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Insurance for your “Long” bus
I received my insurance policy renewal yesterday. The premium was about 25% higher than I paid for the same coverage last year. In speaking to a couple of insurance agents, it appears that premiums are increasing across the board due to the increase in claims cost with the “Long” coaches. Apparently,that includes Prevost conversions, Newells and the long plastic coaches.
Supposedly, Blue Sky’s underwriting guidelines changed as of Jan, 2016 where they will no longer cover anything valued at $250K or over.
Allied Insurance is not underwriting new policies on coaches over 36 feet long but are willing to renew existing policies on long coaches at an increased premium.
So, where are all you Prevost conversion owners going to get fair priced insurance coverage on your bus? Are you having to pay increased premiums for the same coverage? In today’s “sue-happy” world, you need at least $1,000.000 in liability coverage and maybe even an umbrella policy over that.
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10 Replies
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The cutoff based on value of the bus indicates insurers are worried about the comprehensive claims, not necessarily the liability. As for liability, get $300,000 and then buy an umbrella so you can sleep well at night. A 50,000 pound machine can make a pretty big hole if anything goes wrong.
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Ours jumped about 25%, too. Having Marlene at Miller Insurance shop around couldn’t come anyhing better either.
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Blue Sky on our 45 foot SOB went up 17% so we dumped them for State Farm and saved really big bucks.
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Les, I hope when you have a problem the adjuster from State Farm understands the local shop may not be the best qualified to repair your coach to its original condition.
For our Prevost conversions we need people that don’t shy away from having a bus towed to the nearest Prevost service center or even back to the converter if the repairs impact the house.
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Exploror and Miller, they are advertisers here on PC. Ditto on what Jon cautioned about, I attempted to go with Allstate only to find there is no Stated Value Policy regardless what they say. My agent went all the way up the ladder to clearify the fact and bottom line is a total loss will be handled with market value subject to depreciation and you will get hosed. Stick with the Prevost experts below.
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I agree Tom and Jon stick with one of them
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Here is a little bit about what insurance companies refer to as ACV or actual cash value compared to an agreed amount policy.
Let’s pretend a person has a coach that will take $500,000 to get another one just like it in today’s market. He knows that because he has not only maintained it properly and done everything right, including keeping detailed records, but he has kept it updated. It not only has relatively new air bags, batteries, tires and brake chambers he has replaced the TVs and upholstery.
When he compares his coach to what is available in the market he finds his to be at the upper end of the price range and there are only a few available in the whole country. The middle of the price range is populated with the same coach as his, but that show their age. They are not trashed, but they need some TLC and some need a lot because they just haven’t been well maintained.
At the low end of the price there are more coaches and they look like they have been rode hard and put away wet. Unfortunately buyers see the asking prices for these coaches and in their minds anything over the prices attached to the well used coaches set the standard for the value perceived by the retail market.
Then there is the wholesale market. That is the price dealers will pay and it is a price even less than the low end prices.
Insurance companies have access to all of these values and an ACV policy which Tom mentions is one in which the policy holder has zero say in what his coach is worth.
Here’s where your grief as an ACV policy holder comes into play.
You get in an accident. It is not a biggie, but we all know even the smallest amount of damage on a Prevost gets expensive to repair. Look carefully at your coach’s finish and it will become evident paint work is going to cost a lot. Get some prices on skin panels from Prevost and you will quicklly understand that a few body panels will get you deeply into 4 figures. Then you have the repairs that must take place in the house or under the skin. In other words if you punch your coach in the nose by smacking a tree at even a few MPH you not only are into paint and panels, you have some bent structure, glass, and maybe even all the converter stuff above and below the windshields.
The insurance company doesn’t see your coach as the $500,000 cream puff you do. They see it at somewhere near its wholesale price, or maybe even a low retail price if you are lucky. So the real cost of the punch in the nose approaches $250,000, they stroke a check to you for the value they judge the coach to be worth, they own the coach and you are going to try to replace it with a lot less money in hand than the coach was worth. And you haven’t got a prayer of winning if you disagree unless you buy it back from them, as-is and become your own insurance adjuster trying to get it put back together.
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I agree with Tom, Miller is my insurance company and I am very happy..
Bill S.
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Just got my Blue sky renewal notice. Up 50 percent from last year. Comprehensive coverage more than doubled. I will check to see what increasing the deductible will do and post the results.
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I just paid our yearly premium yesterday, we are also with Miller.
It was a teeny bit less than last year (down 1%).
Mark
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