Insurance - Buying van privately to be converted to campervan

 
 
 
 
 
 
Smilgy
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Insurance - Buying van privately to be converted to campervan

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Posted: 21.01.2021  ·  #1
Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing well.

This year, I was able to rent a small campervan and did a week long holiday in Donegal, after which I fell in love with the idea of owning one and would like to convert, probably a large van, to a campervan over next winter.

I have read the various revenue documents with what is required to complete this, that there is VRT due, various certification reports etc. I have no issues there.

Similarly, insurance seems to be okay also once the legal conversion has been competed (depending if you keep or remove the bulkhead, you may only have one insurance provider remaining which may insure you, making things somewhat more difficult but not impossible).

The one issue that I do keep coming into from my research is the awkward period between buying the van (which is classed as a commercial vehicle) and it being classed as a campervan. It seems as though it is fairly difficult to insure a commercial van as a private individual. This would be particularly problematic when buying the van and having to drive it home, or to the mechanic, etc, while it is being converted. There would only be a handful of such occasions so not impossible to get around (e.g. by asking mechanic to drive to and from), but would make things very difficult.

I had tried ringing my private insurance to see if they can provide temporary cover, but that is a no go, except in circumstances where I am moving address for the purpose of transferring goods from an old address to a new address.

Are there any other legal options? How does everyone else approach this issue?

This would all be done in RoI.

Thanks for your time in reading this and hope to contribute in the not so distant future!

Deividas


Albert the Talbot
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Re: Insurance - Buying van privately to be converted to campervan

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Posted: 21.01.2021  ·  #2
Hi and sorry I can’t help. I’ve saw it discussed here begubut because it wasn’t relevant to me I’m unsure as to how it panned out.
Others will be along soon after beer ‘o’ clock with their advice


relay racer
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Re: Insurance - Buying van privately to be converted to campervan

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Posted: 21.01.2021  ·  #3
I’m in the north but still can’t see why you just can’t insure it as a van drive as normal and gradually work on it, it’s when you start transporting chemicals and flammable stuff,


Roulston1008
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Re: Insurance - Buying van privately to be converted to campervan

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Posted: 22.01.2021  ·  #4
A friend of mine is getting a van converted at the moment. He bought the van from a garage in Dublin and the person who is doing all the work for him lives in Tipperary. So he took out commercial insurance on the van and drove it down to Tipperary. With most things you buy these days on line or over the phone there is a 14 day cooling off period, were if you are not happy you can cancel and get your money back. So that is what he did, after he moved his van the next day he called up the insurance broker and told him he wanted to cancel.


Smilgy
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Re: Insurance - Buying van privately to be converted to campervan

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Posted: 25.01.2021  ·  #5
Quote by Roulston1008

A friend of mine is getting a van converted at the moment. He bought the van from a garage in Dublin and the person who is doing all the work for him lives in Tipperary. So he took out commercial insurance on the van and drove it down to Tipperary. With most things you buy these days on line or over the phone there is a 14 day cooling off period, were if you are not happy you can cancel and get your money back. So that is what he did, after he moved his van the next day he called up the insurance broker and told him he wanted to cancel.


Something along those lines may be one way of going about it alright. I think insuremyvan also insure privately as I have recently found out which could work in my favour!

Another question related to insurance once converted. The two main insurers in Ireland require the van to have an internal heigh of 1.8m (unless you get insurance through the motorhome club of Ireland). How strict is this rule? A good portion of the vans in Ireland are the H2 heigh which is around the 1.85m mark. Between insulating, cladding, etc, that is likely to have decreased to around 1.75m or perhaps even smaller. Is it a case of the provider coming out to inspect the vehicle before providing cover, or it is assumed that the internal heigh is correct? Then if so, if there is an accident, and an insurance assessor finds out the internal height was 1.75m, the insurance policy be void?

The reason I ask is I'd prefer to have more than one option for cover, rather than be stuck.

Thanks all for you help!


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Insurance - Buying van privately to be converted to campervan

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #6
I'm fairly sure its the finished internal height, as I saw the SQI that checked my van, measure the height.


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Re: Insurance - Buying van privately to be converted to campervan

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #7
Before embarking on the journey, I would suggest to reach out to an SQI and tell them about your plans to see if they're legally viable, they're the ones that can make it or break it.

If you have their blessing, then insurance is a no brainer.

Liked by: eirebus

Smilgy
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Re: Insurance - Buying van privately to be converted to campervan

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #8
Excellent, thanks guys! I'll make some phone calls in the next few weeks.

As I said, I'd prefer to do this as right as possible so good to gather all of this information.


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