy issued.

If anyone has any other ideas, I'm listening.... I'm in TN so other TN folks preferred but open to anyone who has what could be a workable solution.

Brad_SwiftFur · 10-05-2016, 11:22 PM

VIN problem? That, to me, is a *HUGE* red flag. What good is buying a bus you'll never be able to insure? I'd get that sorted before money changed hands.

Does a VIN decoder recognize the VIN? That'll give a good indication where to start.

Brad_SwiftFur · 10-05-2016, 11:29 PM

The letters "I", "O" and "Q" never appear in a VIN.
The VIN must be exactly 17 characters in length for a vehicle year 1981 through the present.

This is to eliminate confusion "Is that a zero, or a letter o? Is that a letter I or a One?"

Brad_SwiftFur · 10-05-2016, 11:34 PM

There is no reason to pay some company to drive home your bus. If you can't insure it, chances are, they can't either (not legally, anyway). Progressive Commercial should be able to insure you from Day 1 so you can drive it home. They did exactly that for me, knowing the bus was "as built" and so I could do the conversion on it.

AlleyCat67 · 10-05-2016, 11:54 PM

The VIN checks out, so it's not a problem with that... some of these companies have said they would insure it after it was converted, and they had the VIN so apparently it worked for them too. I guess just the fact that it has the seats and everything still in it is why they wouldn't do it.

And if there was a problem with the VIN I wouldn't think it would be possible to get a title issued, yet it was.... I ran into similar problems with my old bus but eventually got them sorted, so I should be able to do it again.

I'll have to go with delivery now anyway because I can't afford another day off to go back up there.

cadillackid · 10-06-2016, 08:27 AM

if you call progressuve Commercial and tell them you are converting they will definitely refuse you...

you tell them you have a Bus for personal use AS A BUS! and that its STAYING a bus if they ask.. then you keep that insurance until your conversion is such to get converted bus insurance...

in my case its easy because my busses are staying busses.. but you tell them as little as you can.. I think id give them a call and peade my case that i was misundertanding your questions that this is a bus, will stay a bus and its for personal non business use.. and dont offer any other small-talk...

-Christopher

AlleyCat67 · 10-06-2016, 01:24 PM

Well it's not definite yet, but definitely looking up.

I got ahold of Max (TN Redneck's insurance guy from a few posts back), dropped his name and said I wanted the same thing. He asked a few questions, asked for some photos, and it's with underwriting now so we'll see what happens. They wrote his policy so I don't see any issue getting mine.... it will be 81 down, 65 a month until it's done, then will probably go down. That's with titling and registering as a passenger vehicle like he did.

I'll update when I know for sure, and if the rates change significantly.

If it works out I might move my car and motorcycle insurance to there too, kind of keep everything under one roof.

EDIT: Max came through! Jasmine is now insured.

2kool4skool · 10-06-2016, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlleyCat67

Well it's not definite yet, but definitely looking up.

I got ahold of Max (TN Redneck's insurance guy from a few posts back), dropped his name and said I wanted the same thing. He asked a few questions, asked for some photos, and it's with underwriting now so we'll see what happens. They wrote his policy so I don't see any issue getting mine.... it will be 81 down, 65 a month until it's done, then will probably go down. That's with titling and registering as a passenger vehicle like he did.

I'll update when I know for sure, and if the rates change significantly.

If it works out I might move my car and motorcycle insurance to there too, kind of keep everything under one roof.

EDIT: Max came through! Jasmine is now insured.

Excellent!!

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