Insurance Problem at renewal?

[Ames]

Anybody having problems getting insurance? We were just notified by National Interstate that they are not renewing our policy due to a change in underwriting guidelines. They no longer insure "non-professionally" converted vehicles. We have a 1998 Freightliner Toterhome. Any suggestions? I hate to think we just wasted $25,000 on materials (not to mention our time!)

Thanks!

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

....they just renewed mine!......$405 check in the mail...call Melissa Thum at Thum Insurance in Michigan and talk to her....she is the whizz for RV insurance...geofkaye

[medent]

Following up on member Tim H.'s posting on registration and insurance I surfed out his mention of Progressive Insurance, www.progressiveinsurance.com and they seem to be the greatest for rv'ers. Much better rates than Thum and easier to work with on line. Anyone with insurance needs should check them out.

[mg681]

I have the same problem as Ames. We have a 1998 Freightliner Toterhome which is registered in Ontario Canada as a Motorhome. The insurance also tells me they no longer insure "non-professionally" converted vehicles. Does anyone have any experiance or can help me out? I need a insurance company which will do business in Ontario, Canada.
Thanks.
Markus

[medent]

As I mentioned above, Progressive Direct on the www was best when all I wanted was liability insurance to be able to license the rig.

Now that an RV-garage conversion is almost complete I wanted complete, agreed value coverage. Progressive Direct didn't want to slide into that kind of coverage so surfing around again got me up a few blind alleys but ended getting a very positive dialog with RV America Insurance, 800-400-0186 and Christine at extension 213. Oddly enough she worked it out with another division of Progressive. Agreed value and big liability coverage on an appraised $160,000 rig is $1166 per year, sure not cheap but it seems like real insurance.

[mg681]

I just checked the website from Progressive Insurance. Looks like they only do insurance in the US and not in Ontario,Canada. Does anybody have any other ideas?
Markus

[iride2]

did u find a insurance company in ontario,im having problems too
any help would be great

[bushpilot]

have you tried bluesky RV Insurance | Motorhome Insurance | Blue Sky RV Insurance
progressive wouldnt touch our "custom" (ha) coach.

ive just given progressive the ax after 14 years of being bent over on our cars...
i more than HALFED our rates (and DOUBLED our coverage) !

[AKat777]

Just an update to this thread.
I called both Blue Sky and Thum. Both told me they were unable to insure my 1996 International 4700 conversion.
At this point, I am about ready to throw in the towel and just insure the vehicle as a non-commercial heavy duty truck and pay commercial rates. I still dont fall under DOT regs because the truck is 25,500 and is non-commercial use.

[#90-GTSC]

I wonder if that accident the family had with the truck conversion pulling the race trailer somewhere in the plains states where I think five people were killed has anything to do with this.

[AKat777]

Originally Posted by #90-GTSC

I wonder if that accident the family had with the truck conversion pulling the race trailer somewhere in the plains states where I think five people were killed has anything to do with this.

It might have. But overall, I think the industry (RV's in general) is changing, and tightening it's guidelines. The person I spoke to at Blue Sky (Jim I think) basically told me the same thing. While Blue Sky was relatively new, the people running it had all come from RV backgrounds, and had been in the biz for awhile.

Personally, I will get out of the conversion (and RV'ing altogether) before I *pay* someone 10s of thousands of dollars to do a conversion I can do myself, and if not better, at least with *much* better gear installed.

I am waiting on a call this morning from my buddy John over at RV America to explain to me why my policy just got a 'non-renewal' status at GMAC when all I did was tell them the truth, which was I am on the road more than 6 months a year, making me a 'full time RVer' according to most underwriting guidelines. Since it's only a box truck, and well under 26000 lbs (25,500 to be exact) I might just try to find a personal non-commercial medium duty policy somewhere and not bother trying to get everything switched over to RV.

Texas (where I will be working) has fairly easy rules to convert commercial truck to RV. Pics, statement of use, and weight slip, and you are in. Only reason they need the weight slip is so they know how much to charge you to register the RV, lol. BUT that still leaves insurance issue.

[bushpilot]

my insurance has renewed since that accident.

The Kerber Family (from Minn) was returning from Texas on April 1st 2012
when their Haulmark or Renegade (type) RV (40+ ft, twin screw) pulling a 3 axle stacker crashed on I35 south of kansas city, kansas. 5 Family members were killed, 13 other family members and/or friends were injured.

[Bob86ZZ4]

And I've tried to find any info about the cause of that accident with negative results. I would have thought somebody would issue their findings by now. There was so much speculation that the young person driving was somehow at fault. Sure would be good if they would release the investigation so we all know what happened.