What EXACTLY is a "motorhome " ? - DVLA/insurance

oldtech

Guest
Here's a "head-scratcher" for all you campers !

What is a "motorhome " ? - and what do DVLA/insurance think is a "motorhome "

The more I look at this , the more complicated it becomes.

Insurance companies , DVLA and ferries , all appear to have their own
definitions as to what is a "motorhome ", and what is a commercial vehicle.

This seems to be of very great importance to self built motorhome owners , ESPECIALLY
if you have a "stealth van " , or want to build one.
I called the Vehicle Standards Agency recently , and they said that whatever YOU
call the vehicle , to them it's a commercial vehicle unless it has the following:-

Sleeping facilities
Seats and a table
Cooking facilities
Sink

ALL OF WHICH must be permanently fitted.

AND .... maybe the most problematic of all .....
..it must have "significant extra windows" .... and they refused to be drawn on
the interpretation of the words "significant " and "extra".

Sounds to me like the old saying :-
"If it looks like a duck , and sounds like a duck , and it walks like a duck ....
.... it's probably a duck ".

To change the classification on the V5 from "van" to "motorhome " you need to provide
photos to support your request , AND , if possible , paperwork to support the fitting-out
for permanent "motorhome " use.
Or so I've been told , by the both the DVLA and by the VSA ( see above ).

Have any other wild camping members got experience with this situation ?

Any tips for people buying a plain van with a view to converting it themselves ?

You could save people enormous headaches in the future if you can give any info / opinions.

And to make things even MORE difficult , there are really good insurance deals for
motorhomes but once you try converting a "van" you could be in a WORLD of misery
with insurance if they decided that the vehicle is " modified" ...whatever THAT means !!!
For example ... fitting extra windows can be considered as a "structural modification" !!

Anyway , thanks for reading / replying .... HAPPY WILDCAMPING TO ALL !!!

Best wishes

Oldtech
 
Last edited:
agree with the above, i built mine on the same assumption, if it resembles a duck its a campervan. on insurance there are a few companies that insure selfbuilds, so not really a problem.
the dvla tried at one point to stop most re-classifications but eventually back stepped, and basically if it looks like a........ it is, however some people are still building stealth vans and getting away with it, so good luck.

al
 
just to make things even more confusing. As he's retired, my dad's now got his Nissan Navara insured as a 'retired' commercial vehicle, which makes it a lot cheaper. Don't see why you can't do the same with any van if you're of a retiring age.

Also, could try using the phrase 'private commercial vehicle'. it worked for me a couple of years ago.
 
My van is a van and will always be a van. Its neither here nor there that there is a campbed and shelves in the back anchored down to the 'D' rings that are stil bolted through the floor from its previous occupation, which it's now retired from.

One word of warning though, if you have a van, and are sure it's a van, don't let insurance companys sell you van insurance. I had that once, and although i was fully comp, I wasn't insured to drive any other vehicle and no one was covered to drive my van on their insurance. After a few months i found this out and got a full refund, but worth a mention

Ange
 
What EXACTLY is a "motorhome " ? - DVLA/insurance
Click to expand...

They are not Motorhomes DVLA classifies them as Motor Caravans on the V5, mine is now classified as a Motor Caravan. http://www.wildcamping.co.uk/forums/show-us-your-van-motorhome/19012-little-yellow-number.html

To get the van reclassified I sent in the pictures, a covering note detailing the work that had been done and a copy of a recent MOT certificate showing that it had been MOT'd as a class IV and not a class VII.
Just over 3 weeks later the V5 was returned showing rhe van as a Motor Caravan.

I can now go as fast as the Flimsies. :dance:
 
Sorry if this seems a silly question, but here goes anyway....................

What difference does it make, financially or otherwise, to have a van re-classified from commercial to motor home / caravan?
 
hi m.caravan insurance can be cheaper and easier to get .plus it then covers things inside the camper like awnings gennies etc.
its not really hard to get one reclassified . just that now every thing as to be sent to swansea . was easier here to just go and see dvla in pydar house in truro. or get neville to come and do a home visit. pics showing work done and reg number etc soon gets it sorted .plus if visiting some countries outside the eu commercial vehicles are classed different for the entry papers .
 
vwalan said:
hi m.caravan insurance can be cheaper and easier to get .plus it then covers things inside the camper like awnings gennies etc.
its not really hard to get one reclassified . just that now every thing as to be sent to swansea . was easier here to just go and see dvla in pydar house in truro. or get neville to come and do a home visit. pics showing work done and reg number etc soon gets it sorted .plus if visiting some countries outside the eu commercial vehicles are classed different for the entry papers .
Click to expand...

Got it! Thanks for that.
 
I still go as fast as the flimsies. Nobody bats an eyelid when a white van does 60 on a single road or 70 on a dual carriageway. But I usually drive at 60 anyway, even on motorways.

Reclassifying higher speed on a Motorcaravan has always puzzled me. Because they are likely to be traveling at or near the maximum payload all the time, where as a delivery vehicle could be loaded, unloaded, or part loaded so on average will weigh less and therefore present less of a hazard at speed.

