Registering/insuring a DIY conversion as an RV/Motorhome?

Hi all,

Many of us here are in the process or have completed a DIY conversion of a stock cargo/passenger van into a part-time or full-time camper/home-on-wheels. I am in the process of turning my cargo Sprinter into my full-time home next year.

I am trying to figure out what is the most sensible approach to insuring the vehicle once we are living in it, as its value to me as a vehicle+house is much greater than its cash value as a vehicle alone.

The vehicle is currently registered and insured as a "Light Truck", which in my home state of Colorado is defined as:

"Truck equipped with a body, which is generally and commonly used to carry and transport property over the highways including sport utility vehicles with a truck bed and cargo vans."
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dmv/regular-license-plates

My present insurance through GEICO has the vehicle type listed as:
"Private Passenger (Car, SUV, Pickup, Van, etc.)"

I would like to hear from anyone in the community who has gone through the process (what exactly is the process?) to get your DIY construction protected/legal.

My desire here is two-fold:

1) If something bad happens to the vehicle, such as a kitchen fire, crash or property damage/theft, I want to make sure that wife/me/van/possessions are covered and not find out far too late that my insurance company won't honor a claim because it is insured as one thing but it is actually used as another.

2) Want to ensure that I am not going to have a headache with the long arm of the law if I am ever stopped for some traffic infraction and have some discrepancy in the registration, etc.

I know both of those 2 scenarios are widely variable based on the insurance company, legal jurisdiction, and emotional disposition of the traffic officer, but surely someone has figured something out!

Some questions:

- I can't find any published information on changing a vehicle's registration type, or what usage would require that. I could try to re-register the van as "Recreational Truck: About: Used exclusively for pleasure, enjoyment, recreational purposes or transportation of the owner, lessee or occupant. May be used singly or in combination with a trailer or utility trailer, which is used in the same manner as the truck. Not used to transport cargo or passengers for profit or hire." This is more accurate to how I will use the vehicle in the coming months/years. What is the advantage/disadvantage to making this change?

- At what point does a van/camper/sleeper "become" a motorhome/RV, if at all? I think I read on http://vandogtraveller.com/ a while ago about all the hoops he had to jump through when registering his DIY construction as a motorhome in the UK and all the additional requirements/fees he became subject to. Someone told me once (not sure how much merit this has) that it needs a fixed bathroom to be considered an RV? Seems like that wouldn't hold much water legally. I have a hidden porta potti in a cabinet, but no dedicated walls for a bathroom, so...?

- Are full-time camper constructions subject to additional safety/legal requirements? The vehicle passed inspection so that is probably 90% of it. Are there certain safety features or equipment (such as road flares, etc) that one is required to have on board?

- Internet argument warning: Is any of the above actually worth it? I imagine there is a good amount of paperwork and fees associated with all this, and RV Insurance can't be cheap. My van will look as stock as possible from the outside, not a blatant camper until you poke your head inside. Should I just fly under the radar? How do the full-timers protect their home on the road?

Thanks!
Dan

The answers to most of your questions are probably state-specific.

DIY conversions are one-of-a-kind and would be hard to value. Due to all the labor that went into it, my conversion is worth much more to me than the cost of materials.
Assuming for a moment that you could arrange for some kind of "agreed value" insurance, insuring the conversion is largely a financial (and thus personal) decision. Would the financial loss be unbearable? That is the only type of loss that insurance can help with, as (unlike a mass-produced commodity car or RV) there is no marketplace in which you can readily buy an "identical" replacement.

My guess is that most here just insure the vehicle however they can (passenger vehicle, light truck, etc) and then self-insure the conversion..

I'm documenting my build as I go with a ton of photos. If I ever have a need to make an insurance claim for the whole vehicle, there is at least a clear idea for the adjuster that the car had additional value than just a stock cargo van. Also, there are comparables out there now that I think are sold as vans but are essentially RVs, for example those sold by Outside Van, etc. Basically, I don't plan to ever go down the road of official RV status, but I plan to try to cover my A-s. Also, I think some states require extravagant stuff like a window that pushes out of the frame for escape in a fire.

As far as how to register as an RV, your State DMV would be your best source of information. For example in Kansas, I was told that it had to have a bathroom to be licensed has an RV. The insurance question would best be asked of your agent who writes the policy.

I don't think it would be very difficult to find an RV insurance company that will insure your vehicle for an agreed-upon amount as an extra-cost rider to the policy, that part should be easy. As to 'registering' the vehicle as an RV, that would depend on the state, assuming that state even recognizes RVs as a separate class (and many do not, for instance in NC my Winnebago View is noted only as a 'private/passenger vehicle' on the registration.)

