How to Get Insurance for Converted Van?

[Sundance]

How hard is it to get insurance coverage for a van that you've converted to live in?   What is the best way to go about doing that, and what should you say or not say?  By the way, I live in Virginia.  Thanks!

 

[Almost There]

How hard is it to get insurance coverage for a van that you've converted to live in?   What is the best way to go about doing that, and what should you say or not say?  By the way, I live in Virginia.  Thanks!

After a really bad experience with my own insurance broker, I strongly suggest that you, in the beginning, talk to someone other than your current broker about it.

Briefly, my broker, instead of asking in general about covering my DIY conversion, told MY insurance company what I was doing, specifically with my policy number supplied. I had to scramble really hard to find another insurance company to cover me and I still don't have RV coverage which includes contents. It was hell on earth and scary.

Whether you can find RV coverage or even regular coverage for a DIY conversion will depend on the insurance industry in your jurisdiction. Personally, even if someone else is from Virginia on here and has had some experience with it, I would still shop it to other brokers as anonymously as I could because in some jurisdictions it's easy and others it's not possible at all.

In my case, insurance companies are turning down the business if you so much as change the rims on a vehicle...it's considered a modification and heaven help anyone who wants to modify a vehicle - very few insurance companies will touch it!

BTW, even if you can get RV coverage or special coverage to cover the cost of the modifications, be very careful about admitting that you plan to live full time in the van....even most commercially done RV insurance coverage doesn't include full timing. That's another whole category of insurance coverage altogether.

 

[WriterMs]

Try checking out some companies that tout their RV coverage. I went through Good Sam (my residence is South Dakota). Good Sam is an RV organization, so the insurance carriers they use (in my case National General) know the referrals from Good Sam will be RV. I had some mainstream companies turn it down since my rig is homemade, too (a converted commercial transit bus).

 

[Spirituallifetime]

Don't say converted or live in, these are red flag words that will cause problems with getting insurance!

 

[Sundance]

Thanks for your suggestions, and for sharing your own experiences. For now, I won't be living full time in my van. I still co-own a home with my sister. But I want to to travel for a few months, and since I a have a lot of allergies and chemical sensitivities, I though that creating my own space to stay in during my travels would be best.

I've debated talking to agents (not my own) and saying that I plan to travel and go camping. I'd say I'll be bringing my camping and traveling supplies, but may need to sleep in the van during severe weather. But if they don't like modifications to the vehicle, would that include adding vents or a heating system in the cargo area? I would really prefer to add a high top, but I suspect that wouldn't go over too well with them.

I still haven't found out if a full-size cargo van would require commercial insurance in my area.

 

[Spirituallifetime]

All they need to know is if the van is for personal use or commercial use and the estimated mileage the van will be driven annually. If you do travel a few months out of a year then that would probably be less than 5000 miles per year. I don't think most people have trouble getting insurance on their vans. you go get insurance the same way as your car (I bought this van I need insurance for it) they will give you a price for it. Don't complicate it by giving more information than you have to.