Insurance

[dale farley]

My insurance is coming up for renewal, and I am wondering if I should consider changing companies. I currently have National Interstate. I was considering Explorer who is one of our sponsors, but I see that National Interstate is one of the companies that Explorer represents, so I'm not sure it will do me any good to check with Explorer. Would the price be the same either way??? Has anyone compared them in the past?

[Gil_J]

My policy is coming up for renewal as well. I bought my policy through Explorer. Now that it's renewal time I received a direct email from National Interstate and the renewal documents came directly from NI. My guess is that once it comes time for renewal, the insurance carrier sends the new policy out and just sends the agent their commission. I doubt there is any differences in commission rates between agents, so their should be pricing parity between agents representing the exact same plans from the same carriers. I would also doubt that NI would allow a different agent write a new like policy. Typically, insurance commissions are the greatest for the first policy year and dramatically fall in years 2 and beyond.

If you are really curious, call Explorer and ask them.

[dale farley]

I was hoping someone else may have had some experience with this before I called, but I did find out what I needed to know. As a general rule, it may not matter whether you get the insurance from National Interstate or Explorer. I knew that when I purchased insurance last year, I did not ask for a POG discount since I didn't go directly through Explorer, so I wasn't sure I got a discount. I was told today that we do get a 5% discount by being a POG member. You can also get a 5% discount for other associations such as Prevost Prouds, Good Sam, etc. Since I had received the 5% for being a Good Sam member, there was no additional discount for being a POG member. I am pretty happy with my policy premium at $1274, but always open to lower premiums.

[Denny]

Dale,
I'm curious what your coverage limits are. I'm paying about $2,700 per year for million dollar coverage through a National Interstate subsidiary company. I shopped Explorer and they quoted $3,200 from National Interstate. I have a commercial drivers license and a clean record and still pay a "premium" price.

[dale farley]

Denny,

I'm in Alabama, and the bus and policy are in Florida. I'll let you know when I see the policy again. I'm pretty sure I only have $300K liability, because I have a separate million dollar policy that covers my vehicles.

[JIM KELLER]

Denny, Someone has to pay a premium rate so Dale can get a discount like that.

[Gil_J]

Denny,

I have my renewal from Triumphe Casuality, a National Interstate owned company, and my renewal is $1,541. I'm pretty sure the value of your coach is the primary driver in the differences between our policies. I only have 250/500K of coverage, but they don't amount to much in the premium. BTW, I think all brand name insurance companies insured conversions, at least older ones, through their high risk subsidiary companies.

[rfoster]

Do Ministers really get a discount?

[dale farley]

They should!

[dale farley]

Denny,

My bus is insured at a rate of $150K. I have $500K Bodily Injury/Property Damage Liability and $500K UIM. I see I also have $500K vacation liability. My policy is through one of Explorer's affiliates Triumphe Casualty. I have a million dollar umbrella policy on my real estate and vehicles so the bus is covered on that policy also.

[dale farley]

I just realized that my insurance dropped from $1424 last year to $1274. They also dropped my deductible on Comprehensive and Collision from $500 each to $375 each. They adjusted several of the categories up or down, but the overall savings was $150, so I guess I should be happy. Still with the same company as last year.

[JIM KELLER]

Well...I guess Ministers DO get discounts.

[dale farley]

Jim,

It's more likely they saw my picture and felt sorry for an old guy.

[JIM KELLER]

Just read this to Karen. She said to tell you that you are not old and that you are good looking.

[dale farley]

Tell Karen I said, "I really appreciate the compliment". I chip in on getting her some new glasses!