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While I’m certain they pay off in many instances, just like gambling, my personal theory of insurance is less is better. Insurance companies are not here as public services, they operate on a profit.

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You may not have the option. At 13+ years old you may not find anyone willing to right you a policy. Even if you do, many items that could need replacement will likely fall under the routine maintenance items category or replacement may be prorated..

I too believe limiting insurance is not a bad thing.

[Paul]

Here’s the best policy and it is totally under your control.

Create a pro-active maintenance schedule in which you make the effort and pay the expense of bringing all maintenance tasks to zero. Change every drop of fluid, replace all belts, filters, and hoses (except the near bulletproof engine hoses).

If your brake chambers are 5 years old or older, replace them. If the air bags and Norgren valves are more than 10 years old replace them. Change your shocks. Make sure your tires are never greater than 6 years old. Replace batteries older than 5 years of age and when you do that make sure you clean and retighten all your cables. Open up and clean your inverters. Check the temperature differential on all the AC units and systems and any that have less than a 15 degree spread between return and supply air temps have them serviced or replaced.

That will cost you a whole lot if you pay someone to do it, a lot less if you do it yourself. But what it will do it put almost anything likely to need service in near new condition. If you have hub seal leaks or windows with stone chips or thermopane windows starting to fog take care of them. Then forget about insurance. You won’t need it if you adhere to a preventive maintenance schedule that replaces fluids, filters and parts before they become issues.

Once you buy insurance you are betting stuff breaks and the insurance company is betting nothing they cover will break. If you were right more than the insurance companies were, they wouldn’t be in business. And the premiums they charge are enough so you will write checks to cover those people that never maintain their coaches.

Can you guess I think life is too short to have problems with the bus, and then more problems trying to get your money out of an insurance company that doesn’t want you to have it?

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Getting a cold call from Good Sam one evening I went ahead and priced a unexpected repair policy. Just slightly over

$3000 a year.

So my suggestion is to bank $3K every year while you own this bus and it would be interesting to see if

ever you use it up.

Keep in mind these policy’s do not cover ..tires, batteries, antifreeze, trans filter fluid, oil changes, air dryer service. etc.

If you have money left over you could take us out for a dinner based on the amount of moola you have.

You could even get a ride in Jon’s new cruiser if the Dairy Queen was the spot.

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Just trying to recall over a 23 year period the big items I have spent money on. I have replaced an alternator, OTR air conditioning compressor, and a transmission. Over the years I had one brake chamber fail and one air bag fail. So I have waaaay less than $15,000 outlay for unplanned repairs. But if Big Al is correct (and I bet he is) I would have banked $69,000, minus $15,000 for a net gain of $54,000. I still would have had to do the maintenance at my expense.

Instead of driving a clapped out old 1950 Ford to the DQ I could have had a new Corvette for my ride.