Uk car insurance for a travller PLEASE

Sadly, you will struggle because of you age to get a reasonable price.... but first thing you need is an address, perhaps a relative's that you can use to base yourself. You will not get cover without this.
We have two basic levels of cover; Fully Comprehensive, which covers you for everything and Third Party (fire and theft) which does not cover any damage you cause to your car, only other peoples and is cheaper.
If you intend to drive it in mainland Europe, you have to let your insurance company know and there may be a further premium.
Insurance for new young drivers here is astronomical and out of reach for many. Some parents buy their kids a cheapish car and insure it, adding them as another driver - it is not actually legal as the main driver is not them and people think they get away with it. It just highlights how difficult it is here to get insurance at your age, sorry.

Insurance for an 18 year old is always very expensive in UK. Insurance for anyone to take a vehicle from UK to France (or anywhere else in mainland Europe) also needs consideration - some policies limit to a certain number of days per year. Plus, why buy a right hand drive vehicle for use where vehicles drive on right hand side of road? I really don't think that buying a camper van is viable for an 18 year old. However, at 18 years, you are able to make use of lots of cheap bus and train tickets, passes etc aimed at young people. So, that's probably the best way to go. Plus, liftshare.com and hitching etc. I travelled by bus, train and hitching through Israel, Jordan, Greece, through Yugoslavia, Italy, through Switzerland, Begium & Luxembourg, back to UK by ferry in winter 1984/5, just after turning 19 years. I'd do the same again! Occasionally hired / borrowed cross country skis or bikes during those 5 months. No Channel Tunnel, and Yugoslavia was a single country then.

One vital question that the insurance company will ask is where is the vehicle kept at night. So an address is essential to get insurance. No turn up and go insurance here.

3 not strictly correct you can inform the company you are doing tour after all what is point of a camper van if you have to return home every night.

Your biggest problem is age the insurance will be sky high and not sure if they will even insure you to drive outside the UK, i am sure being a kiwi you have friends in the UK so you can use their address for the insurance.

Going on a few weeks holiday is one thing but not having a permanent address is something else but you can only ask. I assume that there must be specialist firms that cater for this sort of thing. What about asking the caravan club?
UK insurance companies are s**t hot on insurance fraud now so I wouldn't try pulling the wool over their eyes about using an iffy address. You might have to show some sort of substantiation like where was the camper van registered.

the mainstream insurers will quote you thousands. Also any fibs on the details (e.g. using an address where you don't live) invalidates the policy and then you could be up for a bill of thousands more, plus BIG trouble. Don't even think about it.

as others mention, buying a right-hand-drive van to take to a left-hand-drive country seems a bit daft. You will also have a shock at prices for parts, labour, MoT, fuel, tax etc - I've spent time in NZ and know that these things are much cheaper there. I suggest looking into alternative ways of transport.

BTW there is a company somewhere doing insurance for tourists in your situation, aimed at Australians but should also be able to help you. Can't remember any more but see if Google can help.

Given you are restricted in France on a normal tourist visa from spending more than 90 days in every 180 days in the Schengen Zone (of which France is part), I wouldn't buy, I'd rent.

Did this work out for you? I'm interested in doing the same thing! Im from NZ aswell, but looking at buying a car not a van.

Thanks!