DIY camper van conversion: how to insure a self built camper van or rv

This blog post was originally written in 2021. While much of this information is still relevant, we have since changed car insurance providers! An updated 2024 blog post covering DIY camper van insurance can be found here.

Once you’ve finished the hard work of actually building a camper van you might be wondering what you options are for insuring your #vanlife investment. We recently called TEN major insurance companies to get quotes for insuring our self-built camper van. In this post we share which companies were willing to insure a DIY camper van, and what the process of getting insurance quotes looked like for us.

Please note that this post does not contain any affiliate links — we’re just sharing this information because we think it’s important!

Why is insurance a hot topic in the van community?

Although regular car insurance will cover the cost of your vehicle if you’re in an accident, it won’t necessarily cover the cost of your van build. For us, the materials in our van build account for a third of our investment in “van life” (the van itself was the other two-thirds). That’s a lot of value to leave uninsured! 

So, how do you insure your build? RV insurance is generally the way to go. Finding RV-specific insurance isn’t hard. However, many insurance companies will not insure a self-built camper because of the liability.

What does RV insurance even cover?

Even if you DO find an insurance company that will insure your self-built camper, it’s important to understand what is and isn’t covered. Like most car insurance, RV insurance covers things like bodily injury, uninsured/underinsured motorists, collision, and comprehensive. In addition, RV insurance usually covers modifications to the vehicle, aka the “built-in” components that transform a cargo van into a camper van. This includes features such as your bed, kitchen, batteries, and solar.

RV insurance does not typically cover items that are not directly tied to your van (though this varies by insurance company). If someone breaks into your van and steals your laptop and clothes, RV insurance may not cover those losses. Ultimately, if you want your van and your personal belongings to be fully covered on the road, we recommend getting both RV and renters or homeowners insurance. This post only covers RV insurance for self-built campervans.

Prices and policies from major insurance companies we contacted: 

Below you will find a breakdown of information and quotes we gathered on our quest to find the elusive “self-built” campervan insurance.

First, though, a few caveats… 

• Prior to this we paid about $60/month to insure our van through USAA. That insurance only covered the vehicle and not the build.
• We’re a married couple in our early 30s, with no history of driving infractions. However, we also live in the state of California, which has high insurance costs.  
• Our van is not our primary residence; it is a part-time vacation vehicle. Many companies will not insure your vehicle if you live in it full time.
• None of these quotes include insurance bundles, which may help lower the premium you pay.
• We know of instances of people getting insurance policies through many of the companies that told us they don’t insure self-build campervans. It’s possible you might get different answers from various agents at these companies, or different states may vary.
• We were always upfront about our campervan being self-built. This is super important, and a good thing to get out of the way first-thing in your conversation with insurance companies.

Allstate
Do they insure self-built vans?: YES

• Monthly premium: $65
• Information they needed:
  • Total cost of campervan (i.e. cost of vehicle + cost of the build)*
  • Campervan specs (e.g. whether or not it includes a kitchen, shower, toilet, bed, etc.)
  • Copy of registration
    ​
    *We didn’t need to provide receipts or a build sheet for our quote, but we would have to present those if we ever had to make a claim. When making a claim, a claim adjuster would analyze the damaged components, reference our receipts, and determine the value for the damaged goods.

Roamly 
Do they insure self-built vans?: YES

• Monthly premium: $183
• Information they needed:
  • Total cost of campervan (i.e. cost of vehicle + cost of the build)
  • Campervan specs (e.g. whether or not it includes a kitchen, shower, toilet, bed, etc.)
  • Bill of sales
  • Build out sheet (receipts or a tallied list of everything included in your van – down to the nuts and bolts)
  • Photos of interior and exterior

State Farm

• Do they insure self-built vans? YES
• Monthly premium: $175
• Information they needed:
  • Total cost of campervan (i.e. cost of vehicle + cost of the build)
  • Campervan specs (e.g. whether or not it includes a kitchen, shower, toilet, bed, etc.)

AAA

• Do they insure self-built vans? MAYBE. We got mixed responses from AAA on whether they insure self-built vans. We called three different AAA agents. One of the agents said yes (the cost of insuring the van was around $120/month). The other two agents said no.

Companies that do NOT insure self build camper vans:

• GoodSam
• National General
• Progressive
• USAA (they outsource all RV coverage to Progressive)
• Geico
• Costco
• Liberty Mutual

So, what did we choose?

Back in 2021, we ultimately chose to insure our self-built campervan through Allstate. At that time, they had the most competitive premiums. However, as of 2024 we have actually swapped to Roamly. Over the years, Roamly’s premiums have become much more competitive while ALSO having comprehensive coverage.

If you are interested in working with Allstate, we did have great experience with them for two years before they started to raise their premiums. HERE is a link to the specific Allstate insurance agent we worked with.

We hope this post was helpful! We’re not insurance experts, but we’re always happy to try to answer any questions you have. Head over to our Instagram to send us a DM.