Vandwellers Forum

gungfusteve · Newbie Joined: 08 Jan 2010 Posts: 17 Location: minnesota

I spoke with an insurance help desk agent on the phone last night and found out that I need a specialized insurance policy because living in a van is not the same as driving a van or using a van as a motorized campervan!

Has anyone else run into this issue? I would hate to sign up for an auto insurance or class B camper policy that ends up being invalid...I will be talking to an agent sometime in the next week, just wanted to see how others deal with this issue...
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Better to be sick in the head than sane in the city.

gungfusteve · Newbie Joined: 08 Jan 2010 Posts: 17 Location: minnesota

should i take the silence on this topic to mean that no one insures their vehicle?

i'm still waiting for the insurance agent to get back to me about mine. unfortunately, i damaged someone's car on tuesday due to snow emergency conditions (it was a bad decision on my part to try to get out of the parking spot i was in). i left a note with my phone number tied to this lady's car door...she called me and told me she'd get a few quotes on how much it costs to fix. this should set my departure from minnesota back considerably since i will be dipping into my savings to fix the damage i did.

lesson learned: don't drive without insurance (i've only put 120 miles on the van so far!) even if it means riding bike to work 9 miles through hellishly snowy conditions.

...i could have bought a nice single speed cross bike with studded tires for as much as it is probably going to cost to fix this lady's car. sigh.
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Better to be sick in the head than sane in the city.

David Hair · Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:56 pm Post subject:

I have never told my insurance agent I live in my van. It's just a camper and I travel a lot for pleasure. I don't think I would say a word aboyut living in it and find another agent.
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David Hair
2000 Astro AWD
1989 Dodge B-350 Hi-Top shuttle bus in progress

surfcam · Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:32 pm Post subject:

I agree with David totally. If you talk on a cell or eat an apple while driving and tell the agent about it I doubt if he wouldn't even sell you insurance. Insurance has always been a drain on my pocket book. I don't think I have collected more than 500 dollars in 40 years. I've never had a vehicle accident but people have stolen things from me. I tried to collect. Then I found out that in the fine print anything with a gas engine is not insurable. Special rider and more money. 500cc single Ariel motorcycle, lawnmower, out board motor, and rotor tiller. Gone for ever. What a hard lesson. My conclusion is that with the high deductibles and lower one being too expensive the only thing insurance is good for is catastrophic loses. Then if you ever did collect you would have to start riding a bike because your insurance would be so high. Sorry I'm into a bit of a rant. Rolling Eyes

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Visionquest · Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:39 pm Post subject:

Sorry for being a little late on this. I have used GMAC for my old class C RV and also for my current Class B Van mainly because they are the only place that would insure an RV as the "only" vehicle and also because they had an option that covered you as a "full timer". They have been very reasonable price wise too. I asked every insurance company I could think of or find when I was looking several years ago and almost all of them pointed me to GMAC.

Hope that helps!

-Mike & Heidi
97 Roadtrek 170P "Taj Ma Trek"
http://vantramps.blogspot.com