Can anyone shed any light on the logic of uprating the speed?
 
that last query,cheaper on ins sometimes,and ferries and welsh bridges and you can do 70 mph not 60. when i reclassify a van i consider the guy doing the paperwork and keep it simple for hom so he doesn't have to think or ask his supervisor.i take one photo of the side of the van so you can see what kind of van it is,with the sld open so you can see its a camper,4 more pics of the inside to reinforce that view and a final one of the rearof the van showing the number plate and one door open to show enough interior to show its the same van.i send these 6 pics with a letter saying ONLY this;here are some photos of my van which i have converted to a motor caravan,please could you change the v 5 to motor caravan,thanks.
no further detail imo is needed and certainly no long winded description of the bed length or water capacity.kiss triumphs here i reckon.the guy sees a camper,rubberstamp deployed,deep sense of satisfaction !
 
The idea of supplying information/pictures etc. is to show that it isn't just a van with an airbed & camping stove which can still be used as a commercial vehicle. When I did my last conversion I found the DVLA helpful, I had a query over the bed size as it says it should be 6 foot long (to fit it where I wanted it would be a couple of inches short) they said this wasn't a problem as long as the pictures showed it was a fixed structure. Insurance can be a problem especially during the time of the conversion when it's really neither a van or camper. I think Shield would allow it to be classed as a camper & you had a time limit to do the conversion.
Personally I wouldn't do another conversion, to make a decent job it isn't cheap. It will never be worth the cost of materials & labour you put into it. The hassle with insurance :mad2:, I had one company who insured me for a reasonable amount for a couple of years, when I came to renew the cost had jumped to over a thousand pounds. The broker couldn't believe it but said they were trying to tell me they didn't want the business.

Against that you do have the satisfaction of making something the way you want it, often better made than factory built motorhomes.
 
yes its the windows .years ago a van didnt pay car tax as it had no windows behind the cab. .its one of those things that as been kept while other parts of the sam,e rules got changed. also vehicles over 1525kg unladen weight as vans got plated . diesel transits and vw lt,s etc all were different to cars /m,homes .
the whole transport laws require a total rethink. almost staerting again from scratch. it just goes on changing this sentance or that bit . complete mess really .
if anyone is interested go on ebay and put in transport managers and operators hand book. there are a few old versions on there . they arent really that far out of date if you only go back 10/12 years . these normally cost 55quid saw some for less than a fiver .so very good vaue . full of interesting info.
 
Last year someone in the DVLA hierarchy had decided to change the system, and a lot of selfbuilds were being reclassified as vans with windows, because they didn't look like Motor Caravans, (apparently so the police could know what sort of vehicle they were looking at). But because the DVLA couldn't give a discription of what a Motor Caravan should look like, they have now reverted back.

I think the idea was to stop people who claimed to have a Motor Caravan, for cheaper insurance, but who still used it for work purposes.

Quite a few people have built vans with removable interiors, so that they are dual purpose, but what should they insure them as?
 
groyne said:
Quite a few people have built vans with removable interiors, so that they are dual purpose, but what should they insure them as?
Click to expand...

I run a dual porpose van (front half camper/rear half van). You can ONLY insure it as a van as its being used for commercial gain. But you can have leisure use (including holiday use) on the insurance. Currently costs me £1300/yr, which is a lot, but its cheaper than running 2 separate vehicles.


What gets me with these classification & costs is why the hell is a 40t Artic doing 500k miles/yr only £150/yr to tax, while both my van & my tiny hatchback (restricted to 3k miles/yr) £222!!!! There's no common sense to the current pricing structures across all aspects of motoring in this country
 
Ste said:
What gets me with these classification & costs is why the hell is a 40t Artic doing 500k miles/yr only £150/yr to tax, while both my van & my tiny hatchback (restricted to 3k miles/yr) £222!!!! There's no common sense to the current pricing structures across all aspects of motoring in this country
Click to expand...

Did they not reduce the road licence fee for HGV after they all went on strike a few years back due to the running costs and the price of fuel?

By reducing the licence fee it was like making the running costs cheaper for the haulage companies but it kept joe public paying at the same rate, however it removed the support of the haulage companies from protesting, IMHO.
 
Ste said:
What gets me with these classification & costs is why the hell is a 40t Artic doing 500k miles/yr only £150/yr to tax, while both my van & my tiny hatchback (restricted to 3k miles/yr) £222!!!! There's no common sense to the current pricing structures across all aspects of motoring in this country
Click to expand...

Where did you get that info from? Doesn't sound right though, £2000.00 + perhaps
 
i dont know who people find it so hard to do
well i did make 1 mistake i sent it all to the dvla by normal post (never do this) dvla will miss place your letter send it recored

anyway i just send my v5 with 8 pics and a letter saying as you can see by the pics i sent with my v5 iv converted my van to motor caravan could you please send back the right v5 with info on it 2 weeks later got my log book in the post with motor caravan on it

people worry to much and ask the dvla to much stuff as long as you have what thay whnt on the list and it looks like all your suff is in nice it will me fine

i sent my photos when it was not even finished and was fine
 
yeah forgot that bit,dvla guy told me to send everything recorded delivery as 'stuff goes missing all the time here' also don't bother with local offices,send to swansea where they deal with stuff like this all the time
 
its actually out of the local offices hands now .as been for awhile shame as ours was very helpfull and very friendly. all soon to be out of work as the local ofices are being closed it seems.
road tax on many big artics is 1200 quid to 1850 .with reduced pollution 700 to 1350 .
some with special types its over 2500 so dont worry they pay.
private hgv is 165 . but not working trucks.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top