new fulltimer (1 Viewer)

gillamina

Free Member
Jan 16, 2013
5
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24,307
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Van conversion
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new to full timing, motorhoming for years
Hiya all - making the big step to full time in my self build conversion, and feeling the terror at giving up all home comforts, my stuff!, and trying to sort insurance out. Hoping to get some help from enthusiastic folks who've already been down these paths as one of the things I hate most is trying to sort out insurance! (my search is not pure joy so far)

My van is a LWB VW LT 35 - which my boyfriend and I have converted with the help of some professionals and some friends. We love it, it's amazing to have achieved this! Gill :thumb:
 

scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
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Suffolk Coastal District, UK
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15
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Timberland
Hi.. and welcome Gill

we lived in our motorhome for three years.. a family of four, there are quite a number of fulltimers on here with lots of experience and advice.. just ask.

the most challenging part is keeping or having a 'home' address.. this could be a family member or a friend.. you must have this for insurance purposes, driving licence and your vehicle V5 ..

If living 365 in your van you will require 'fulltime' insurance.. the only company I know who offer this cover is Comfort Insurance .. and it's not cheap ...Some may argue that this isn't required.. but failure to declare that you are 'living' in the van full time will void a normal motorhome insurance policy .. in effect you would not be insured.

we also have a sister site that is dedicated to this life style where these and many other questions have been discussed.. it is free to join .. good luck

http://www.motorhome365.com/forum/
 
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gillamina

Free Member
Jan 16, 2013
5
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24,307
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Van conversion
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new to full timing, motorhoming for years
hi and thanks for the advice :Smile:

yes am keen to be fully insured so will contact Comfort. I have had previous experiences of break ins when living short term in my old van, so would prefer to pay and make sure all ok and above board! do you know if they do European cover? we are planning to take in a few choice destinations including france, switzerland, austria and norway - my boyfriend likes the cold hahaha. thankfully we can use my parents address as our UK address, and storage space for all the stuff we have that won't fit in the van.

will check out the link you posted. Gill

Edited to add: just been an done online quote with Comfort - absolutely quick, easy and appropriate! great advice, will sleep much easier tonight. thanks.

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Last edited:
Feb 27, 2011
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I have been fulltiming now for just under 4 years and still loving it (Even in the bad weather)..

Welcome to the (fulltiming) club and hope you enjoy it as much as I do:thumb:
 

TheBig1

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Nov 27, 2011
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I always wonder when I hear about somebody selling up and going full time, what do you do when the van breaks down or worse gets stolen or badly damaged in an accident? As the op is converting a vw lt 35, what on earth would you do if the engine needs rebuilding taking several days in the garage. its a common complaint that the engines pack up in these vans. dont see so many being driven by fleet operators these days for a few reliability reasons

dont want to pour cold water on your dreams, just being practical

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Mar 18, 2012
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I always wonder when I hear about somebody selling up and going full time, what do you do when the van breaks down or worse gets stolen or badly damaged in an accident? As the op is converting a vw lt 35, what on earth would you do if the engine needs rebuilding taking several days in the garage. its a common complaint that the engines pack up in these vans. dont see so many being driven by fleet operators these days for a few reliability reasons

dont want to pour cold water on your dreams, just being practical


Good and important point BIG UN, often wondered about this and other " practical " points,

Will be interesting to see posts on this subject,

:thumb: :drink:
 

thehutchies

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Aug 31, 2007
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what do you do when the van breaks down or worse gets stolen or badly damaged in an accident?

You do something else :Smile:

Stay in the yard of the garage.
Stay with family.
Stay with friends.
Rent a house.
Book a hotel.
Buy a tent.

Every problem has a solution.

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Feb 27, 2011
14,670
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I always wonder when I hear about somebody selling up and going full time, what do you do when the van breaks down or worse gets stolen or badly damaged in an accident? As the op is converting a vw lt 35, what on earth would you do if the engine needs rebuilding taking several days in the garage. its a common complaint that the engines pack up in these vans. dont see so many being driven by fleet operators these days for a few reliability reasons

dont want to pour cold water on your dreams, just being practical

The same thing that you would do in your brick house if it burnt down or flooded.

My Gearbox needs replacing. I am buying a full replacement and have found a garage that can do it in one day for me. I will then recondition the old gearbox and flog that on to recover some of the cost. If it should have any problems I will book myself into a B&B for one night.

If it gets stolen I bet I can get the insurance sorted out and a replacement bought far quicker than you can get your house rebuilt after a fire? If I get involved in an accident then it will be an expensive B&B while I get it repaired. Or I will buy a cheap caravan as temporary accommodation.

As a fulltimer I am a lot more security aware as it is my home as well as my vehicle. Deadlocks are fitted on all doors. I have GPS tracking on it. And it looks like a pile of crap so unlikely to be nicked :ROFLMAO:.

As for accidents, I am an extremely defensive driver now. I also don't drive it when weather conditions are not optimal.
 

Jim

Ringleader
Jul 19, 2007
36,191
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Since 1988
I always wonder when I hear about somebody selling up and going full time, what do you do when the van breaks down or worse gets stolen or badly damaged in an accident? As the op is converting a vw lt 35, what on earth would you do if the engine needs rebuilding taking several days in the garage. its a common complaint that the engines pack up in these vans. dont see so many being driven by fleet operators these days for a few reliability reasons

[HI]dont want to pour cold water on your dreams[/HI], just being practical

Be careful sat there in your immovable bricks and mortar house..

Cold water might come in handy for all the thousands of house fires that make people homeless each year. And it's been a record decade for cold water floods chasing people out of their homes.

