I guess a lot of people do not know that when you buy a new to you vehicle you can drive it for 15 days under your existing policy and be covered. After 15 days you will need to get a policy specifically for that vehicle. Every insurance company does this but they do not tell you this unless you ask. This rule allows you to bring your vehicle home or to the garage fully insured. You need to note that if your existing policy covers the value of your existing vehicle to 50k dollars if your new to you vehicle is worth more than 50k they will only pay up to 50k if you have a total loss during the 15 day grace period. Now here is the interesting part, last year 2022 I was bidding on a bucket truck that was in Thunder Bay I asked my insurance agent if the rule applied if the vehicle I was purchasing was a commercial vehicle or not and she said yes it makes no difference so I could still drive it home (providing I had a trip permit) and be fully insured. By the way if you don't believe me about this call your agent before you try to dump on what I am saying you will be pleasantly surprised.
I'm glad it worked out for you. Just to be clear for anyone else, make sure you ask your actual insurance company, not just your broker. I confirmed with the broker twice. No problem she said. Then we purchased our Bus. When I went back to have them do up a temporary document, the insurance company refused to cover us. This lead to a week of insane stress and anxiety, along with calls to literally every insurance company in existence. Nobody would cover us. I even launched a formal complaint with companies ombudsman (pointless!) as well as several conversations with the Insurance Bureau of Canada. It was a total disaster. So be sure you have confirmation from your actual insurance company.
I think the deck and wood stove is more of a US insurance thing. Down here we don't have the right to insurance thing you mention that Canada does. More and more US insurance companies are not underwriting school bus conversions at all anymore, and the ones who are are imposing more restrictions on things that create liability.
Somehow I missed this one when you put it out, but now that I've caught up, this one is fantastic in terms of useful and helpful info. Everywhere has their own rules and regs, with some places being easier then others. Seems like the explosion of skoolies has made things a little different then what it was a few years ago, and a lot of insurance companies don't want to deal with them any longer. Excellent work on this one, Adam!!
The algorithm really likes to now show our videos sometimes. I think the only way to for-sure see our videos when they come out is by ringing the bell. And thanks! I tried to lay the info out so others dont have to struggle like i did
@@AdamandAtlas I rang the bell for you two after the first vid. For some reason, which I’ve never figured out, I don’t get notifications on any subed vids anymore. I get them for likes and replies, but never on posts. That’s been forever now. So if I’m not looking, I miss posts, and this one was one of them. If I don’t comment, then you know I missed it. Just sayin.
Great info guys! The exact same run around was dealt our way for our converted coach... We did end up finding a quote for $1400CAD but were still in the building process and not quite ready for inspection just yet.
Thank you! We just wanted to get some clear information out there.. we know that there’s a possibility to get cheaper insurance and of course we’ll take the opportunity to get it if we can but for now at least we are on the road!
Hi, i live in Sudbury. I bought and built my bus in 2018-2019. I did things a bit differently. I was with nordique insurance but i found someone much cheaper last year. In 2019-2020, i travelled the U.S. coast to coast. I had to come home when covid started. Been parked since.
Great video and great explanations Adam! It’ll be me next spring! But thanks to you and the winks, I already registered the bus as an RV 😉 Enjoy the road soon!
Adam I live in the US but ours is about the same here but you explained it well congratulations on getting it registered. And it rounded like their making a bunch of money off you at 1600 a year is that for full coverage including replacement that's what your paying for would just liability only be 1/3 of that? I mean I get it you have a ton of money into it here in the states it's all about under writers who makes the choice to cover it and your right on few companies out there that will cover conversions take a look at BCM bus conversion magazine I thought there is a couple insurers in the advertising.i could be wrong. Anyway congratulations again also the bus looks great well done.
@@AdamandAtlas I'm in Washington State I built my first conversion 25 years ago and believe it or not good Sam insurance covered it full coverage at a 200,000 replacement and it was 400 a year now look at it they won't touch skoolies any more either but I've heard state farm is its all about pictures and details too.
Good info...thanks. I hope that you ended up finding cheaper (non-facility) insurance. I heard that Desjardins Insurance is a possible option from another source. I'm still pre-purchase, so this was super helpful!
