Bus Conversion Insurance Again ???

[luvrbus]

I dropped all my Progressive policies ,and went through Explorer

[mcidave]

I went to the DMV and Retitled the MCI Bus as an RV on day one...I have never looked back and it was the best decision I believe I have made sine purchasing the Bus.
Consequently Progressive Insurance has treated my Bus Conversion as an RV, which simplified insurance issues for me.  The DMV in my area said they jst wanted all of the seats ot and a bed frame installed to show an RV layout.   Basically you cannot carry a bunch of people as in a charted Bus, then it can be titled as an RV.

[Oonrahnjay]

  I still have Progressive in North Carolina. Must not have stopped for everyone.     

       Hi, Tom.  Yeah, I'm not sure what that little brain f*rt from the Ins. Commission was all about but Nationwide cancelled my bus (although they would have kept my car/house) saying that due to the Commission's decisions, they were dropping them all.  Either that was a fib to conceal their real reasons, or maybe something real was going on.  I don't know how Progressive handled that situation (and I can only guess that the Commission's ruling applied to all companies but it may have only been to Nationwide, but I don't know).  It is very possible that Progressive was in a position that they could keep existing customers or maybe they just couldn't figure out what I have and didn't want to be bothered -- or they could figure out what I have and didn't want to cover *me*.  Of the hour and a half that they kept me on the phone when I applied, there was at least half an hour taken up on hold "while I go consult with my manager about this".  But they turned me down after I gave them all kinds of info, offered to move my car and house insurance to them, and answered all their questions.  This was about 2011, so I don't know how it is now with Progressive in NC.
       After years of messing with on-line insurance in NC, I went to the local agent in town and got good coverage from State Farm on house, car, and bus -- with great customer service.  I'm probably paying more for going through an agent, but after a few insurance fails over the past 12 - 15 years, I'm happy to have the service from the agent.

[richard5933]

I can't say enough how important it is to have an ongoing (and long-term, if possible) relationship with a GOOD insurance agent. We've been dealing with a great insurance agency in town for years, with the same agent. They are a multi-line company and can write policies which best meet the customer's need.

My house, car, and business are all insured through one company. When it came time to write the policy for our first bus the agent ended up going through Progressive, even though all our other policies were with a different insurer. Reason was that it was a better fit for us. Nice to have an agent that can shop around for us.

When our first bus was involved in the accident this fall, it was our agent who was able to help run interference and get us in touch with the proper people to get things moving.

Does it cost more to go through an agent? Don't know. Don't really care. For me the access to a person knowledgeable in the field who is able to steer us towards the proper coverage is more valuable than the few bucks extra the coverage may cost. More than once I would have been either over insured or under insured if I had done this on my own based on my own knowledge/research.

[Oonrahnjay]

... Does it cost more to go through an agent? Don't know. Don't really care. For me the access to a person knowledgeable in the field who is able to steer us towards the proper coverage is more valuable than the few bucks extra the coverage may cost. ... 

     I agree with that.  I'm in the middle of helping my 95 year-old aunt (who lives at home by herself and does fine) with a storm damage claim.  She had severe roof damage and associated damage inside the house -- her agent jumped in and told the company "send out an adjuster and tell him/her not to even think about denying this claim" - although my aunt didn't *really* keep up with the maintenance like she should have and a picky insurance co. could have come up with a "reason" to give her a hard time.  They contractors doing the work are about 85% through and it's going every easily.

[tomhamrick]

We have been with State Farm in North Carolina for 40 years for cars, home and life insurance and when we had our home built Eagle bus we had liability with them also. When we bought the Prevost and it was a factory conversion from new in 1991, we wanted collision as well. This is where the problem with State Farm came in. They wanted to insure the Prevost at the value it was when it left the convertor which was a whole lot more than it was worth in 2011 making the premiums way to high. I went to an Independent agent who is a friend and he hooked us up with Progressive and an agreed value for much less premium. So a lot depends on what type coverage you are needing. I still have everything else with State Farm.

[Oonrahnjay]

  We have been with State Farm in North Carolina for 40 years for cars, home and life insurance and when we had our home built Eagle bus we had liability with them also. When we bought the Prevost and it was a factory conversion from new in 1991, we wanted collision as well. This is where the problem with State Farm came in. They wanted to insure the Prevost at the value it was when it left the convertor which was a whole lot more than it was worth in 2011 making the premiums way to high. I went to an Independent agent who is a friend and he hooked us up with Progressive and an agreed value for much less premium. So a lot depends on what type coverage you are needing. I still have everything else with State Farm. 

      Thanks for that info, Tom.  I have State Farm for everything (incl. bus liability) too.  Maybe Progressive will let me in when I'm ready for collision. 

[luvrbus]

How much liability do you guys carry on your buses I see so many people just running the min 15 to 25k.Heck I may want to carry dynamite and I wanted a high liability like on my other vehicles and Progressive didn't want to write mine     

[lostagain]

5 million on all our vehicles. If you ever put a young high earning professional in a wheel chair for the rest of his life, 5 mil will get used up real quick, then they'll come after your assets. We only have collision coverage on the newer vehicles. Anything older than 10 years we don't bother and "self insure" them. I don't trust the insurance companies to give us what they are worth. So the bus isn't insured other than liability.

JC

[luvrbus]

LOL I carry 5 million also you can haul dynamite with 5 mil,like you JC I don't care about the value of the bus you can always replace it 

[Utahclaimjumper]

 This all reminds me of a previous lifetime long ago when I was building VW powered "trikes". The business was great in those days but getting insurance was problamatic and many new owners were insuring on a homeowners policy to get any at all. It eventually became impossible to insure one , so the business ended.  The main gripe then was that if damaged, the trike could not be repaired at competitive outlets ,,so had to go back to the builder,,insurance companies don't like that..>>>Dan