Deedles

[Deedles77Z]

Hello to all.
I am new to this Skoolie platform. I am trying to buy my retired school bus next year. I was told to be proactive and start early...Well I called my insurance company and several others here in Indiana. No one will insure my bus. I am waiting on a couple more responses but so far...frustrated! I tried to insure it as a not for hire, RV, a commercial vehicle just to drive it off the lot and bring it to its parking location, etc...No one will touch it. One would not touch it because it was a Blue Bird Bus. Not sure why that matters but, I do not know what else to do. I am disappointed since my bus, I currently drive, has been well taken care of, many things have been fixed or replaced, and i got very excited to covert her over to an RV. Does anyone here have any suggestions or ideas for me? I still have time before she is retired and would love to still have the option to complete this dream. Thank you

 

[fo4imtippin]

Hello to all.
I am new to this Skoolie platform. I am trying to buy my retired school bus next year. I was told to be proactive and start early...Well I called my insurance company and several others here in Indiana. No one will insure my bus. I am waiting on a couple more responses but so far...frustrated! I tried to insure it as a not for hire, RV, a commercial vehicle just to drive it off the lot and bring it to its parking location, etc...No one will touch it. One would not touch it because it was a Blue Bird Bus. Not sure why that matters but, I do not know what else to do. I am disappointed since my bus, I currently drive, has been well taken care of, many things have been fixed or replaced, and i got very excited to covert her over to an RV. Does anyone here have any suggestions or ideas for me? I still have time before she is retired and would love to still have the option to complete this dream. Thank you

National General for sure insures buses even if not titled as an RV yet. Kelly Newsome with allstate can usually refer you to an Allstate rep to sign you up. Sometimes you have to walk a grey area to get it home and to the DMV and get it titled as an RV. I hooked up a 12v>120v inverter, a 5 gallon bucket toilet and propane stove in the bus to pass the Florida checks for Motorhome.


Dont let the deal fall through if you haven't found insurance, you'll be able to get it. You obviously talked to some clueless people. No one looks down on BlueBird as a manufacturer. Even my insurance broker didn't know what to do with a bus.. I had to call some bus specific people.



The main things to be cautious of that prevent insurability are roof raises, wood stoves, roof decks. Getting something out a fleet shouldn't be an issue for this.

 

[turf]

its your vocabulary.

to an insurance agent and the dmv..... the word "bus" means transport passengers for money.

thats commercial and an automatic denial from allstate, state farm..... you say "bus", they stop listening because they cant help.

if its going to be an RV, then call it that. your intended use is not "bus", so for the people writing the policies, you need to be clear about your RV.

when i go in to the dmv and say i want to renew plate on my bus.... they look at me like im an idiot. i only have an blue bird RV listed with the state. i dont own a "bus" according to the dmv.

most of us are with state farm. its not impossible

call your insurance agent and see if you're covered for bringing an "RV" you just bought, home. depending upon your current auto insurance, it may or may not be covered. its common for a full coverage auto policy to extend coverage to a new purchase to bring it home.

my 2nd bus purchase was covered in transport home since i already had a similar vehicle covered. the first one was a grey area.

 

[Deedles77Z]

Thank you for that. Yes...they stop once I said Bus...question for you...Once you bring it to the DMV and they give it the once over they will see it is a bus. I think it is an Indiana thing...I tried different verbiage that I picked up from different forums...They were not having any of it. One gentleman had the insurance company cut him off shortly after they insured the bus. All of this unfortunately just scares me because I don't want to go through all that work for them to say...Nope!!!! We Will Not Insure This. I am not giving up yet and I will try the suggestions you have here. I hope they work here in Indiana. Thank you again.

 

[Deedles77Z]

Allstate stopped me before I could even say more. One agent from another company asked me...What brand is it? I said Blue Bird and was like...Oh NO! Blue Bird is an amazing bus built to last. That comment made not one bit of sense to me. Oh well. I am not giving up but just disappointed for a min. Thank you for you info though.

 

[s2mikon]

How far do you need to move this?

 

[turf]

it depends on your state laws,

in my state, Colorado, you need RV insurance first. then, at the dmv, there is no inspection of your vehicle. you sign an affidavit swearing you have completed the modifications required to be an RV.
pay the fee and they hand you plates.

my insurance company never requested an inspection either.... i started with liability only and after i spent a lot of money, i upped the policy to full coverage. its been a cash cow for the insurance company ever since.

 

[Deedles77Z]

I am very happy that your process has been alittle easier. We have a state police officer that comes to inspection our buses and i talked with him about it. He gave me advice on what I needed to do. So far this is the only thing that has haulted my progress. I just got rejected by another company. I sent a reply back and waiting on a response for that.

