NEW YORK -- Some church insurance companies are refusing to insure 15-passenger vans or are limiting their coverage following an increase in deadly rollover crashes.

Church insurer GuideOne of West Des Moines, Iowa, has stopped selling new policies. Two other leading church insurers, Church Mutual and Brotherhood Mutual, have issued safety advisories and are considering limiting coverage, according to The New York Times.

In May 2001, 12 women from the First Assembly of God Church in Wichita, Texas, were traveling in a 15-passenger van that rolled over several times after a tire blew out. Four of the women died, and the others were severely injured, according to the newspaper.

Between 1990 and 2000, the vans were involved in 388 rollovers, killing 588 people, according to government records.

Jim Wallace, GuideOne's chief executive, called the vehicles "inherently dangerous."

"Our underlying claims experience has been bad on these," Wallace said, although he didn't list specific examples. "We've had a number of heart-wrenching claims. They tend to be Sunday school classes going on retreat or on missions to help others. These things turn over, and a lot of people die or get injured."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims many of the rollover crashes are attributable to inexperienced drivers. When carrying only a few passengers, the vans have a rollover rate similar to other light trucks and vans, according to the traffic agency. When fully loaded, the vans are six times as likely to roll over.

GuideOne will continue coverage on the 10,000 vans it already insures, Wallace said. But the company is raising rates 20 to 25 percent and is trying to persuade van owners to replace them with small school buses.