I just talked to State Farm today to get my new van insured. I was told to let them know when the conversion work was complete. They told me that they will insure it to include the additional value. They even suggested that at that point we could insure it as an RV. Told me that they have done several vans that way.

julie777 said:

I just talked to State Farm today to get my new van insured. I was told to let them know when the conversion work was complete. They told me that they will insure it to include the additional value. They even suggested that at that point we could insure it as an RV. Told me that they have done several vans that way.

Click to expand...

When we were in the USA, we had a passenger policy with Geico. When we finished the build, we had the option of insuring the van as an RV. This would have lowered our rates in several categories. We had the options of adding other RV type policy riders (equipment failure, fire etc). They did have a path we could have taken to get an Agreed Upon policy value, but it would have taken some paperwork, and possibly an appraisal.

I would caution against insuring your conversion as a Van or passenger vehicle, and hoping the insurance company covers its value in an accident. At a bare minimum, you should list the value of the added equipment as "installed accessories" on your policy.


If the risk of losing the van is not unreasonable, you can also opt for the liability only policies.

I'm interested in this topic as well. It seems pretty straight forward to add the cost of material/appliance to the value of the vehicle for upgrades that are permanently installed (such as windows, vent fan, range, refrigerator, etc). However, many of us carry around a significant amount of "gear" in our vans such as high end bikes, rock climbing equipment, cameras, laptops, etc and I believe that stuff wouldn't be covered by an auto only policy if they were damaged in an accident or stolen. That's one of the main reasons I want to insure my vehicle as an RV as I've heard that those policies often cover personal items as well. Ya'll had any luck registering/insuring your self-built rigs in Washington state or Nevada as RVs?

Progressive RV insurance gives you a few options for values with one of them being "agreed value." You simply choose a value that makes sense for you, and your premiums will reflect that.

Once your conversion is done, you can have the title for the van changed with the DMV from truck (or whatever it is), to RV.

Your current insurance policy will not cover the buildout stuff. They have limits on after market stuff, and it's not very much. An auto policy makes sense if it's a normal van, but once you start the buildout, you really need RV insurance with some type of agreed-value policy.

In colorado, you would need to have the following installed and completed to change the title. The title does not need to be changed to qualify for RV insurance, though.

* Cooking equipment
* Refrigerator
* Toilet
* Heating
* Water
* Separate 110v

Statement of Fact listing mods
Certified Weight slip
DR2698

Wrinkledpants said:

Progressive RV insurance gives you a few options for values with one of them being "agreed value." You simply choose a value that makes sense for you, and your premiums will reflect that.

Once your conversion is done, you can have the title for the van changed with the DMV from truck (or whatever it is), to RV.

Your current insurance policy will not cover the buildout stuff. They have limits on after market stuff, and it's not very much. An auto policy makes sense if it's a normal van, but once you start the buildout, you really need RV insurance with some type of agreed-value policy.

In colorado, you would need to have the following installed and completed to change the title. The title does not need to be changed to qualify for RV insurance, though.

* Cooking equipment
* Refrigerator
* Toilet
* Heating
* Water
* Separate 110v

Statement of Fact listing mods
Certified Weight slip
DR2698

Click to expand...

Where did you find the info that the title doesn't need to be changed to qualify for RV insurance?

julie777 said:

I just talked to State Farm today to get my new van insured. I was told to let them know when the conversion work was complete. They told me that they will insure it to include the additional value. They even suggested that at that point we could insure it as an RV. Told me that they have done several vans that way.

Click to expand...

I had a policy review with my State Farm agent this week, specifically to discuss the van. She took some info and checked with others and called me back to say they could insure it as an RV and for me to submit a list of components/costs with a few pictures of the bed, kitchen, etc. She also said my premiums would likely go down. Good news.

She has been my agent for over 20 years; when we bought a trampoline and our old agency wouldn't cover us.

Anyone changed a title to RV from commercial cargo in California? Currently looking at the DMV website but it's not very explicit. And I really don't want to go down there unprepared!
Thanks

did a little more digging and found the info I need. Hopefully this will benefit other Cali folks:
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/vr/checklists/commercial_to_auto
Cheers!

The van officially went from designation "commercial van" to designation "van camper" today at the CA DMV. There's a bit to the process, including an inspection, but the entire process was done in about 40 minutes. I'll be posting a write up on my website, complete with all of the forms necessary in the coming days. Meanwhile I'll be out putting on my passenger vehicle plates and wondering where I'll spend the $80 that would have gone toward the weight fee.

Here is the article I wrote on the CA DMV registration change I made to my Sprinter. It was originally titled as a commercial van. It is now titled as a camper van, non-commercial. The weight fee is dropped and passenger license plates were issued.

Go to https://ourkaravan.com Click on "VAN BUILD," article is at the bottom of the page.