Insurance ??

[Ray Davis]

I would be afraid of any insurer who thinks a Prevost is a motorhome.

So in my (admittedly limited) insurance search I've run across two paths. Those who provide auto-insurance (like my AAA coverage), which doesn't address the fact that this vehicle is not an automobile, and those who offer RV insurance, which includes coverage for personal effects, permanently attached items (satellite etc).

What kind of coverage should I be asking for? Am I asking them the wrong questions, or giving the wrong idea?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ray, I'm a babe in the woods as far as the nuances, but having experienced a serious fire in our coach I can say that your insurer needs to understand you do not have a conventional RV. You have a very limited number of locations to repair the damage, the repairs will be expensive and will require that you or your repairer buy parts from Prevost, and that not anybody with a tow truck can get the job done.

We were still smoldering when I had National Interstate on the phone, and they gave me a claim number and agreed the coach had to go direct to Prevost for repairs.

Anybody unfamiliar with our conversions is going to struggle with the concept of doing repairs to the original quality level. As far as contents and other coverage I can't offer anything because no personal property was damaged or lost, and despite $82,000 worth of damage in the engine area we lived in it with every single house system working while we loaded the contents in a rental truck. That all despite every battery having melted. There are pictures of it somewhere on this site or the other one.

[Ray Davis]

Indeed why I am a bit concerned with the coverage I have via AAA. I guess you never know how good things are (or aren't) until you have to exercise the coverage.

Do you think your luck with National Interstate was due to it being a good company understanding your needs, or being lucky you got ahold of a good claims agent?

I looked at the Explorer insurance website, and it talks about "auto insurance". No mention of being able to correctly handle anything beyond that. I'm not saying they can't, just that their publicity wouldn't have led me to their door.

I will try to connect with one of their agents in the morning to compare coverages.

[Just Plain Jeff]

We have continuously had GMAC insurance over the years, originally bought through Camping World. What we have found is that their underwriting and coverage depends upon who you talk to. They seem to be very inconsistent about what they cover and how they price their products. It also matters if you tell them it is a such-and-such conversion or if you tell them it is a Prevost.

Every time we have changed a vehicle, they always send us a Draconian letter saying that the VIN numbers are wrong and that our first born will be stolen during the night. I call them, give them the same numbers back and they are happy as long as they get paid.

It is rather odd that a big company like that would have such sloppy systems. Our 98 cost 1200 Lew Bucks a year for 300K of value. Lord only knows how they have it listed on their books.

One of the differences between rating a Prevost and a production camper is that Prevost coach are rarely totally destroyed (excepting JDUBs recent pictures), since most damage is from glass coverage or minor, well mid-ships 'rubs.' (OK, I was trying to be nice).

I've seen Prevost rebuild severely damaged coaches back to factory specs, which takes forever, but it is less expensive than replacement cost, and that's something that is very tough for insurance companies to figure out. There are relatively few Prevost conversions out there compared to production campers, so most of what they see is not what we have.

I checked with one of the converters, and he said that Gilbert in Florida writes a lot of policies on the new rigs: At $10K/year for a comprehensive policy in excess of $1 million.

That's way out of my league, so you'd have to check with Lew for more information on the high-flyers.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ray,

Explorer is the insurance agent, and National is the insurance company. When I called Explorer they gave me the 800 number for National and it was as easy as that initially. I had my claim number and knew the bus was going to Jacksonville. They had no issue with the SC state police calling a suitable tow truck, and from that point on I was in charge. I sent the first tow truck away because the driver did not impress me as capable and the truck seemed less than capable.

When the bus was sitting on site at Prevost I talked to the adjuster assigned to the coach. He listened to what happened, arranged to look at the coach and along with the Prevost manager authorized the repairs to be made to the standards we three parties agreed were necessary.

One of the keys to my success in getting the proper repairs was the fact the adjuster who was a direct employee of National was he was completely familiar with buses.

[truk4u]

Ray,
The Agent is Fred Staten and his number is 888-774-6778. He's located in Richfield, Ohio. My limits are 300/500/100 and I have an excess Liability policy of 1 million. You just never know in this sue happy world we live in.

[rmboies]

[QUOTE=Jon Wehrenberg]Ray,
Explorer is the insurance agent, and National is the insurance company. >>

Ray, we have used the Twin Peaks Agency for all our Prevosts. As Jon stated, the underwriter Twin Peaks uses is National Interstate which is a subsidiary of Great American Assurance Co. We have excellent coverage and pay 1400.00/yr for our 2000 Prevost Vantare. You have an option of going with market value or purchase value for your quote. I would also only work with Tiffany at Twin Peaks--she is extremely knowledgeable on all the ins and outs and is very good at answering all your questions. The number for Twin Peaks is 1-800-507-8467. She recently moved to Pa. from Florida but may be in the process of moving back to Florida. Here is her direct business number in Pa--1-954-495-4051.

Twin Peaks is also able to offer insurance for your tow vehicle which many other companies cannot. This is a new option as of this past year. Jon and others are right, you need to speak with an agency who deals with insuring Prevosts on a daily basis. Good luck!

Debi and the always missing BOB-00

Debi Boies/CastleRidge Morgan Farm
foals by: World Champion Above Command
Landrum, S.C.
www.castleridgefarm.com
www.doberman911.org

[Ray Davis]

thanks everyone for the replies. Last night while searching the web I found the RV division of Explorer insurance, rather than the auto/home insurance site. I requested a quote, and got a very reasonable quote from them in email this morning.

Tom, interestingly enough, the 877 numbers is the same that you mention for your agent, Fred Staten.

It's a little more than my AAA coverage (not a lot though), and I feel a little more comfortable with this.

Thanks again for the help.
ray

[Just Plain Jeff]

Despite Jon's endorsement of Explorer RV, I called them and discovered that the GMAC policy we had considered the bus as a Class A motor home. That means that, should a claim have been rendered, coverage would have been quite limited.

The companies which Fred represents began as fleet charter bus insurers, and they understand the requirements of insuring a commercial chassis, not like Newell's and so on.

So, we went through the existing policy together and found gaping errors between the GMAC policy and Explorer's offer and went with Explorer. Not only did we find that the cost was comparable, but the coverages provided by Explorer were exceedingly better. And they will also cover the tow vehicle as well. (Rare).

It's worth a phone call to shop and compare.

Our turbo encapsulator was covered as well.

[Ray Davis]

My situation was worse/better depending upon how you look at it. I was covered through AAA, since I had my auto policy through them. It turns out my bus was covered as an AUTO. AAA didn't have any type of RV coverage at all.

I'm with Explorer now, and happy with that!

ray