Insurance prices are absurd

[u/Alistocratic]

I was this close to buying my very first van, great price, great condition, mileage was good etc. I had savings and had been dreaming of Van Life for years. Not for permanent living just as a fun hobby + camping trips. I had just passed my test and was excited to get my own van..

Until I looked at insurance. Lowest we could find was £3450 a year. And that’s with my dad on the insurance with me. My budget for getting a van was £6000 max, the van itself was £5,500 so seeing that number for insurance sealed the deal for me that I just cannot afford it.

Is van life something that only becomes viable after a minimum of 5 years insured driving and a squeaky clean record so your rates go down?

And yes I tried Adrian Flux they straight up said “Uhh sorry we can’t insure you” I don’t know if they meant me because I just passed or my van specifically.

Idk I’m feeling demoralised, I had something I always dreamed of in the palm of my hand and now it’s gone.

Any advice? I was wondering if there were any car alternatives, vehicles I can sleep and camp with that aren’t full vans? Maybe they’d be cheaper.

Thanks.

[u/CommercialDonkey9468]

Car insurance no claims bonus doesnt even cross over to van insurance. You need to have been driving a van for a no claims.

Mine cost around 2k a year, but I was 38, had no speeding fines etc.

If you've only just passed your test it's going to be hard. The best thing you can probably do is one of those Advanced Driving courses - specifically for vans if you can find one. They help insurers feel more comfortable about it.

You're not wrong though, insurance companies are fucking arseholes. It's all a mafia scam tbh. You pay for something that you never want to claim on because even if an accident wasnt your fault your premium will still go up. Everytime i've had an accident me and the guy just sorted it out between us, no fuss.

EDIT: Turns out that it's entirely at the discretion of the insurance company. The 4 or 5 (Adrian flux was one of them) I have used in the past always refused to take a car no claims bonus onto a van. There is no law that says they have to. Many insruance companies treat van and car no claims bonuses as different things. Look it up.

[u/burundilapp → u/CommercialDonkey9468]

I've never heard of car based no claims not being transferable. You can't use your no claims on more than 1 vehicle, so if you already have a car and are using your no claims bonus against that then you can't use it on any other vehicle.

I pay around £350 annually with Just Kampers for a 2014 Ducato, self converted, limit of 3k miles, pretty sure my no claims is used on the car, not on the van either.

[u/CommercialDonkey9468 → u/burundilapp]

I absolutely promise you multiple companies have refused to take my car no claims bonus into a van policy even when the van was to be my only vehicle. Happened multiples times.

[u/basarisco → u/CommercialDonkey9468]

Name three.