changing to motor caravan for insurance purposes

[New Forest Terrier]

My tin top has a 321 Away rear conversion. This was bought second hand but professionally fitted. It has been insured with the Camping and Caravan Club who accept it as converted and insure it as a camper van, although it is still registered as a mpv.

I have been phoned up by a previous broker offering a good deal but this requires the Bongo to be re registered as a camper. Is this a battle and worth a small reduction?

My temptation is to leave it as it is. Battles with DVLA are to be avoided if possible.

Cannot find any specific instructions on DVLA website. How hard is it from those who have made the switch?

Also do ferry prices rise if it is considered a camper van. Brittany Ferries always charge it as a mpv but claim there is a vast difference if it travelled as a camper.

[scanner]

Eurotunnel certainly surcharge any vehicle that has "living accommodation" (or is a minibus) by 20% over and above the cost for a van of the same size and shape.

I have questioned them about it and asked "Why?"

The answer was effectively "Because such customers are dumb enough to pay the extra" though they didn't quite use those words.

The more sensible ferry operators (P&O DFDS & MyFerrylink) simply charge by size.

[mikeWalsall]

If the C&CC have excepted it then great .. for me they where best price by far for my 'camper Van' ..

With LPG you will have will have to use a ferry anyway ..

[winchman]

Many insurance co's realise what a pain it is to get VOSA or DVLA to play ball, if you read the VOSA docs then the publications actually shows a Bongo as a vehicle they wont class as a camper.
To be honest just try another insurer, flux asked for it to have abed, sink and cooker, that's it

[Simon Jones]

Some good info here: http://www.campervanlife.com/building/legal. Mine was already registered as a motorcaravan and has made no difference to insurance or ferry costs, but it's probably a good thing to do if you can save money as a result.

[dave_aber]

You may struggle to get a tintop / rear conversion accepted as a Motor Caravan by DVLA.

[Simon Jones]

On what basis? I could see there may be a requirement for minimum headroom, but the location of sink, fridge etc is not specified.

[Ian]

Simon is correct. Here is the DVLA definition of a Motor Caravan:

“A Motor caravan means a special purposes passenger car constructed to include living accommodation which contains at least the following equipment:

• seats and table
• sleeping accommodation which may be converted from the seats
• cooking facilities
• storage facilities.

This equipment shall be rigidly fixed to the living compartment; however, the table may be designed to be easily removable.”

[francophile1947]

Judging by this link http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov. ... Advice.pdf , it would appear that most rear kitchens only qualify as day vans, not motor caravans.

[Simon Jones]

That's interesting. It shows at least 2 Bongo rear conversions sold by Imperial & I'd be surprised if they would not have had the vehicles registered as a motor caravan. My van was originally from Imperial with a front conversion retaining the standard front-facing bench seat & the V5 shows it as a motor caravan. I've since fitted a rear conversion which retained all the elements of the previous one (sink, gas hob, water tanks, gas cylinder, electrics, storage, etc) & I've flipped the seat round to be rear-facing. It doesn't make it any less of a camper than it did before.....

If New Forest Terrier were to contact 321 they would be able to confirm if they have successfully been able to register her type of rear conversion as a motor caravan.

[francophile1947]

That's interesting. It shows at least 2 Bongo rear conversions sold by Imperial & I'd be surprised if they would not have had the vehicles registered as a motor caravan. My van was originally from Imperial with a front conversion retaining the standard front-facing bench seat & the V5 shows it as a motor caravan. I've since fitted a rear conversion which retained all the elements of the previous one (sink, gas hob, water tanks, gas cylinder, electrics, storage, etc) & I've flipped the seat round to be rear-facing. It doesn't make it any less of a camper than it did before.....

If New Forest Terrier were to contact 321 they would be able to confirm if they have successfully been able to register her type of rear conversion as a motor caravan.

Simon, I think that a lot of the accepted conversions were done before the DVLA tightened up it's rules in, I think, 2012. They even wanted the vehicles to look like a motor caravan, so plain vans were refused - I do believe that they've relented on that though.

[aintgotabongo]

Simon is correct. Here is the DVLA definition of a Motor Caravan:

“A Motor caravan means a special purposes passenger car constructed to include living accommodation which contains at least the following equipment:

• seats and table
• sleeping accommodation which may be converted from the seats
• cooking facilities
• storage facilities.

This equipment shall be rigidly fixed to the living compartment; however, the table may be designed to be easily removable.”

I was only talking to lifesure yesterday as to how my bongo would qualify as a camper van, and they said it has to have a factory built fitted kitchen that is permanently fixed, and that you have to register it with the DVLA as such, I asked about this as I was told campers are cheaper to insure than MPVs, my current insurance on my bongo is £525 and yes iv tried every insurer going and no one can get anywhere near this price, it makes you wonder if its worth having this fitted if only to bring the insurance down ? maybe a separate thread could be started asking what peeps pay insurance wise re converted / unconverted, theres a post on the mazda bongo owners on FB at the mo and the insurance Q has some quite suprising replies

[Simon Jones]

Lifesure may well have tightened up on their requirements but when I was with them, they were quite happy to cover my self-build conversion. The original Mazda factory fitted kitchen 'cube' would not meet the criteria previously discussed to be registered as a motor caravan as it does not include a table. I think they are probably meaning they will insure a 'professional' camper conversions such as those by JAL, Imperial, Wellhouse etc.

Camper conversions are generally cheaper to insure as you will be carrying few passengers (so lower personal injury claims), not commuting to & from work, & generally travelling fews miles each year. We pay around £230 fully comp for two drivers based on 5000 annual mileage limit, with a replacement value of £12,000.

[winchman]

One company would not renew my 8 seater as they stopped doing over 7 seats so I changed to Flux , no problems

[thevanarchist]

I have a rear conversion, and it took 10 days from sending my reclassification application in to getting the new V5 back as a motor caravan from DVLA. No hassle at all - this within the last couple of months so very current. Just send photos of everything they ask for, along with a one/two line description alongside, and that's it. The only problem I had was that DVLA mistakenly left it as an eight seater on the V5, another letter with photos showing it only had the middle reversed seat with two lapbelts (I have removed all three point belts in the back) and it became a four seater on the V5 within another week.

Don't be scared of the DVLA, and don't think a rear conversion has to be problematical. Just do as DVLA ask when making the application and the whole process is smooth as...