Van insurance ridiculously expensive - any ideas?

[That-Crazy-Rat-Lady]

Hello!

Wondering if anyone could give me some advice, I want to get myself one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260956198848?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

or a knocked up old transit van, chuck a mattress in the back and hit the road!
The van itself is £600 dirt cheap, insurance quotes for myself OR the other half are around £1600!!!!!

Whatever happened to free love and living out the back of a van for a few weeks for pence?
For the cost of the insurance I could go to Ibiza for a week (god help me, noooo)!

Anybody know how to get around this, cheap van insurance? or another type of van that could be used?

Cheers
Crazy Rat Lady

ps- the rats wont be coming with us!

 

[AA Silencers]

That seems a bit steep. Is that on a limited mileage policy or just a normal commercial policy?

try these guys at cherished insurance, they do tailored policies

http://www.cherishedvehicleinsurance.co.uk/

 

[age'd parent]

Try Adrian Flux they knocked my LDV van insurance down by half from Churchill's price

 

[cushT]

I believe if you find a camper over 15 years old you can have a classic policy, they are a lot less expensive.

 

[grumpystaffordguy]

Camper vans can cost a fortune to ensure if you are under 40. You have to find the right specialist. The thing is that Transit is just a van really so why not just insure it as a van? I have a motortrade policy which is £400 a year and includes up to 4 cars or vans as personal use and unlimited stock. Its only 3rd party though, but then I wouldn't pay (or claim) for a car sub a grand in value anyway.

 

[redstar]

alright all?
my ex other half insured a van once (car based one) and they wanted silly cash....
somewhere around 500 quid for fully comp.

motorhomes and/or campers are cheap at the moment, and cheap as chips to insure.
my 6 berth mini mo ho is £206 fully comp for the year, cheaper in tax than a van
and only cost 3500 with ZERO losses likely in this market.

if ya wanna hand chosing one, drop me a line. (i have had half a dozen, and imported them)

free love!

 

[Rikki]

My camper insurance was only about £350 with a limited mileage. Would of been quite a bit cheaper if I had a drive to keep it on. It is 30 years old though which I think helps. I'm 27 and had no no claims to use for it. Try specialist camper insurers, they come up on google.

 

[grumpystaffordguy]

Rikki yours is probably a VW though isn't it? The dub campers may be a bit different with the following they have. You are right in that you need to go the right places though.
I know a proper big motorhome can be very expensive to insure as my grandparents used to have them. They even had one of those Hymer massive ones. Fantastic crime target's. You just park them up anywhere in Europe and wait for the looters! So easy to break in to and full of valuables.

 

[Birdies_best_mate]

I use Hastings van insurance, it was the cheapest i could find. I was searching for third party fire and theft business use and hastings came out cheapest offering fully comp for less than other companys were asking for for tft.

Edited to add the last van i sold was on ebay for £85 was a transit, and an excellent runner guy paid cash and drove it away.

 

[Birdies_best_mate]

if looking for a cheap van ring up local garages that do part exchange as these types of garages normally just send their P/Es straight to the auctions every couple of weeks so they may have something suitable .

 

[LeeA]

The cheapest van insurance for my old banger van is by Commercial Vehicle Direct, very good service too

 

[That-Crazy-Rat-Lady]

Hi guys thanks for replies!
I'd just been trying standard van insurance on the compare sites rather than campers as many of the ones I was looking at would just be classed as a van, I think it’s only classed as a camper if it’s got windows otherwise its standard?
Thanks for the suggestions will ring up those companies!
Even if I have 3rd party on my car the van itself would still have to be insured tho wouldn’t it?
Any suggestions for a van over 15yrs old that’s cheap, does good the gallon suitable for a camper conversion lol?
Thanks Birdie, have you got anymore for £85  !!!!!

Thanks all guys, so much to think about!
Will ring round companies, search for older vans and try insurance covered under campers thankyou so much!
Crazy Rat Lady x

 

[Rikki]

http://www.campervanlife.com/building/legal

Requirements for a campervan.

 

[age'd parent]

http://www.campervanlife.com/building/legal

Requirements for a campervan.

Looks like its getting easier to change to camper van, mines still registered as "van with windows",
I changed it from a "13 seat mini bus" because the insurance was ridiculous,
Fairly simple to do, just scrap the seats and send photos to Dvla.
I've still to put some bits in so I will be trying to register later in the year, very interesting reading the postings.

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