@@AdamandAtlas Damn. That's not good news. Good means gold I wonder how much of it depends on the agent themselves? I mean, I wonder if it's kind of like border security where "you may pass" or "sorry, you're SOL" is just hit and miss depending on the agent that you get? I'll try going back to that source to see if I can get their agent's name. I'll pass it on if I have any success.
That’s what we learned. It has a lot to do with the agent you get.. getting them to make a custom policy is too much for some of them I guess. But we also feel like a lot of companies are tightening up their rules. So some who used to don’t anymore.
We're in the process of building our bus now and are at a point of needing to take it to a fab shop for some work. We have already changed the ownership to 'Motorhome'. Your conversion was complete when you had it appraised/insured? All I need right now is to be able to drive it to a shop or two during our build process.. Then get proper full insurance when it is complete. Is it possible to insure before the build is complete?
Hey there. I bought a retired 2008 new flyer bus in Ontario with the intentions of bringing it home to edmonton so I could convert it. However I'm finding it difficult to find insurance. Do you know if there is any way to get insurance without doing to work yet? The bus is in incredible condition and I just need insurance to drive it home. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
You cant legally drive it in ontario unless you change its colour, remove the schoolbus labels, and remove the stop arms and the flashers. Id recommending as a temporary measure, getting some really cheep paint and paint all the yellow on the bus and paint over the flashers. Then you can cheat the conversion declaration for the MTO. Most insurance companies Will want an appraisal done and i think that will be your biggest challenge. There may be a way of getting it insured as a commercial vehicle but I’m unsure if it’s even possible, let alone how to do it. Id call an mto office and get their advice on whats the best way to do it, as well as check how the Alberta version of an mto would recommend doing it. Inter-provincial stuff gets confusing
Facility! Wow! That's the last resort insurance option in Ontario, when no one will sell you insurance for yourself or your vehicle. It's the type of insurance people with multiple driving convictions sometimes need to resort to (such as drunk driving). Buying a facility type insurance policy is a solution rally racers sometimes use to insure their rally cars, which must be street legal (including insurance). It's an ingenious solution to insuring a skoolie, as expensive as it is. You can't be turned down for a facility policy. You just pay and arm and a leg.
Yeah, its not a great solution, but at least it’s a solution! I know its expensive, but i honestly pay almost the same amount for motorcycle insurance and my bike is a 250cc 😂
When did you insure it? Because we called them and they gave us a flat out no.. we called every insurance company under the sun and they all said no. But we know that facility insurance will always say yes that’s why we put it in the video. We’ve heard so many mixed information.. some say cooperators, some say dejardin, that’s why I feel like these insurance companies are tightening up and not doing it anymore..
@@nuttallchris we’re frustrated with the companies because I feel like it’s almost like you gotta get lucky with which employee you get on the phone lol.. which ones actually willing to make a custom policy.. but like I said.. so much mixed information online some people say one company will do it and another person will say they don’t.
Where about are you guys located in Ontario? Me and my wife have a 40ft school bus parked in Burlington (ON) but recently moved to Toronto. Looking to meet some new friends in the school bus community :)
Oh amazing! We live in Sudbury and have been building out our bus here but we are moving to the Niagara region in the new year to finish it! We’ll be super close then!
I guess a lot of people do not know that when you buy a new to you vehicle you can drive it for 15 days under your existing policy and be covered. After 15 days you will need to get a policy specifically for that vehicle. Every insurance company does this but they do not tell you this unless you ask. This rule allows you to bring your vehicle home or to the garage fully insured. You need to note that if your existing policy covers the value of your existing vehicle to 50k dollars if your new to you vehicle is worth more than 50k they will only pay up to 50k if you have a total loss during the 15 day grace period. Now here is the interesting part, last year 2022 I was bidding on a bucket truck that was in Thunder Bay I asked my insurance agent if the rule applied if the vehicle I was purchasing was a commercial vehicle or not and she said yes it makes no difference so I could still drive it home (providing I had a trip permit) and be fully insured. By the way if you don't believe me about this call your agent before you try to dump on what I am saying you will be pleasantly surprised.
