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Subject Topic: Selfbuild campervan advice needed
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09/8/2011 at 10:19am
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: Customised Sprinter Van
View Clareycluck's Profile View Profile   Reply to Clareycluck Reply   Quote Clareycluck Quote  
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I have a Mercedes Sprinter LWB that I have converted myself. All I've really done is made two big bed's with some storage space and lapbelts fitted on one of the beds for the kids. I don't have any cooking facilities as we tend to cook outside but I do have a space that we sometimes use the portable stove on. Its generally used for sleeping in and as a nice space to hang out.

I was wondering what would be the best way to insurance it. It's registered as a PLG vehicle. Should I declare it as a camper and insure it as such or insure it as a van?

Any advice gratefully received.
Thanks


09/8/2011 at 11:02am
 Location: Shropshire
 Outfit: None Entered
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Probably best to ask on here: http://sbmcc.co.uk/forum/

(..Although I'm not sure if you need to subscribe before you can post nowadays?..as it's been a while since I've used it..)



09/8/2011 at 12:06pm
 Location: West Midlands
 Outfit: Various tents
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Some advice on reclassification requirements here.


09/8/2011 at 10:31pm
 Location: south wales cardiff
 Outfit: vauxhall arena lwb
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If you only have beds you cant reclassify as a camper you need water fresh and waste side windows seating bedding table  as well as a wc .Also you need cooking facilities. All of which are not hard to do.

To get it insured as a self build you will need an engineers report this will cost you £50.00 ish but the form will ask for most of the above so you only have 2 choices complete the conversion to a higher spec or insure it as a van.

Hope this helps you in some way its a bit of a hobby of mine converting vans .

Please keep us all informed .

DELBOY



-------------
you may be frustrated now but infront of me there is a big incline . yeh it may be slow but it is in front


10/8/2011 at 6:05am
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: None Entered
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This is a complicated area.

DVLA give a list of requirements to be regarded as a motor caravan.

FOI information

This is very specific, including the requirement to have things like tables that attach to walls or floor, rather than being free-standing.

Recently many people have been refused reclassification to motor caravan and have been classified as a van with windows.

Insurance again is a minefield, and it is important to tell them any adaptations you have made and what you are using the vehicle for. We converted an LDV Convoy lwb minibus earlier this year and found it well nigh impossible to insure as a minibus. After reclassification it was quite straight-forward, without an engineers report.

One thing that worries me is your description of your seatbelts for your children. We kept a double minibus seat with built-in 3 point seatbelts, giving 5 forward facing seats all with seatbelts. There are rules about seatbelts and how they need to be mounted, have you checked that they meet that?

Good luck. This can be a lot of work, but it can also be very rewarding!



-------------
Everything comes to he who waits


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10/8/2011 at 10:52am
 Location: Ndidis Kraal
 Outfit: Laika Ecovip 100 & Quasar
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The rule of thumb that DVLA now seem to be applying is that if a member of the publis was to look at the vehicle would they say "It's a van" or "It's Campervan/Motorhome"

Seat belts? Are the seats(beds) facing sideways? If they are, then you need to be thinking about altering them to either face forwards or to the back of the vehicle.

 




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