Thinking of hiring out my cali ?

[MalcolmK]

I was thinking of hiring out my van when I am not using it to help pay my running costs
Has anybody done it are there any pitfalls ie insurance and where could I advertise it :?:

 

[Jennydddd]

Re: thinking of hiring out my cali

We have had our cali a few months and ever since friends and neighbours have assumed we WILL be hiring out ours. We have no plans to do so, so would be interested in the pitfalls! Would give us a better excuse than NO.

 

[Victor]

Re: thinking of hiring out my cali

Hi Malcolm, we have been hiring out Cali out for the best part of a year now as we only really using it for around 5 weeks of the year, the rest of the time we advertise it on Ebay and Gum Tree to hire out. So far we have rented it out for for about 19 weeks since we started in March last year and in the summer hols we achieve around £750 per week. The first time we hired it out we were dreading what it would come back like but everyone takes so much care of it ( probably more than us ) we also charge a deposit just incase something does go wrong ! Insurance was also easy as many companies now offer ‘pay as you go’ policies for self drive hire. In the past 12 month we have made around £12,000 after cots plus we have had our holidays on top of this.

If anyone has any questions please pm me

Rgs

V

 

[MalcolmK]

Re: thinking of hiring out my cali

Hi Malcolm, we have been hiring out Cali out for the best part of a year now as we only really using it for around 5 weeks of the year, the rest of the time we advertise it on Ebay and Gum Tree to hire out. So far we have rented it out for for about 19 weeks since we started in March last year and in the summer hols we achieve around £750 per week. The first time we hired it out we were dreading what it would come back like but everyone takes so much care of it ( probably more than us ) we also charge a deposit just incase something does go wrong ! Insurance was also easy as many companies now offer ‘pay as you go’ policies for self drive hire. In the past 12 month we have made around £12,000 after cots plus we have had our holidays on top of this.

If anyone has any questions please pm me

Rgs

V

Thank you victor for a speedy reply I will look into this further. I know people that have done it with large motorhomes with success. I can understand people may have worries about damage but maybe the income gained will make it worthwhile.. I could do with a little extra income to help pay
For the Cali upkeep.

 

[2Tapps]

Re: thinking of hiring out my cali

I looked into this last year but the insurance seemed to be complicated so I gave up on the idea
I looked again recently and like victor says you can get payg insurance so I may look again at
hiring mine out

 

[clairecro]

Re: thinking of hiring out my cali

like Victor we do not use our Cali as much as we should and we did not want to sell it so we also went down the rental route and it has worked out really well, we net around £10,000 per year on hiring it out which is earning us much more than our bank and we still get to use the Cali for a couple of week long holidays and also weekends away. As mentioned above we have never had any problems with people bringing it back in bad condition, most people tend to even clean it before bringing it back to us. Its great when people bring the Cali back and tell us about their adventures.

 

[MalcolmK]

Wow thanks for all the replies this forum is amazing.
I like the sound of 10k per year that would come in very handy. clairecro I am pleased you say the
Cali is looked after as that was one of my main worries, it coming back trashed. Do you use a specialist firm to advertise your van for hire :?: how many times do you need to hire to make 10k :?:
Sorry for all this questions
Malc

 

[AlternativeKim]

I will watch this thread with interest as I am considering going down this route

 

[Meoncoast]

Our Cali is our daily drive so would not be in a position to to hire it out.

If it was not it is to previous to us to let someonelse borrow it. I knowh the care I take when I park it at the shops. Whilst we use it to the full we handle it with care I dread to think accidently how someone not familiar with a Cali could damage it. ( even after a hand over to a hirer)

:doh Bellows damage, damage to trim while turning seats, running tap with no water, whats going down the sink, snapping the arm rest off while getting in the roof bed, full fry up in the van.

My view not worth the risk Many years ago I worked for camp hire firm saw all sorts returned.
Good luck.

 

[Victor]

50+ rentals to date and NEVER EVER a problem, plus we take a £1000 damage deposit which we have never had to use. I know this is not everyones cup of tea but I would rather see mine used and enjoyed rather than sitting on the drive plus I make myself some very good pocket money on the side. :smile

 

[viorelchicu]

How does insurance work? If using pay as you go insurance can someone recommend one please? How are people about paying a large deposit and how do you accept deposits, cash, cheque other means?
I am also thinking about hiring my California, mainly during school term time and to be honest I am dreading it, but it's good to hear from people that have had good experiences.

Many Thanks,
Viorel

 

[Victor]

We use several companies but Day Insure are the best and normally come out cheaptest as it is all done online http://www.dayinsure.com/ its normally underwrittem by Aviva. As with all insurance its good to shop around.

