Save a Buck, Feel Better...

[Just Plain Jeff]

We just got our coachnet renewal in the mail.

I called Explorer to see what their coverage was like in comparison to the FMCA-sponsored coachnet deal.

It was less than half of the cost of the coachnet with better coverage.

While on the phone, we did a re-tweak of our camper coverage in general and found an additional $444 that we could save.

Sometimes it pays to attend to the fussy little details.

[lewpopp]

JPJ

It wouldn't hurt to discuss the tweaking you did with Explorer to save the $444. I would like to know what you tweeked .Let's discuss it at III.

I'm already paid up for Coachnet for a couple more years.

Lew

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

So I take it that most of you bus owners are using Coach-Net for your towing and Emergency Road service? Is this a correct assumption?

Are they the only ones that will do what a bus owner needs to have done, to properly repair on the road and tow if necessary? I have Good Sam now, but I don't have a big bus yet, STILL LOOKING.

Gary S

[Just Plain Jeff]

Lew: We're dumping the coachnet deal as their Platinum Plus coverage at $129 is less coverage than what Explorer offers for $50 a year.

[garyde]

Jeff. Can you elaborate. Is this an Add on to your Bus Insurance Policy or is this a stand alone Policy. Is this new for Explorer? How is their track record? What can a person expect in terms of response time and how far will they tow? Most of the other Associations have tow Insurance for about $90.00-100.00 a year. Why the big difference? Gary

[Just Plain Jeff]

We had coachnet for several years. It covered both the camper and all other vehicles. In general it was a C+ experience. A friend who blew an engine had a terrible experience with them. They were stuck on top of a mountain in Colorado for 3 days and when the truck came they insisted on taking our friends to a local tire dealer as it was closer to their location (bad). Our friends had to get pretty nasty with them to get them towed to DD, much farther away. Depending upon the local resources, either they are pretty good or you have to do what our friends did. You only want to be towed ONCE. See this one: http://www.prevost-stuff.com/towstory.htm (Hope that came out right).

What Explorer offers is two levels of tow/roadside assistance. The first level is basically: You arrange and pay for the tow and you get one hour of roadside assistance reimbursed (bad) and for $50/year, they arrange for the tow for you, pay the tow people themselves and so on. It is an additional policy with another carrier that you can get if you are insured with Explorer (good deal). They said that they've had good luck with this outfit (Continental) because you can't get just any tow outfit to tow a heavy bus. They are absolutely, 100% right about that. Per the above story, towing a heavy bus is a big deal and can easily result in damage to the rig, if you don't have someone who knows what they are doing...and taking you to the correct facility for service to get you back on the road.

I see that coachnet is trying to bump up their levels of service to as much as $129/year including a lot of stuff that we wouldn't ever use. Now, this isn't a budget buster, but you have to also be a member of FMCA to get coachnet ($35/year). The prediction here is that as the years go by, there will be a disconnection between Prevost coaches and FMCA as that organization is drifting into plastic coach ownership, although they want our money in general.

So we are going with the Explorer roadside deal (which covers any/all other vehicles whether they are insured by Explorer or not).

The above is the quick version. As we all know, insurance is complicated with diminshing deductibles and variations from state to state as the insurance business is regulated at the state level and many features are different.

The best bet is to check in with Explorer. They understand the Big Bus Business (their original roots) instead of Keith's Kamper Insurance and Screen Door company, who wants your money, but won't be with you if you have a claim on one of these puppies. We have found Explorer 100% helpful and they poke around trying to find ways to help you get decent coverage without jamming you up for the big bucks.

[lewpopp]

I'll bet they like you nervous people who trade coaches every season.

Do you get a discount for emergency strobes and sireeeeens?

Lew

[win42]

Gary: Please don't tell JPJ to elaborate again. He elaborates enough on his own. Did you make any sense out of his elaboration?

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Well yah, on the elaboration, but I like to read! JIM

[lewpopp]

Jim and Harry

Elaborate is an awful big workd for youse guys to be using. Do you want me to elaborate on that?

Lew