Very interesting and useful information! Thank you for sharing
I'm glad it worked out for you. Just to be clear for anyone else, make sure you ask your actual insurance company, not just your broker. I confirmed with the broker twice. No problem she said. Then we purchased our Bus. When I went back to have them do up a temporary document, the insurance company refused to cover us. This lead to a week of insane stress and anxiety, along with calls to literally every insurance company in existence. Nobody would cover us. I even launched a formal complaint with companies ombudsman (pointless!) as well as several conversations with the Insurance Bureau of Canada. It was a total disaster. So be sure you have confirmation from your actual insurance company.
I've been searching for this information for so long!! from the bottom of my heart thank you thank you from Cobourg, ON!
Glad we could help :)
Awesome info!! Thank you from me in North Bay!!!! Buying my bus in July/August. Your step by step list is perfect. Now I just need the bus! Lol
Thanks so much for this info Adam!
I think the deck and wood stove is more of a US insurance thing. Down here we don't have the right to insurance thing you mention that Canada does. More and more US insurance companies are not underwriting school bus conversions at all anymore, and the ones who are are imposing more restrictions on things that create liability.
Interesting to note! Thanks for commenting and sharing your knowledge!
Somehow I missed this one when you put it out, but now that I've caught up, this one is fantastic in terms of useful and helpful info. Everywhere has their own rules and regs, with some places being easier then others. Seems like the explosion of skoolies has made things a little different then what it was a few years ago, and a lot of insurance companies don't want to deal with them any longer. Excellent work on this one, Adam!!
The algorithm really likes to now show our videos sometimes. I think the only way to for-sure see our videos when they come out is by ringing the bell. And thanks! I tried to lay the info out so others dont have to struggle like i did
@@AdamandAtlas I rang the bell for you two after the first vid. For some reason, which I’ve never figured out, I don’t get notifications on any subed vids anymore. I get them for likes and replies, but never on posts. That’s been forever now. So if I’m not looking, I miss posts, and this one was one of them. If I don’t comment, then you know I missed it. Just sayin.
Great info guys! The exact same run around was dealt our way for our converted coach... We did end up finding a quote for $1400CAD but were still in the building process and not quite ready for inspection just yet.
Thank you! We just wanted to get some clear information out there.. we know that there’s a possibility to get cheaper insurance and of course we’ll take the opportunity to get it if we can but for now at least we are on the road!
Also doing a coach in ontario. Who did you get a quote from?
awesome information!
Hi, i live in Sudbury. I bought and built my bus in 2018-2019. I did things a bit differently. I was with nordique insurance but i found someone much cheaper last year. In 2019-2020, i travelled the U.S. coast to coast. I had to come home when covid started. Been parked since.
Hey! Awesome!! We’d love to know where you found cheaper insurance if you wanna send us a dm on Instagram!
Great video and great explanations Adam! It’ll be me next spring! But thanks to you and the winks, I already registered the bus as an RV 😉 Enjoy the road soon!
Very interesting and informative.! Thank you for sharing.
lmfao declare wink wink :) thanks man hard to find canada content
Adam I live in the US but ours is about the same here but you explained it well congratulations on getting it registered.
And it rounded like their making a bunch of money off you at 1600 a year is that for full coverage including replacement that's what your paying for would just liability only be 1/3 of that? I mean I get it you have a ton of money into it here in the states it's all about under writers who makes the choice to cover it and your right on few companies out there that will cover conversions take a look at BCM bus conversion magazine I thought there is a couple insurers in the advertising.i could be wrong. Anyway congratulations again also the bus looks great well done.
Thank you! What state do you live in? I’m sure it varies state to state as well..?
@@AdamandAtlas I'm in Washington State I built my first conversion 25 years ago and believe it or not good Sam insurance covered it full coverage at a 200,000 replacement and it was 400 a year now look at it they won't touch skoolies any more either but I've heard state farm is its all about pictures and details too.
Yeup we tried state farm
I’m in Ontario and was looking at buying a shuttle bus to convert, I got a quote from Brokerlink for $4000 a year for just liability…
Holy!! That’s nuts!!
Amazing thank you !!!
You’re welcome!
