Skoolie Insurance in New Jersey?

[tomas_maly]

Hi all,

I'm curious if anyone knows of an insurer that will insure a skoolie (Ford B-800 / Crown by Carpenter) in the state of New Jersey? I had Progressive insurance and they were explicitly against a school bus conversion (though coach conversions were ok).

GMAC is great but they don't insure in New Jersey, so in anticipation of moving to New York State, I got my NYS License, and then just went with GMAC. Unfortunately after 3 months of insurance, they are finally now asking for proof of in-state registration. I never got my skoolie or car registered in NYS and can't do so for several months until after I'm out of my current job position down here (I live in South Jersey and work in Southeastern PA, both 2+ hours away from New York state). I would possibly get NYS plates but they only send you the title via mail, which right now is not an accessible address. Not planning on having a house makes this whole thing challenging. All of this is just stuff I don't have the time (or geographic availability, being 2 hours away from New York) to deal with right now. I also am in the middle of doing a bunch of work with my wood stove and battery bank that I honestly don't have time to deal with getting the bus inspected within 10 days and suspect they may not like everything going on inside. Two hour drives each way (several times) plus dealing with getting my kids from school at the right time, and it's not seeming realistic. Too much, too soon. In 3 or 6 months from now I probably can deal with it all.

I figured my choices are either to get New Jersey insurance for my skoolie (if there is such a thing), or simply cancel the GMAC policy (telling them the move to NYS fell through) and keep the skoolie parked in my yard (it has New Jersey plates right now) while I insure my commuter car with a NJ company, until I'm ready to move and deal with it all.

Another potential headache i have no time for is the New York state titling of the vehicle. NJ has it as a motorhome and I'm not sure if NYS has more stringent (interior) requirements for it all, that require more work. Or if they will just honor NJ's title categorization. I put in a woodstove which NY may not like, and haven't bothered with a waste water system yet (other than a bucket under the sink).

So, thus, does anyone know of an insurer in New Jersey who will take school bus conversions?

[tomas_maly]

FYI,

Someone on a Yahoo skoolie group suggested National Insurance for RV conversions:

http://natl.com/PersonalLines/RvCoverages.aspx

I haven't spoken to an agent yet, but the nearest agent to me in Collingswood, NJ has on their website (http://tobinagency.com/default.aspx)

Their agent directory is actually a PDF file that is downloaded. I'm hoping the money they aren't spending on the fancy website (like the big guys) is being spent on better coverage.

"Nobody Insures Recreational Vehicles
Better Than We Do.
Nobody!"

I hope so. Will post results.

[lemmeskoolu]

Taking a chance here replying to this thread but what the heck!!! So how did you resolve? I have a skoolie in NJ going to VT for the designation of MH as found in "How to immediately register...."