How to easily insure a skoolie in Florida

We have quickly and easily insured our school bus conversion twice in Florida with no issues. The first time we insured our decommissioned school bus was the day before we bought her at auction, with all the seats and school bus markings. Next, we changed providers after we titled her as a motorhome and received better rates.

We read many articles and forums describing the difficulty some people had getting insurance on their skoolie or school bus conversion, and that just isn’t the case if you know who to speak with.

I even include a copy of our Florida skoolie insurance policy so you can use it to help you when you quote out your skoolie insurance.

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Insure your skoolie with an independent insurance agent

My biggest recommendation is to work with an independent insurance agent who understands school bus conversions.

We worked with two independent insurance agents, Marie Carney & Kelly Newsome, on different occasions to find us the best rates across all the automobile insurance providers in Florida.

The huge benefit to working with an independent insurance agent is she is not restricted to working with one insurance company. This saved us a lot of time because she did the research on which insurance providers would insure a school bus conversion, whether the conversion has not started or if it is fully complete.

The added benefit of working with an independent agent is you may also be able to bundle your car, motorhome and home policies together. We did this with our skoolie & car, which saved us money and just the headache of paying different providers.

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This is a breakdown of our personal school bus conversion insurance policy with Progressive.

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What questions did our insurance agent ask before insuring our skoolie in Florida?

What is the cost & rating base on skoolie insurance in Florida?

• Total annual policy amount: $1,011
• Rating base: $20,000

We paid the annual policy up front – we didn’t have the option to split the payments into smaller periods with this provider. We went with minimum coverage on the policy.

Are you living full time or part time in your school bus conversion?

We were planning to or already living full time in our policy, and the insurance wanted to make a distinction for this on our policy.

What are the coverage & liability thresholds to insure a skoolie?

Our policy covers:

• personal liability like medical payments, loss assessments and storage shed contents
• liability to others
• personal injury protection (PIP)
• uninsured motorist (stacked)
• comprehensive & collision (including in Mexico)
• replacement cost of personal items ($3,000 limit)

What evidence did we provide our insurance agent to show we were a motorhome?

We sent our agent:

• Our Florida title and registration
• Provided her with our VIN number

Since we are titled as a motorhome in the state of Florida, the process to insure our skoolie was the same as insuring a “normal” motorhome.

Progressive, at the time we bound, actually had a drop down option for school bus conversion.

This may come in handy if you do modifications like a roof raise on your bus tiny home.

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FAQs on Binding Insurance on a Skoolie in Florida

Can I insure my school bus conversion if I am not yet titled as a motorhome?

The short answer is yes. We purchased our decommissioned school bus in Tennessee and we received a temporary Florida insurance policy with Allstate Insurance, which allowed the insuring of a vehicle that wasn’t titled as a motorhome.

The cost to insure our school bus was reasonable though more expensive than after we completed the conversion and titled it as a motorhome.

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How do you retitle a decommissioned school bus as a motorhome in Florida?

The process to update our school bus title from “bus” to a “motorhome” was really simple in Florida. Read this blog on how we did it and the forms we used to do it in about 10 minutes.

Does a skoolie insurance policy cover personal possessions?

It depends on if you elect personal property coverage on the skoolie insurance policy or purchase a separate policy for personal property in your rig.

Check your current school bus conversion insurance declaration page to determine if there is personal property coverage on your policy. If you don’t have coverage, then you can contact your insurance agent to create a policy, like a renter’s insurance policy, that will cover your belongings and personal property like appliances in case of loss.

Can I obtain a motorhome coverage on my skoolie if it isn’t titled as a motorhome?

No. To obtain motorhome or RV coverage, you must have your school bus conversion titled as a motorhome.

If your decommissioned school bus is still being converted into a motorhome, you can and should have insurance on it. Check with an independent insurance agent that is knowledgeable about RVs and skoolies. I’ve referenced a few above.

Does my school bus conversion need to be inspected before getting insurance?

It depends state-to-state, honestly. Personally, we’ve insured our skoolie twice, once before the conversion was complete and it was titled as a motorhome with Allstate and then after with Progressive, and we never had to have it inspected in Florida.

How much does school bus conversion insurance cost?

We pay just over $1,000 for an annual motorhome school bus conversion policy with Progressive in the state of Florida (2021-2022). Our skoolie is titled as a motorhome in Florida.

We were previously insured in 2020-2021 with Allstate before our decommissioned school bus was even built out. That annual policy cost was about $1,200.

Additional Resources

If you’re needing more information on insuring your school bus conversion, then check out the Van, Skoolie, & RV Insurance blog on the Skoolie Supply website.

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Thank you for following our journey – Ingrid & the HildeFam