Some clarification required

Hi Martin
Hopefully you can clear up something for me from the point of view of an insurer.
What defines a vehicle as being a motorhome?
At what point does a VW transporter with some camping gear in it become a motorhome in the eyes of an insurer?

I've just finished carrying out a basic conversion on my T4 and was thinking about the implications regarding insurance. None of the fittings that I have added are permanent. Infact for 50 weeks of the year it will all be living in my shed and then be bolted in for holidays and camping at shows. So for the majority of the time it's a standard 8 seater caravelle with some stuff temporarily bolted in to go camping occasionally.

Where do I stand in this very grey area???

Cheers
Toby

Hey Toby,

your right it is a grey area and it varies with insurers. With HIC it tends to have to have a bed/rock 'n' roll bed or similar, cooker and/or sink, storage, windows etc.....however the rule is not set in stone. Being a VW specialist this rule is a little more flexible for VW's, paricularly the older models - T25's, Bays and Splitties tend to only need a bed! Also there are other factors that can be considered such as what your occupation is and what you use the camper for!

Hope that helps

Martin

Hi Martin

Cheers for the reply.
I suppose the question I really need to ask is what an insurance companies view is likely to be on my specific case. If it's not a question you can answer really that's no problem.
I definately don't want my van classified as a camper because for 48 weeks of the year it's likely that I'll just be driving it round as a standard 8-seater caravelle (unfortunately with that many seats it means it's not insured with HIC).
HOWEVER if I was to be involved in an incident during one of the few weeks that I did have the camping gear in the van are my insurance company likely to just wash theirs hands of me?
The gear in question is a simple unit that folds out to form a base to put an airbed on, a unit that has a camping stove bolted to it and a drawer unit from Ikea. These units are bolted down in the van using existing seat mounts/load lashing points at the rear. The standard rear bench is still in place with all its seatbelts.
Technically would I not simply be transporting a load temporarily that I have had the sense to make sure is secured properly?

Cheers if you have time to give this some consideration.
Toby