Owning a home is a major financial feat, but the goalpost seems to keep moving further out of reach. Bankrate’s Home Affordability Report found that 78 percent of Americans consider owning a home a part of the American Dream, which is more than the number who felt the same way about other goals, like being able to retire or having a successful career. The same survey found that more than half (56 percent) of non-homeowners cite insufficient income as the reason they don’t own a home.
#Vanlife has emerged as an adventurous alternative (or addition, depending on your finances) to owning a home. From 2020 to 2022, the number of van lifers rose from 1.9 million to 3.1 million. Converting a van isn’t cheap, and depending on how much you trick it out, there could be some major insurance implications. Bankrate’s team of insurance experts, which includes licensed agents, is here to walk you through exactly what you need to know about how to insure a converted van.
What is #vanlife?
Van life is the practice of converting a Class B van, like a Mercedes Sprinter or Ford Transit, into a comfortable living space. Typically, van lifers outfit their vans with sleeping quarters, a living space, a kitchen and plumbing facilities. Some van lifers take their vehicles to a professional conversion shop, while others do the conversion themselves.
Van insurance: What not to do
Don’t just add the vehicle identification number (VIN) to your current policy
“The number one mistake people make is just taking the van and adding it to their auto policy,” says Mike M., an insurance agency owner specializing in van conversion policies. “If [the van] is converted and you just insure it as a regular vehicle, not only are you guaranteed to pay more, but you’re guaranteed to have less coverage because of the conversion.”
Let’s back up a moment. When you buy a van to convert it into a mobile living space, how you insure it when it’s empty will be different from how you insure it when it’s been fully converted. This is due to a few different reasons, one of which is the van’s value.
Adding bells and whistles like a sink, kitchen and sleeping area usually raises the van’s value. And, with car insurance, it’s important that you and your insurance company are on the same page regarding your vehicle’s value. That way, if you’re ever in an accident that renders your van a total loss, you can get money back for what the van is actually worth — conversion and all.
Example
Say you purchase a new Ford Transit for $55,000 and add it to your insurance policy as such at full coverage. Then, you spend $100,000 converting it into a livable van, but don’t change your insurance policy. A few weeks later, you get into an accident that totals your van. When you file a claim with your insurer, it may only pay you the actual cash value of the van itself (less your deductible), not accounting for the money you put into converting it. Here’s what that payout could look like:
$55,000 (vehicle value) – $5,500 (depreciation) – $1,000 (policy deductible) = $48,500
Don’t assume your current carrier will know how to insure your van
Another common mistake, according to Mike M., is assuming that your current car insurance company knows how to insure a converted van. “Almost none of them do,” he said when speaking to Bankrate.
Van conversions have been around since the 1970s but have ballooned in popularity in recent years. This is partially because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When travel options were limited, many opted for the nomadic route offered by living in a van. Van living also has a glamorous reputation on Instagram, making it an appealing option for the social-savvy.
Living in a van isn’t a new concept, but elaborate van conversions are — at least to insurance companies. Hadassah Falby, an insurance agent with Coverage (which is also owned by Red Ventures, Bankrate’s parent company), says, “It’s the same as when rideshare, Uber, Lyft, all of that was coming around, insurance companies didn’t know how to deal with it.”
Industry-wide, insurance has a pretty slow reaction time. While some specialty carriers, like Roamly and Good Sam, have emerged to fill gaps in the market, the larger, more name-brand insurance companies are still catching up.
Number one challenge is, what company will do it? Number two is, how do I do it correctly?
— Mike M.
Insurance agency owner
If possible, try to leave the conversion part to a professional
Converting a van typically involves adding plumbing, cooking space and a living space. While you can technically do it yourself, it’s probably best to leave the conversion part to a professional for insurance purposes. This is for two reasons, one of which is the van’s value.
Dave Walsh, owner of Van Life Customs, a van conversion shop in Colorado, says that in his experience converting vans, most folks are surprised at how complicated the insurance process can be: “Where it gets tricky is that insurance companies don’t really know how to value these things.”
If you go through a professional conversion company, you can show your insurance company an invoice or proof of how much money you spent converting the van. Depending on your chosen build, a full van conversion can cost between $90K to $180K on average. While getting your insurance company to value your van properly can still be tricky, it will be easier to show a couple of documents from a van conversion company instead of a lengthy list of receipts with all the items you bought to convert the van.
