[Closed] Van semi-conversion and insurance

Try Brentacre insurance. They dont charge any extra for non-performance modifications. You just need to email them a photo of anything you do and they add it to the policy. It's very straightforward. Many of the other insurance companies will insist on a full conversion and set a time limit to complete it.

Just to add they also were happy for me to have business use insurance at no extra cost although they did have to ring and check that with the underwriter.

Cheers. I'll check them out thanks.

I just tried Churchill online quote and added the mods and it said I had to call them which maybe doesn't bode well.

A Plan are another good one for modified vans although unfortunately I think you’ll find it will always be a bit more  pricy than a std one.

Try NFU. Sent them all the conversion docs - especially for the seat fitting. Expected a higher premium. They just sent me a new schedule and thanked me for letting them know (in 2012).

Adrian Flux used to be good for insuring vehicles that are not the norm, used them when I had a van with windows added ( was a few years ago) Probably worth a try.

Adrian flux were good when I did a day van semi conversion. Just said to keep them informed of changes cheaper than most because they knew it wasn't a works van.

Insuring semi converted campers is a pain. Especially when you want to do a kinda camper with seats/windows etc cos then you can carry more people.

I’d look into a full conversion- you can do it really easily to satisfy DVLA, still keep it flexible for work and you will then get vastly reduced insurance premiums. Small kitchen pod and clever bed system and you’re away. £300 a year on mine - the kombi it used to be would be double that.

I've had good responses from both NFU and Flux in the past. The van is now fully converted so that issue has resolved itself.

cheaper than most because they knew it wasn’t a works van.

I’d look into a full conversion- you can do it really easily to satisfy DVLA

Aye, but mine is a works van. I use it for my furniture making business. I couldn't still do that, insure myself for business and sdp and call it a camper could I?

I'm with admiral. Under the modifications section they had a "converted/part converted camper" option. Mine is a partial conversion so I just selected that. Hasn't caused any problems

Brentacre for us. Probably been with them 8 years with various vans and they have always been cheapest.

Aye, but mine is a works van. I use it for my furniture making business. I couldn’t still do that, insure myself for business and sdp and call it a camper could I?

Course you could - mines insured for business use. Use it happily for work. As long as you get a layout which suits work use too, would assume that would be fairly straightforward with your requirements, if you spent your day moving 8x4 crates around not so much.

The only issue you’d have is if it was a company car - taxation would alter and on a t5 it’s pretty eye watering difference between panel van and ‘car’.

Been with Brentacre now 3 years since I bough the van. They were the only company happy to give me business use while taking as long as I wanted to convert from a panel van to a camper. Every now and then I send them an email outlining any changes/mods I have completed and that is it. My renewal has just come through and is £5 less than last year (£305 for policy), though their admin fee has gone up by £10!! Not had a claim so can't really give a full recommendation as it is usually only when you need them that insurance companies show their real colours!

Thanks for the suggestions folks. Brentacre it is.

They seem to positively encourage modifications, only require you to tell them if you make significant changes to bhp etc, and the call centre bloke was a mountainbiker too. 🤙😂

Sorted.

Shame I have to pay an exorbitant cancellation fee to Lloyds. Only had the policy a couple of weeks 😡

do you not have a 30 day cooling period on insurance? you only end up paying for the time you're covered then?

As people have recommended, Brentacre and Adrian Flux are the usual suspects for vans/conversions.

While it might be too late to help you as you seem to be srted, I'll add this for posterity-

I got a call from OneCall who picked up my details from an insurance search engine enquiry and said "a van with modifications eh? we have an underwriter who can do that as a camper..." came out very reasonable. Give them a try.

They seem to positively encourage modifications, only require you to tell them if you make significant changes to bhp etc, and the call centre bloke was a mountainbiker too.

It was like that when I first rang them. I tried all the usual recommendations, none of which could understand why someone would want a van if they weren't running some kind of shady unregistered business.

Rang Brentacre and had a conversation with a mountain biker all about vans, cars, camping, riding etc. Got a very reasonable quote which actually went down every year for 6 years in a row. Now my Mr.s is with them because they gave us by far the best price for a first car/new driver, and I'll ring them again when I eventually buy another van.