We’re feeling the pressure. We’re going away for 4 days this coming weekend, so we need some basic stuff sorted out in the van. And we’ve hit our 6 month conversion milestone, which means a demanding letter from the insurance company looking for evidence that we’ve converted the van sufficiently from a panel van to a motor home.

I think it’s fair to say this has caused a lot of stress, and the insurers’ “computer says no” attitude has not endeared them to us, but we have no choice. We have to make some serious progress in key areas. In their words, the minimum we have to complete in the next week or so is:

• Bed with a minimum length of six feet (bed fixtures must be secured to the vehicle floor and/or walls)
• Sliding side door or an outward opening rear or side door
• At least one side window
• Seating area for diners to sit round a detachable or fixed table, with permanently secured seating which must be available for use at a table. (The table must be mount directly to the vehicle floor or side walls and be secured as a permanent fixture – bolted, riveted, screwed or welded)
• Permanent installation to house a water container (the vehicle must have an onboard or external e.g. under the chassis, water container)
• Wardrobes or cupboards
• Gas or electric hob, or microwave (the gas and electric hobs must have a minimum of 2 cooking rings). Microwave ovens must have a power source.
• Gas cooking facilities with remote fuel supplies and a gas supply pipe permanently secured to the vehicle structure

We were pretty close s already but there were definitely some significant tasks still to do, notably the gas supply.

However, in the last couple of weeks we’ve made good progress, fitting the gas tank under the body of the van, installing windows in the rear doors, building a rough kitchen to house a fridge, gas hob, water supply and sink, and finishing off the rough MDF versions of our bed/construction.

We’re heading off to the Lake District in 4 days, with temperatures forecast to dip below zero, so while stressed about the insurance, we’re happy to have made some serious progress, and really hoping we can get the gas hooked up this week so our heater works. Fingers crossed…