We take the deposit and balance as BACS transfers ( no fee's ) , sometimes we get the odd last minute book where they bring cash which is a nice bonus

 

[Rozzie50]

This sounds definitely like a great opportunity to make sure that the van gets used.

 

[maxxy]

Very tempted myself as we only use ours for around 10 weeks of the year, even if we got half of that figure it would pay for all our running costs( insurance, road tax, maintenance) and also our holidays. So effectively free holidays.

 

[natesajack]

Hi all.

I'm new, not even picked up our Cali yet so I'll save an intro for when it arrives.

I was looking to hire out ours for a few weeks to help cover costs etc, mainly after reading this and other threads.

Today I called Comfort insurance for a quote. I mentioned the hiring out and would be using a Pay as You Drive insurance provider. The very friendly lady told me they would not insure me if I had any intention of hiring out and further more said it was illegal as no vehicle can be dual insured in the UK. More importantly she said neither insurance would be valid.

On her suggestion I called a company called Tradex who quoted £2500 for a self-drive and hire out policy, i.e. anyone over 25. The guy thought I'd be better off with a normal policy and PAYD for the hiring, he disputed the dual insurance issue and said this is a conflict on the National database and could be dealt with by a simple phone call to your insurance provider to let them know.

Lastly I called CaravanGuard. They too picked up on the dual insurance and went further to say that PAYD or Day Insurance was almost a scam as they cannot insure a vehicle already insured. There suggestion was to name the driver and put them on the insurance for a week.

Thoughts?

 

[Rozzie50]

Sounds complicated :crazy

 

[Andyf40]

Victor,

I really need to know where to find public liability insurance. Do you have it? I have been told I should get it but cant find any brokers. Also what type of breakdown cover do you have? Do you need commercial cover or not?

Got everything else, but that is missing. That's for all your positive comments so far. I couldn''t PM you as I am too new!

Thanks
Andrew

 

[motacyclist]

Just browsing through this old thread. £10 - 12k PA - too good to be true? What was the result of the insurance issue?

Colin

 

[GrannyJen]

no one, but no one, will ever hire Albert. He is my home, my space, my freedom, my escape valve, my friend, my companion

The thought of it makes me shudder.

A Cali is not for Christmas, A cali is not for life, it is life itself...


Jennifer? Rather over-dramatic?

 

[motacyclist]

I wouldn't hire ours either, I drive around the car park for ages looking for somewhere the van won't get damaged if anyone opens the door on it so I wouldn't fancy letting Joe Public drive around in it.

I guess £10 - 12k income on a £50k van is not that great when you take depreciation & running costs into account. The secret would be to buy at a discount and sell at a good price.

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

As a private renter renting your own California, in the current rental market, I would sat £10-£12k is a tad optimistic. Last year it seemed everyone and their brother started rented California's. There is a massive amount of choice out there now for renting one. Im sure with one camper van its not too bad, but with 8 California's it is a massive amount of work, and a full time job, pricing, answering questions, handing over, cleaning, and generally being a holiday rep, whilst the California's are out on hire. I will say though, as has been mentioned above, its a lovely part of the job, helping people plan their camper van experience, sharing our campsite and travel tips and experiences and then hearing theirs on return.

Best of luck to anyone doing it, and always happy to answer questions if anyone has any

 

[motacyclist]

Like all enterprises, there's more than meets the eye; I think we'll just leave it to you

 

[reserves]

We're doing this, appreciate all the comments so far, especially from a company like BMVS who have knowledge about what it takes.

We thought long and hard before we went ahead, we're only at the start of the journey.

For us it came down to the fact that we couldn't justify or afford having such a luxury, we are very envious of those that can afford this and understanding that renting our pride and joy out will have its downsides.

We also like the idea of enabling others to have a great experience too, as well as lending to friends & family.

Our calculations are quite conservative and are based on us covering the cost of the Cali, not making a profit.

Our costs are:

Insurance: £1900
Liability insurance: £200
Garage: £1000
Misc: £1000
Depreciation: £3000
Accessories: £2000 (£1000 resale value)
Tax: £255

We brought an ex-demo outright so hopefully saved on depreciation but who knows how the future this will go.

We don't have kids so our idea is to rent out during peak periods and use the Cali for the rest of the time, we're keen surfers and I'm used to doing this out of season.

We're hoping for around £7,000 pa in rentals which should roughly cover us and take into account that we would have to pay Tax & Insurance anyway.

We're going in eyes open, albeit you never know until it all starts.

The website is up at www.vwcalifornia4hire.co.uk though we have lots to add, I'll be blogging about the whole experience too

 

[larrylamb]

Don't forget the taxman!

 

[reserves]

Don't forget the taxman!

The business won't make a profit.