One step closer guy's.
Yeup! Happy to have you here every week :)
Good info...thanks. I hope that you ended up finding cheaper (non-facility) insurance. I heard that Desjardins Insurance is a possible option from another source. I'm still pre-purchase, so this was super helpful!
We tried Desjardins!
@@AdamandAtlas Damn. That's not good news. Good means gold I wonder how much of it depends on the agent themselves? I mean, I wonder if it's kind of like border security where "you may pass" or "sorry, you're SOL" is just hit and miss depending on the agent that you get? I'll try going back to that source to see if I can get their agent's name. I'll pass it on if I have any success.
That’s what we learned. It has a lot to do with the agent you get.. getting them to make a custom policy is too much for some of them I guess. But we also feel like a lot of companies are tightening up their rules. So some who used to don’t anymore.
We're in the process of building our bus now and are at a point of needing to take it to a fab shop for some work. We have already changed the ownership to 'Motorhome'. Your conversion was complete when you had it appraised/insured? All I need right now is to be able to drive it to a shop or two during our build process.. Then get proper full insurance when it is complete. Is it possible to insure before the build is complete?
Yes it is possible to do this process with the conversion incomplete. Ours was incomplete when we did this
Hey there. I bought a retired 2008 new flyer bus in Ontario with the intentions of bringing it home to edmonton so I could convert it. However I'm finding it difficult to find insurance. Do you know if there is any way to get insurance without doing to work yet? The bus is in incredible condition and I just need insurance to drive it home. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
You cant legally drive it in ontario unless you change its colour, remove the schoolbus labels, and remove the stop arms and the flashers. Id recommending as a temporary measure, getting some really cheep paint and paint all the yellow on the bus and paint over the flashers. Then you can cheat the conversion declaration for the MTO. Most insurance companies Will want an appraisal done and i think that will be your biggest challenge. There may be a way of getting it insured as a commercial vehicle but I’m unsure if it’s even possible, let alone how to do it. Id call an mto office and get their advice on whats the best way to do it, as well as check how the Alberta version of an mto would recommend doing it. Inter-provincial stuff gets confusing
Facility! Wow! That's the last resort insurance option in Ontario, when no one will sell you insurance for yourself or your vehicle. It's the type of insurance people with multiple driving convictions sometimes need to resort to (such as drunk driving). Buying a facility type insurance policy is a solution rally racers sometimes use to insure their rally cars, which must be street legal (including insurance). It's an ingenious solution to insuring a skoolie, as expensive as it is. You can't be turned down for a facility policy. You just pay and arm and a leg.
Yeah, its not a great solution, but at least it’s a solution! I know its expensive, but i honestly pay almost the same amount for motorcycle insurance and my bike is a 250cc 😂
@@AdamandAtlas hey, it's a solution right!!! :D Insurance was my #1 fear with building a skoolie and you've cracked the code! Thanks for the vid!
Facility insurance not required. I insured my converted bus with Cooperators and yes they know it's a converted bus.
When did you insure it? Because we called them and they gave us a flat out no.. we called every insurance company under the sun and they all said no. But we know that facility insurance will always say yes that’s why we put it in the video. We’ve heard so many mixed information.. some say cooperators, some say dejardin, that’s why I feel like these insurance companies are tightening up and not doing it anymore..
About 2 months ago
@@nuttallchris we’re frustrated with the companies because I feel like it’s almost like you gotta get lucky with which employee you get on the phone lol.. which ones actually willing to make a custom policy.. but like I said.. so much mixed information online some people say one company will do it and another person will say they don’t.
I commented with the name and contact info for the person who insured my bus but it looks like it was deleted....
@@nuttallchris oh shoot! Probably TH-cam flagged it immediately…
Where about are you guys located in Ontario? Me and my wife have a 40ft school bus parked in Burlington (ON) but recently moved to Toronto. Looking to meet some new friends in the school bus community :)
Oh amazing! We live in Sudbury and have been building out our bus here but we are moving to the Niagara region in the new year to finish it! We’ll be super close then!
Adam B knowin.
Hahaha he knows just about everything lol 😂
holy cow 1600$!!!
Oh we know 😅