Hi,
I am very new to this. I have bought a Ford Transit MWB and now struggling to find insurance for it as I want to live in it full time. This will be a DIY conversion but nothing crazy as I am hoping to get a lot of materials second hand and free from recycling etc. I aim to continue working in the meantime as my job requires a fair bit of travelling in the UK anyway. Most insurance companies won’t insure, are there any I can try?
Thanks
Zoe
Greetings & Welcome!
If it’s the same as it is here in the USA, if it’s a DIY camper van, it has to be kept a secret from the insurance company, and the likelihood of them ever paying a claim is close to zero. You just insure it as a regular van. In the case of a claim, if they discover it’s an illegitimate camper, they will deny your claim and cancel your policy.
Converted passenger vans tend to fair better with insurance companies. When I had a claim, I told them I bought it to be a camper van, and they paid, no problem. Same story with a cargo van didn’t work. Same insurance company. Passenger van was inspected by insurance company both before and after the conversion. The same was tried with the cargo van, and the insurance agent (the same one) said the company would not insure a converted cargo van unless it was done by a legitimate company, and windows had been added on both sides and the back, and it had been approved and titled as an RV by the DMV. The DMV had a …long… list of things that needed to be done both for safety, and to be re-registered as an RV. So the agent left it insured as a normal cargo van so I could at least have insurance to be legal. Got hit by a drunk driver, with no insurance, and when the claim inspector came to look at the damage, he insisted on inspecting the interior as well. Claim was denied and policy was immediately cancelled.
I should also mention that living without windows really sucks. It’s depressing and dangerous. My current 360°ree; view is heavenly in comparison. Absolutely nothing compares to lots of opening windows all the way around. Safer to drive, more comfortable camping, and you can see trouble coming before it actually arrives. Resale value is much much better too.
Cheers!
I have just started looking into this too before I actually buy something. I was chatting with a friend about this and she suggested looking into an “Umbrella” policy. From my understanding, you pay for the van or the bus as is…and then you have this extra umbrella policy for home, vehicles, liability, etc… that umbrella policy, in theory, would cover contents if something were to happen. I’m wondering if anyone has had any luck with that? There are so many people that are doing this now…I’m surprised that there isn’t someone that has figured out a hack yet.
These insurance companies are fun haters. 
Greetings!
Some people apparently get renters insurance to cover their personal belongings in the van. Not sure how this works, because I don’t have it.
My fail safe insurance policy is an emergency fund large enough to repair or replace everything I own.
Cheers!