Club 80-90 Forums

Lots of vans are converted to campers,and some campers may have their seating/sleeping layout changed. At vanfest there are all manner of wierd and wonderfull vans/buses etc to see. But what is the insurance companies standpoint on this? A vehicle may be born and registered as a van then someone installs a R&R bed seat and fits a pop top in the place of tintop. in the event of an accident wouldn't the ins. co refuse to pay out? My brother has a scudo van with 3 seats across the front as it came from factory. Some of these vans have another row of 3 seats behind as factory fitment option. I almost bought one of these rear seat units to go in his van to make a six seater but stopped short when I realised if it was in accident the ins. co. could say it is not as it left factory, therefore ins. is null and void. So what do you guys think, knowing ins co's love to find any loopholes to avoid payouts where do you think modified vehicles stand if seats, seat belts, suspension etc.have not been crash tested and type approved and so on.

Every t25 was a van or caravelle before it became a camper but if its converted you can get quite easily the V5 changed to reflect it as a motorhome, which should remove any arguments the insurance may have. Most campers have specialist insurers anyway and if they are like mine they wanted pics inside and out before guaranteeing the value of it.

Originally I was with CIS Insurance (had been on other vehicles) on my (what was) a 7-seater. However, I rang to renew once and asked if I could remove middle seats. They point blank refused to insure me.

I went to a specialist and told them all this. The reply I go the other end was "Ralph, we're insuring you, and the vehicle, and we don't care WHAT you do to the inside!"

What insurers don't like is silly stuff like other vehicle parts bolted on to replace stock or wheels not rated for that purpose. And don't hide anything - they really DO hate that. Run-of-the-mill insurance has no provision for anything outside of stock, be it a part added or even removed. Specialist is exactly that - specialist.