Not only can it be more difficult to show your insurance company that your van is worth what you say it is with a DIY conversion, but you could also be denied coverage. “If something goes wrong, and you did it yourself, the insurance company could very well say, ‘You know what, we’re not really covering that because it’s your error,’” says Falby. Getting a quote from a professional conversion company may cause some sticker shock, but it could help you avoid an insurance headache down the road.
How to insure a van you live in
The step-by-step process will likely look different depending on the extent of your van conversion. But the steps below can help point you in the right direction regarding how to get a policy.
Retitle your converted van as an RV, depending on your state
You may have an easier time getting an RV policy for a converted van than an ultra-customized car insurance policy. The retitling process will vary depending on your state’s laws, so checking your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent) website is a good first step. For vans like the Mercedes Sprinter and Ford Transit, look for instructions on how to retitle them as a Class B recreational vehicle.
Find an RV insurance provider or specialty van insurer
Not every car insurance company will know how to insure a van conversion for all it is worth. While it’s not guaranteed the companies listed below will agree to insure your van, they tend to have more experience writing policies for them. You may want to get a quote from one (or a few) of these car insurance companies:
- Roamly
- Good Sam
- Progressive
- National General
- Foremost
Adhere to your state minimum car insurance laws
Even if you live in your van full time, you still need an address to register your vehicle and for insurance purposes. Be sure that your policy satisfies your state’s minimum car insurance laws.
Insurance coverage for live-in vans
Part of what’s so complicated about insurance for a live-in converted van is that different parts of your policy are active when you’re driving the van and when you’re parked. To fully insure your converted van, think of it as adding coverage similar to a home insurance policy and for car insurance together. If you’re shopping for van conversion insurance, get familiar with the coverage types below.
When parked:
- Vacation liability: If you live in your van less than six months out of the year, a vacation liability endorsement can help with potential lawsuits. It’s helpful to think of it like the liability portion of a home insurance policy: If your vehicle is parked, someone injures themself, and you’re sued for their injuries, your vacation liability coverage can help with the costs of a lawsuit.
- Full-timer liability: This is like vacation liability but for van lifers who live in their vehicles more than six months out of the year.
- Medical payments: This may also be called guest medical coverage. For example, say a guest slips and falls but doesn’t decide to sue you. Your medical payments coverage can cover the cost of their medical expenses.
- Personal effects: Provides financial protection for the things you keep in your van, like your clothes, laptop and other belongings.
- Scheduled personal property: A personal effects endorsement may not fully cover higher-value items. A scheduled personal property endorsement can help cover your expensive items.
- Customized parts and equipment: Extra coverage for special parts you added to your van conversion.
- Loss assessment: If your van is parked in an RV community with shared structures, this can help with fees from your RV association for shared losses, like if a storm damages a shared shower structure.
- Adjacent structures: Like the other structures (Coverage B) in a home insurance policy, adjacent structures can help cover things like a deck or awning.
- Rodent and pest protection: Extra coverage if your van is damaged from mice and other pests.
- Emergency expenses: Similar to additional living expenses (Coverage E) of a home insurance policy, this can help with hotel and restaurant bills if your van is unlivable due to a covered loss.
- Agreed value: If your van is rendered a total loss, your insurance company can pay out a pre-set amount for the determined value of your vehicle.
When driving:
- Bodily injury liability: If you’re at fault for an accident, this coverage pays for the other driver’s medical bills and other expenses up to your policy limits.
- Property damage liability: Pays for the other driver’s vehicle repairs if you were at fault, up to your policy limits.
- Comprehensive coverage: Also called “other-than-collision coverage,” this coverage can help if your vehicle is stolen, damaged by weather or if you hit an animal.
- Collision coverage: Can help with the repairs for your van if you were at-fault for an accident.
- Roadside assistance: This can come in handy if you get a flat tire, need a tow or run out of gas, to name a few scenarios.
Frequently asked questions
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It’s possible, but it may not fully cover your belongings. If you get a renters insurance policy for an address you don’t live at full time, and most of your belongings are in your van and away from that address, your renters insurance may only cover your stuff on an “off-premise” basis. For most policies, this is usually 10 percent of your total property coverage limit.
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