Losing a van for a while is just the same, though a lot less hassle. Most full timers have contingency plans for such problems and are so easily resolved it's hardly worth worrying about.

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Feb 27, 2011
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So, low mileage as well then - you are an insurer's dream. :winky:

Does seem that way last year. Hoping for better weather this year so I can whack some miles on the new gearbox:thumb:
 

TheBig1

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i agree to some extent re bricks and mortar houses and floods or fires etc, but home insurance tends to include emergency accomodation cover, van insurance does not.

as for driving carefully or defensively, that does not account for other drivers, especially uninsured ones who are on the increase these days.

not everyone going fulltime has made a plan or got a contingency fund

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thehutchies

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Aug 31, 2007
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not everyone going fulltime has made a plan or got a contingency fund


That'll be us then ::bigsmile:

If the van catches fire this afternoon and we lose everything we own and we are left standing in the forest with four young children and only the £20 in my wallet...

we'll just do something else :Smile:

It's an attitudinal thing, I think.
 
Feb 27, 2011
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That'll be us then ::bigsmile:

If the van catches fire this afternoon and we lose everything we own and we are left standing in the forest with four young children and only the £20 in my wallet...

we'll just do something else :Smile:

It's an attitudinal thing, I think.

Yup me too. I will lose everything also. I will figure something out. You can pick up an old caravan for a couple of hundred quid. Not brilliant but it's a roof over your head:thumb:
 

scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
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i agree to some extent re bricks and mortar houses and floods or fires etc, but home insurance tends to include emergency accomodation cover, van insurance does not.

as for driving carefully or defensively, that does not account for other drivers, especially uninsured ones who are on the increase these days.

not everyone going fulltime has made a plan or got a contingency fund

I often thought about this while full time.. and what would we do.. Anything could happen, an accident, fire or theft.. and the lot is gone..

This could be in the middle of nowhere .. the insurer would pay out for the loss of goods and chattels .. the 'dream' would be shattered.. but we would have survived..

So while it is a serious consideration, it shouldn't stop anyone from giving it a try.. hence the reason having 'proper' full time insurance and an exit plan..

Some of course just 'do it' on a wing and a prayer... and good luck.. life is for doing.. not worrying all the time..

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JJ

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May 1, 2008
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I have been living in my van (of the day) for over twenty years.

At one stage every single thing I had in the world was in my elderly, Iveco 60-10.

The main bearings gave out just outside Salamanca (Spain).

I was well and truly stuck.

This turned out to be one of my very best experiences in my life on the road.

It was a nightmare that was soon over.

After that nothing worries me about my choice to live in a van.

JJ :Cool:

PS. My "exit plan" is to go to the huge, Fray Bentos Pie Shop in the sky where the Steak and Ale pies are free and all Man City matches are shown on the giant screen (powered by a Kipor genny) and no one is going on about how many miles to the gallon they get out of their motorhome.


 
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Gunner29

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May 24, 2012
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Been trying to work out just what your avatar is JJ bar for 2 pairs off wellies I'm flummoxed!
 

FULL TIMER

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why worry about what could happen, much better to just get on with it and live the life, if you constantly worry about what could happen wether in van or the brick prison you will never do anything, lifes to short to keep worry gutting about the future.

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Philiphall

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Dec 28, 2012
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A few years now had a break but back with a MH now
Hiya all - making the big step to full time in my self build conversion, and feeling the terror at giving up all home comforts, my stuff!, and trying to sort insurance out. Hoping to get some help from enthusiastic folks who've already been down these paths as one of the things I hate most is trying to sort out insurance! (my search is not pure joy so far)

My van is a LWB VW LT 35 - which my boyfriend and I have converted with the help of some professionals and some friends. We love it, it's amazing to have achieved this! Gill :thumb:

Good luck and enjoy I have been in my van for just over a month I would like to know if you sort the insurance - I am just on a long holiday according to my insurance company. I gave up trying to find full-time insurance, I just kept my old registered address.
 
Jul 29, 2007
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i agree to some extent re bricks and mortar houses and floods or fires etc, but home insurance tends to include emergency accomodation cover, van insurance does not.

as for driving carefully or defensively, that does not account for other drivers, especially uninsured ones who are on the increase these days.

not everyone going fulltime has made a plan or got a contingency fund

Many people caught out by floods in the last few years haven' t had insurance, so car drivers aren't the only ones without insurance.

Ian

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Welsh girl

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We lost our home for 2 weeks, while our van was in for warranty work,found a 5th wheel to rent, more difficult with a dog but doable.:winky:
 
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gillamina

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Jan 16, 2013
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new to full timing, motorhoming for years
Hi All! Great reading all your experieinces. Sorry I haven't replied until now - been having major insurance headache! I think I have found a company that will insure my van full time, but it will only be 3rd party after 90 days in Europe. This is all becuase my van is a self build - insurance companies are such :cry:

Yes to all of you who said it's a mindset thing - I think it's about embracing the inherant risk and living with it - there is so much more freedom to live your life and the sacrifice is that if it all goes wrong it all goes wrong - like you say this is true of bricks and mortar houses too - the poor folks who can no longer get flooding insurance because of repeat flooding! I'm lucky as both my boyfriend and I have parents who are still around, as well as friends who could all help out in case of a crisis.

I was wondering if any of those of you who are full timing are doing it in a self convert? How have you sorted out your insurance? I'm conflicted about going for 3rd party only after 90 days as this increases the chances of us loosing out without insurance to back us up if someone crashes into us, or breaks in and makes a mess - then we have to dip into our hard won savings for the trip to cover it. I have tried Comfort, based on recommendations from this board, but they refuse to insure me for full time use :Angry:

Ah! Any help or recommendations would be great guys, thanks!!!!
Gillx

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