Insurance For Vans

[Ironhead]

I tried to find where insurance on converasions vans had been discussed before, so if this is redundent I apologize. I have spend thousands more on my van than what it blue books for. So Im wondering how to insure it. I'd hate to have someone hit me and be screwed with their small offer. Has anyone dealt with this?

 

[Ozrockrat]

I have mine insured as an RV with a list of modifications. Biggest trouble I had was getting them to recognize the 4WD (but the VIN says its 2WD sir). In the end I took the local branch manager out to the vehicle and said "See it is 4WD" please add that to the modifications list.

I did the same "agreed modifications list" with the 4WD EB van I had.

But I have never had to claim against them. That would be the acid test.

 

[stevesolinko]

I just insured my van with Liberty Mutual for an additional $15k over blue book. Told them I converted it to 4x4, they had no problems with it. Progressive only let me do $5k, and wanted a lot more money for equal insurance.

 

[witt]

I insured mine as an RV as well (with American Family). I provided them with a list of modifications, including the 4x4 conversion. The biggest thing they wanted was an appraisal. Since I had Colorado Camper Van do the work, I just wrote out an appraisal form with all of the modifications and the estimated value and had Derek of CCV sign it. It is much more expensive to insure, but that stands to reason, since I'm insuring it for something like 5x the value of the base van.

 

[nely]

I went thru insurance when someone crashed into the first van I was building. I have a few posts detailing what they offered and stuff in my build thread.

I dealt with progressive. They tryed tellin me my 4x4 van conversion was "maintenance items" and was payed $1200 on a $9000 bill. And just dealing with them myself I felt overwhelemed. I took what I could. $4800 at the time. Kept my van for $350 and parted it out for $1600. So it wasnt bad. But defenitly learned a few things. Ill be doing what the other people in this thread have done, once my vans closer to completion.

 

[jjohnny350]

Anybody else have any experience with this? My current provider state farm wont cover it unless it was installed by a shop. I have done the work myself so they wont insure it. Wanted to see if anybody knows of any other good options. Thanks

 

[hobietony]

State Farm covered me when everyone else said no way - I have it titled/registered as an RV, but to get an 'agreed value' policy, I had to get an appraisal of the vehicle - I have a full book of receipts for the parts, the appraisal indicated that the 'home work' was of professional quality, and the value of the appraisal reflected that. It was, however, a total PITA, and it was not clear until I actually saw the money out of my account that I would get covered. Good luck!

 

[landyachtcaptn]

I have mine with Allstate and have gone back and forth with them on both my van and Airstream which are both heavily modified. The Airstream I got them to up to $10,000 basically by agreeing to pay more per month. With the van they put my coverage up to $25,000 with the recipes from Ujoint and some photos. It is now considered a "modified" vehicle. After the last round of upgrades I have exceeded that value in input costs and I am not confident that they will raise it any more. I've not yet made a claim on a mod vehicle so who knows how it will go when in comes down to it but Allstate has always been good about paying in the past. Main thing that you can do to help in the event of an accident is save all your receipts and keep up with the going price of comparable vehicles.

 

[ujoint]

I have a stated value on V4 through Progressive. No paperwork, just told them what I want!

 

[Bbasso]

Chris has said what I will. A stated amount policy will most likely be good for everyone.

 

[flightcancled]

Has anyone found a major difference in price and or coverage for having registered one way or another (standard, commercial, RV)?


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[Expedition.Report]

I have a stated value on V4 through Progressive. No paperwork, just told them what I want!

As an insurance broker I can tell you guys that this is the best way to go they might ask for an appraisal to back up your stated amount claim... They might not.

If you live in the province of Alberta you could also ask for a specific endorsement called a SEF19a which is a stated amount endorsement originally written for rebuilt classics or hot rods

 

[ujoint]

Has anyone found a major difference in price and or coverage for having registered one way or another (standard, commercial, RV)?


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My policy is commercial. I should also say that neither my former insurer (Allstate) or the policy my wife & I have (USAA) would insure V4, Allstate couldn't even ID the vin#. Probably because it was an ambulance, cab chassis from the factory.

 

[Expedition.Report]

Auto insurance is a tricky thing, in Canada (and other common wealth countries I believe we can lump the US in this as well) the rules and reg are set in each province/state, that makes it hard to pin point options as what works in one part of the country won't work in the other.
On the whole commercial insurance has the potential to have cheaper insurance with better cover and become increasingly true the more units you have and the better your loss history is.
The biggest thing for you guy converting to 4x4 is that you don't get stuck with the typical policy wording that dictates the payment in the event of a total loss. You guy would want to avoid an Actual Cash Value (ACV), the way it's calculated will not take the conversion into consideration and you'll lose out

Where ever you live get an appraisal or substantiate your valuation some how and get a stated amount policy and you'll be in much better shape in the event of a total loss


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[boardrider247]

Where does one go to get an appraisal for their van? Mine is not worth a whole lot over book yet. But will be by the time I'm done.