Is this a bug out vehicle ?

[Citizen H]

I'm confused, are you looking at buying this or are you 'rating' the vehicle itself?

I build camper vans for a living and have seen some horrors, but as long as the vehicles are in a safe, roadworthy condition and the owners are enjoying their van, I say good luck to them!

The checks for gas and electrical safety are becoming more stringent and more of a necessity for any conversions, most people who do DIY builds are less than honest with their insurer, stating its a regular panel van, so they're putting a lot at risk if something happens and they have to claim, and more insurers are requiring proper gas and electrical safety certification to insure a converted van, some won't even touch DIY builds as they have no way of knowing if the van is built safely, as a result we regularly have people asking us to buy their own DIY built van as they've been refused insurance and don't have the money to undertake the work to bring it up to standard.

Still, as long as they're happy and safe, and the vans not a complete death-trap, enjoy it!

Don't get me wrong if this was the result of a Top Gear challenge id full understand, I see this project ? as a how not to do things.... and a cautionary tale to all of them who would consider taking such a project on.... this is also history repeating its self... his last victim was a Ex GPO Sherpa diesel van, that suffered the same fate.

I can also confirm the following:

The van originally was converted by a company who specialises in conversions, and at time of sale it was fully compliant with the current Gas and electrical safety regulations. However 2 years have gone by and Gas pipes electrical cables, have been moved, removed, added to and.......? buggered about with.

It is insured however the current owner is unsure of how the logbook reads or if its been reregistered as a Camper van, safety certification? the current owner is unsure..... Head firmly planted in the sand.

Due to the drivers door being not in line and the wing not being straight either, the owner believes it may have been in a "Knock!" I suggested that he looks at the log book as this may mention Cat D. again ..... Head firmly planted in the sand.


more as it happens, as I'm sure it will,

[yorkshirewolf]

Do you mean they've been refused insurance as a camper/conversion or that they've been refused insurance completely ?

If I have learned one thing from buying a £3k camper van off Ebay, it's don't buy a £3k camper off Ebay. I'd have been much better off buying a van and modifying it.

what i've seen multiple times is people coming to us (or another business) for a conversion, learning how much it'll be, thinking 'i can do that myself cheaper' building a camper-van using guidance from various forums, mates, magazines etc, then either:

A) Using said van as a camper without going through any of the safety checks, not telling DVLA or insurer that any work has been done to the vehicle, then having an accident/theft and being told their insurance is invalid as the vehicle has been modified and is insured as a basic panel van. OR

B) Doing the work themselves, don't get any safety checks, then try to get it insured as a campervan/motorhome (understandable as the van will have had a lot of work and money spent on it) the insurance then ask for gas/electrical certificates, invoices or proof of work carried out to safe standards, the customer doesn't have any of that, so the insurer refuses to insure the vehicle as a camper, and then refuses to insure it as a van as it's been modified from standard factory spec. (when this happens they usually go back to option A and not tell the new insurer)

We reinsured our van in December and went with a new insurer who specialise in motorhomes and the first thing they asked was 'Is it a DIY build? -as we don't insure motorhomes or campervans unless the conversion has been done professionally'

If done properly, the vehicle has to be gas-safe inspected and certified, both 240 and 12v electrics checked and certified by a qualified electrician, then the DVLA have to be notified that the vehicle has been converted, this involves pictures of the conversion, and it has to meet certain criteria (it has to have a sink, hobs, bed etc) they then change the vehicle type on the V5 to a motor-caravan (this actually helps with insurance!) and you then go to your insurer with a fully converted, legal, campervan.

Obviously lots of people don't do any of that, and are driving around in technically illegal/uninsured/unsafe vans, but i also understand that they're not cheap things to buy, build or run, and not everyone has deep pockets or builds them for a living, so I never pass judgement on people for not doing everything 'by the book'

[Citizen H]

one other thing is...... he's not looking to inform the insurance company that he's living in it full time with no fixed abode.... I believe that this along with his bank account will become nil and void?

He's not listening or thinking any of this through. I did mention renting a garage at least it will have a postcode and allow surplus storage......

The blank look and silence was the response.

[yorkshirewolf]

Well I guess that's his choice and hopefully he won't come to regret it, I've never known any insurer who will insure either a campervan or caravan for full time living, it's something they're very strict with, even going as far limiting the amount of nights you can spend in your vehicle (how they'd know this of course would be up to question)
we've lived full time in a caravan and were 'economical with the truth' when it came to insurance, it's the only way to do it. But we had our personal set of circumstances just as all full timers do, and you work around the difficulties.

I'd say give the guy a break, you may disagree with his choices and way of doing things, but they are his choices
We're all different and all have different ideas on what makes a happy life,
So as long as he's not harming you or others, I say wish him well and leave him in peace

[Deeps]

Well I guess that's his choice and hopefully he won't come to regret it, I've never known any insurer who will insure either a campervan or caravan for full time living, it's something they're very strict with, even going as far limiting the amount of nights you can spend in your vehicle (how they'd know this of course would be up to question)
we've lived full time in a caravan and were 'economical with the truth' when it came to insurance, it's the only way to do it. But we had our personal set of circumstances just as all full timers do, and you work around the difficulties.

I'd say give the guy a break, you may disagree with his choices and way of doing things, but they are his choices
We're all different and all have different ideas on what makes a happy life,
So as long as he's not harming you or others, I say wish him well and leave him in peace

Nicely put, if that's what spins his prop then fair do's.

[omega man]

I'd say give the guy a break, you may disagree with his choices and way of doing things, but they are his choices
We're all different and all have different ideas on what makes a happy life,
So as long as he's not harming you or others, I say wish him well and leave him in peace

here here!, I think that's sound advice

To be honest Citizen H this thread is starting to have something of a 'bitter undertone' and if you don't like the guy..that's fine, but why imagine it should interest the forum?
live and let live?
OM