It's not that long ago that I was lucky enough to buy a VW Transporter and have it converted
into a campervan. A great process, can thoroughly recommend it, but one the biggest headaches
on that journey is trying to work out the insurance. Well this video should help. It
is full of expert advice from specialist campervan insurers. Can you start by telling me the
simple stuff, if you are buying and existing camper van that is complete, it may be a second
hand one or whatever - what kind of insurance do you need. I think one of the important
things to do is to seek out a specialist insurer who is knowlegaeble about a campervan. We
speak a lot to converters and customers and a lot of feedback we get back is when contacting
their car insurer or high street, main stream insurer, they are not fully aware of what
the camper van is. And they might be looking to just in sure the base vehicle without taking
into account all the fantastic conversion that has been done. And of course one of the
things people love to do with campervans is customise them, personalise them, how do you
make sure that when you do that kind of thing you stay covered for insurance. There are
so many variations that are not necessarily off the shelf. In fact very few are. So most
of them have been altered in various different ways and a lot of insurers will shy away from
that. So be upfront about everything. The camper van itself. Explain to the insurer
what is included. Has it been modified. Have you modified it, have you tuned the engine,
have you increased the BHP. Have you lowered it. So you need to make sure that you are
fully upfront and that you notify the insurance so they are aware of everything. It may incurr
a premium of course. And essenstially you need to make sure that they will covere what
you have got covered. And if not you can obviously contact another insurer. What I want to do
now is move on to the slightly more complex process which is what I have been through,
and that is.. you buy a van and it is a van...you send it to a converter who is looking after
it and you are not looking after it, who is insuring it then... and then when you happily
collect it is then a camper van and needs different insurance. Can you guide me through
it step by step, what is needed from an insurance point of view. When you are picking up your
van, initially it is classed as a Light Goods Vehicle on teh V5 - like a tradesmans van
essentially. In that instance you need an insurance that covers it as a van. Certain
specialist insurers will insure it as a van for you to drive and take it to the converter.
Will insure it while it is being convereted, and then out of the other end when it turns
into a camper van, you will be able to insure it as a campervan. All in one seamless process.
Yes. Not all offer that procedure. You obviously need to contact the insurer to find out. The
alternative is to insure it initially as a van - as a panel van. There are insurers who
offer short term insurance, and then look to take it to the converter and insure it
as a campervan when it comes out of the other end. Do consider if you have to go down this
route and wish to insure it with normal panel van insurance, you may have to cancel it to
start a new insurance as a camper - so there may be a cancellation charge to do that. Best
to find out whether they will do that before you take it out. Talk to the conversion specialist
as well about the cover they have in place while they have your vehicle there in terms
of the work that they are doing on your van. Conversions are so different. You can have
almost anything done to them. How do you set a value for insurance purposes when you may
think my van is worth a fortune when in fact, is it. How do you work that figure out. It
is a difficult one. It really depends again - insurers have a different stance on it - they
may set out an agreed value policy in which whatever you wish to insure it for, that set
amount will be an agreed value between you and the insurer, a lot of insurers will take
it as the price of the vehicle plus the convesion and the total value of the expected market
value of the van. Obviously it is a little bit easier when it is a brand new stock campervan.
Again, a specialist insurer will do it day to day, they insure campervans with the value
of the conversion included in the insurance. Noe the thorny issue - and I know this is
a little bit contentious at the moment - because it is something I have been through and got
a little bit confused by. And that is, when is a campervan not a campervan. When is it
a van with side windows. Well that is a toughie, how long have you got. This is about the way
the DVLA class your vehicle. They start off as a van - a commercial vehicle - but at some
point they transform into, well you would hope a motor caravan, but not always. I suppose
there are three stages. First of all there are Type Approved campervans. They are the
Californias of this world. Yes, so they will never be a panel van as such, according to
the DVLA. On the V5 they will be a motor caravan. And that is because they churn out that kind
of vehicle regularly so the licensing authority knows exactly what that van is. With a Type
Approved vehicle, it is almost like a production line. So one vehicle goes through extremely
vigorous safety checks and then following adhere to that manufacturing process will
all be type approved to go through the process. There is an IVA as well. The IVA is when each
vehicle is taken to VOSA and they will do the checks for each individual vehicle - it
might be a smaller converter or more bespoke. But they will both be a campervan from when
they are first registered. All other campervans, and this is where it can be a grey area, a
contentious issue at the moment, they will start life as a panel van. And at some point
when the conversion is complete, the converter will send lots of photos and a doucment to
the DVLA. Done that. So you have done it, you have been through the process yourself.
Usually they will amend the V5 to say motor caravan. Fantastic you have got the campervan.
No they did not do that. They did not. Right, so was yours fairly recent. Mine was fairly
recent and my van is officially a van with windows. A van with side windows. Yes. So
still essentially falls under light goods. Well that is what I was going to ask you.
What does this classification that it ends up with actually mean or impact in terms of
insurance. Some campervans are coming back as a panel van with side windows on the V5.
Specialist insurers are aware of this. And as long as it is a camper van. That is, as
long as it meets the criteria to be a camper van - or some insurers cover day vans as well
- they should insure it for the full value. Then if you talk to some more mainstream insurers,
who perhaps are not aware, you may not get that so you need to be fully up front with
them, how it is registered on the V5, the full value you want to insure for, so you
have to be careful on that one. If you are having a van converted and it is a one off.
Let us say it has got lots of things that you have ordered specifically. There may be
none others like lit. How do you make sure that is insured properly. What kind of information
do you have to give you insurers. You will probably find you converter will be really
up on it and they will send you the information you require. But you need to find out things
like, how the vehicle is registered on the V5 for a start, obviously the full value including
the conversion, you need to think about any modifications. Has it been lowered. Has the
engine been re-mapped. Or has it got an awning on it. Is it going to be used sporadically.
Is it going to be used a vast amount and need to do a lot of miles and you need unlimited
mileage cover. Are you planning on going to Europe. A significant amount - certain insurance
companies - have a limit on how long you can go abroad for. So, consider how long you are
going to go abroad - if indeed you are - there may only be a 90 day or 180 day limit on the
European cover, so make sure you are covered for every eventuality and how you want to
use your campervan. The two big things seem to be, if you are going to insure a campervan,
tend to go for specialist insurers as they will know what you are talking about. It will
make your life a lot easier, and |I think you have a better chance of getting the right
insurance cover that you need. I guess secondly, from what you have been saying, they other
big thing to remember is just tell them about everything. Whatever you do, wherever you
are planning to go, Just tell them. Yes, give them all of the information you can about
that campervan. We are making many more videos on everything to do with all types of VW campervan.
From classic splitties and bay windows, to the latest T6s. So please subscribe. Click
on that bell icon and you will be the first to know when every new video comes off the
assembly line. Thanks for watching