Conversion n00b - please help?

unkel

Hey folks, I am sure some of you are sick and tired of explaining this to newcomers like myself. I did do a search here but it was hard to find any useful and current info.

I am planning to buy a 5 year old Maxus 80 van (570*200cm, 3500kg GVW) and would plan to convert it over the winter to a basic campervan. After which I would use it myself, but would mainly want it to be rented out to provide me an income. Maybe via a service like Indie Campers

What are the pitfalls? What advice would you give me? Any comments very much appreciated.

Sus out insurance before you start. Irish insurance companies have historically been very cagey about insuring home converted campers so lairing on top of that rental is something you will want to be absolutely certain you will be able to insure.

Many projects come unstuck at the insurance stage when all the work is already done and it's to late to correct errors.

dzer2

Arachas insurance or Dolmen Insurance will be a good start. They are the brokers didn't have much problem with them

spaceHopper

I can't see you getting insurance to rent it. Most policies exclude rental.

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122853501#Comment_122853501

Indiecampers provide the insurance for the rentals. But anyway, I have abandoned the plan for a number of reasons, not the least important that I would have to pay VRT over the value of the van as a camper, once converted. I have zero appetite for that.

spaceHopper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122853604#Comment_122853604

There is thread about them on reddit I wouldn't go near them, looks like they tell the customers that the host provides the insurance and at the end of the day it will be your insurance disk in the window if anything happened

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwixpsO7qOiJAxWNWkEAHRTfGHsQFnoECHIQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2Firishtourism%2Fcomments%2Fyngk1m%2Findie_campers_dublin_yay_or_nay%2F&usg=AOvVaw1ob67lQX2pEGWckRz01r5O&opi=89978449

MojoMaker

The VRT rate is a fixed rate though, and not linked to emissions, so it's entirely possible to plan for it. It's pretty low compared to cars, and always recoverable in the future sales process - one of the reasons why campers often seem quite expensive.