Before I go any further with the conversion, I thought it a good idea to get the vehicle MOT’d and insured. This was not as straightforward as I first thought. Let me explain. Now that the vehicle is clearly no longer a minibus, it needs to be re-registered as a motorhome to get benefits like cheaper DIY campervan insurance, road tax, and to be eligible for a standard class 4 MOT, rather than a class 7.
However, when I looked into doing this, I came up against a slight problem. You see, DVLA required the vehicle to have an inspection to make sure the campervan conversion meets their requirements, such as…
- Side windows further to the rear than the driving position.
- Somewhere to sleep – a bed of at least six feet in length.
- Somewhere to cook.
- Washing facilities (a sink) with a water supply.
- Somewhere to eat, sat at a table.
- Somewhere to store clothes etc. (either a wardrobe and/or cupboard and/or drawer space).
To see the complete list and more details
– and to find out how to change the V5C classification, visit the DVLA website or download the DVLA’s PDF document – Converting a vehicle into a motorhome.
The news about the inspection created a problem…
The campervan had no tax, MOT or insurance. So driving it to the inspector was out of the question. The only other option was a very large trailer or recovery vehicle, something I really did not want to do.
So I called DVLA and explained the situation, and it was agreed that the vehicle would be kept registered as a minibus for now. Which would mean getting a class 7 MOT rather than a class 4 (normal car MOT). So, not really a problem then I thought – until I tried getting insurance, that was.
You see, I could no longer insure the vehicle as a minibus because it has to have a minimum of 6 seats, and all but one insurance company I spoke to, would only insure the vehicle as a motorhome for a period of 30 days. In which time it had to be re-registered as a motorhome. Better than nothing I suppose, but still not ideal.
We found a solution…
Anyway, to cut a long story short. I did manage to find one DIY campervan insurance company (Insurance Choice) who were happy to insure the vehicle as a motorhome even though it was still registered as a minibus, with no time restrictions.
And as for the MOT. The guy at the MOT station said that he can only test what’s presented to him, which is clearly a motorhome. So the vehicle had a standard class 4 MOT. Which unfortunately it failed 🙁 on a headlight bulb 🙂 . As for the road tax, well it’s taxed as a minibus, which for 6 months was only about £6 more. So it all worked out in the end.
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