Hello from a noob! (1 Viewer)

[mrbenn]

Hi guys!

Really glad to have found this place

I've had my van (a hollowed-out Ford Transit 15 seater minibus) for about a year now. I haven't done a lot of miles, only around 5,500 miles, and that includes a drive to Portugal and back! I'm just approaching the time where I will be moving out of the house I'm living in to live in the van in which installed swivel seats and I'm using a futon for a seat/bed, which is very comfy

I was wondering, I'm coming up to my insurance renewal and my current provider, which have been pretty good and not TOO expensive for a first year driver, offers Euro travel insurance which restricts me to 6 months of driving outside the UK in the year, and I can't drive the van outside of the country for more than 120 days at a time. So if I decide to drive as far as Greece or something, I have plan a £750 (in fuel) trip back to the UK just to touch base, and then only for half the year.

Do you guys have the same restrictions or can you offer any solutions?
Thanks!

 

[f6c]

welcome

Welcome aboard

 

[ukbill]

:welcomefunster: to the madhouse
try comfort insurance not sure if they will insure a conversion though

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[teddybard]

Hi &:welcomefunster:

Best of Luck on the forum

Roger & Sheila.

 

[Carol]

Hello and welcome to motorhome fun, I think it is that you can not stay for more than 120 days at one time, but if you come home you could do another 120 day's, so in theory you could fly home which would be cheaper, if this is wrong I am sure someone will be able to correct me.

As has been said for Morocco Comfort Insurance are one of the best, could be worth doing a search, lots of information on the forum about these things.

 

[scousebird]

Hello:thumb:

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[Wildman]

Hi and welcome to the madhouse. Do bear in mind fulltiming and forgetting to tell the insurance company will invalidate your insurance. Good luck finding a decent fulltime insurance quote as a newbie driver.

 

[rainbow chasers]

You will need to be honest with insurer/broker and see what they can do for you. You are in a no-mans-land regarding your conversion. It will still be seen legally as a minibus, and not accepted as a camper conversion due to the fitments not being of set standard and permanently fixed. You are not alone, many self builders have this obstacle if they are half way through building, but still using the vehicle - ends up with an identity crisis for a while.

I think your best bet would be to find insurance for a minibus which has a bed in it and work from there. Good luck with it!

 

[jaygee]

Safeguard cover for 365 days, I've found premium not too bad - £289 fully comp for 2007 dethleffs. Was £318 but knocked off legal protection which cost £30 after reading posts on here!
Includes European breakdown cover which we had reason to use last year with no problems:thumb:

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[Jim]

Hi and welcome to the fun. :thumb: Extended touring is not an issue with many insurance companies. There are quite a few companies that will insure you for 365 days out of the UK (in Europe) as standard. (off the top of my head Comfort and safeguard definitely do) Shop around it's easy to get.

The insurance difficulty will/might arise with the conversion, but hundreds of people self-build and get it sorted OK. Exciting times, I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun

 

[mrbenn]

Thanks for all your comments guys, you've been a lot of help! The vehicle is actually classed as a van (light personal goods). As far as the insurance company is concerned, the van is only for social and domestic purposes, and I'm not living in it. Tbh, I'm not really living in it full time per se, I do a lot of couch surfing, etc. But I don't have a fixed address (though I do have a forwarding address) so I guess you could say that it is the closest things to my home.

It seems like a bit of a grey area really, how do you define "living in", especially if you are staying with friends and in guest houses, in between.

Well I will try comfort and safeguard (was it?) and see what they have to say. Thanks everyone!!!