 

[Deedles77Z]

Not far at all. That's the easiest

 

[DeMac]

Bundled Insurance

Hello.

Bundling Insurance.
I can't stress this enough.

If the home, business, boat, jetskis, motorcycles, and RVs are ALREADY insured, then adding another item is a cinch. No questions asked. No inspections.
The more assets that we have insured by the carrier, before adding a skoolie, the better.

Conversely, a person who owns no real property and has only one car insured, will likely require a high credit score, vehicle inspections, additional riders & exclusions.

 

[nikitis]

Hello.

Bundling Insurance. I can't stress this enough. If the home, business, boat, jetskis, motorcycles, and RVs are ALREADY insured, then adding another item is a cinch. No questions asked. No inspections.
The more assets that we have insured by the carrier, before adding a skoolie, the better.

Conversely, a person who owns no real pripert and has only one old car insurrd with minimum coverage, will likely require a high credit score, vehicle inspections, additional riders & exclusions.

Unfortunately not entirely true, but yes you do have a better shot. I had a perfect record for over a decade with no wrecks or tickets, had house, 2 cars, motorcycle, and they still wouldn't insure my bus at first until I was willing to go commercial insurance.

 

[DeMac]

Bundled Options

Unfortunately not entirely true, but yes you do have a better shot. I had a perfect record for over a decade with no wrecks or tickets, had house, 2 cars, motorcycle, and they still wouldn't insure my bus at first until I was willing to go commercial insurance.

I insure multiple RVs, motorcycles, real estate properties.... more. I used to work in the insurance industry. 440 and 220.

In addition to home & auto policies, I also had two RVs actively insured when I bought my first bus. Those who didn't have this experience, likley won't know the smooth outcome. (Nikitis, text me)

 

[desrtdog]

Try Progressive COMMERCIAL...

They insured my Blue Bird when I first bought it (before the seats were removed) so I could get it 500 miles to my home. I kept them while converting it, but did not drive it much at all - only in/out of the storage shed and to get fuel. Once I had it converted it, I switched to State Farm, going through a local agent to get the policy without any problems. State Farm was also willing to insure it from the start, but needed proof that the seats were removed - as in pictures - which was not possible due to the location at the time...

I would note that when you talk to Progressive, you probably need to specify that you are using it for something other than converting to an RV...Progressive (from what I've read online) will not cover bus conversions, and if they find out that you are converting, may drop you. I told them that I was planning on using it for storage - partially true, as I was storing a lot of the conversion materials and tools in it - and that I probably would not be driving it outside a 50-mile radius...which at the time was also true.

 

[cadillackid]

its your vocabulary.

to an insurance agent and the dmv..... the word "bus" means transport passengers for money.

thats commercial and an automatic denial from allstate, state farm..... you say "bus", they stop listening because they cant help.

if its going to be an RV, then call it that. your intended use is not "bus", so for the people writing the policies, you need to be clear about your RV.

when i go in to the dmv and say i want to renew plate on my bus.... they look at me like im an idiot. i only have an blue bird RV listed with the state. i dont own a "bus" according to the dmv.

most of us are with state farm. its not impossible

call your insurance agent and see if you're covered for bringing an "RV" you just bought, home. depending upon your current auto insurance, it may or may not be covered. its common for a full coverage auto policy to extend coverage to a new purchase to bring it home.

my 2nd bus purchase was covered in transport home since i already had a similar vehicle covered. the first one was a grey area.

also by zip code.. and the details of the driver matters.. im in ohio.. have 2 cars and a house insured with statefarm for decades but they wouldnt touch any of my busses...

 

[Diverdude0075]

It was difficult insuring my third bus. The vin will pull up as a commercial bus every time. I tried Kelly, bundling, and was having no joy. Have good credit. Finally a local broker got me National General, liability only. I still have to switch to full coverage but at least I’m legal. I don’t drive it much since I’m still converting it.

 

[#1FordFan]

its your vocabulary.

to an insurance agent and the dmv..... the word "bus" means transport passengers for money.

thats commercial and an automatic denial from allstate, state farm..... you say "bus", they stop listening because they cant help.

if its going to be an RV, then call it that. your intended use is not "bus", so for the people writing the policies, you need to be clear about your RV.

when i go in to the dmv and say i want to renew plate on my bus.... they look at me like im an idiot. i only have an blue bird RV listed with the state. i dont own a "bus" according to the dmv.

most of us are with state farm. its not impossible
………area.

Agree on. Calling it a RV.

AND my insurance at first didn’t want to insure mine because it wasn’t done by a professional.
At that time I told them I was an industrial maintenance professional. (Think steel mill)
Which was true. No problem after that.
And I already had a class B CDL.