Truck and/or Camper Registration, Title, Fees, Taxes, Insurance, Etc.

[michelle_east_county]

(Note to moderators: This might make a good new topic under "Campers")

Every state is different and, surprisingly, California still does not require a title or registration of truck campers. Some lenders and insurers do, and there's lots of confusion over what a truck camper actually is.

As I understand it, if one buys something in another state that is titled (like a vehicle) in their state of residence, they can title it in their home state and get a credit for certain taxes and fees paid in the state purchased if not collected and transferred to home state by seller. Colorado apparently has a 2.9% sales tax, plus county taxes in some areas, less than the 6% here in California, plus about another 1.25% local taxes, more in some areas. Departments of Motor Vehicles seem used to handling this for vehicles, as they must be titled and registered. In California, truck campers, if registered, are handled through the Department of Housing and Community Development, which primarily handles mobile homes. Online forms and instructions are hard to find; HQ telephone contact had me fill out online request that resulted in an automated reply with portions of their website, and local offices are closed due to COVID. Catch-22.

Bottom line? It appears that when a serial or other unique number (there is no VIN) is issued to me before I pick up the unit I'll apply for insurance with GEICO, as my current carrier, Automobile Club of Southern California (like some others), can't seem to comprehend, let alone cover, a truck camper. As for title and registration, there is no need unless insurance demands it. And, that apparently eliminates need for paying additional use tax beyond sales tax paid in Colorado.

And, a note on the truck: My selecting one with unladen weight below about 8,000 lbs (can't recall exact language), GVWR below 11,500 lbs (11,400 selected), and retaining the pickup bed was critical in this state for avoiding more fees and licensing hassles. Below 10,000 GVWR, bed retention would be less of an issue there, but closer to being overloaded.

Comments?

 

[okiedavid]

I'm in Oklahoma and as you said, each state seems a little different. With my carrier, it's an endorsement to my auto policy when it's on the truck (which carries additional premium) and my homeowner's when it's off (which does not carry additional premium). It's really treated more as a truck add-on rather than an RV since it has no VIN.

 

[michelle_east_county]

I'm in Oklahoma and as you said, each state seems a little different. With my carrier, it's an endorsement to my auto policy when it's on the truck (which carries additional premium) and my homeowner's when it's off (which does not carry additional premium). It's really treated more as a truck add-on rather than an RV since it has no VIN.

ACSC offered that too but camper value would exceed max for whatever rider or endorsement they'd add to truck policy. And, I was getting mixed messages whether homeowner's policy would provide coverage off the truck and off the property. If semi-permanently bolted to a service body or flatbed, that might be an option if within value limits.

 

[JaSAn]

The state of Minnesota considers a pickup truck camper as cargo; no registration, licensing, or annual tax.

My insurance (home and auto) is through American Family Insurance. All they want is for me to be able to justify the value of the camper if I ever file a claim.

When the camper is on the truck my policy covers loss of 'contents' (which includes anything carried in the truck) up to $5000. I can buy more coverage if I desire.

When the camper is off the truck and stored on my property it is covered under my homeowners insurance.
I did not ask about storage off my property.

I have not inquired (yet) about coverage if I convert my pickup to a flatbed.

 

[michelle_east_county]

I have not inquired (yet) about coverage if I convert my pickup to a flatbed.

For me here in CA, that was more an issue re vehicle registration than insurance, though I'm sure some might have issues. It did appear beneficial to bolt the camper to a service body or flatbed for what would appear to be permanent installation; that would allow vehicle to be licensed as non-commercial like a motorhome, eliminating weight limit registration and driver licensing issues up to something like 26,000 lbs.

 

[ckent323]

I live in California. I bought a used pickup truck in Oregon in 1999. In order to register it in California I had to pay sales tax as part of the California title and registration process. If I had owned and operated it out of state for a year or more no sales tax would have been due.

In 2014 I bought a used FWC camper in Montana. There is no registration required for campers in California.

I added it to the State Farm insurance policy for my truck There was no extra charge and the camper is only insured by my Auto Insurance Policy when on the truck. When it is stored off the truck in my driveway it is covered by my homeowners insurances policy.

I hope this is helpful.

Craig

 

[michelle_east_county]

I received a reply from a real person at CA Dept of Dept of Housing and Community Development (HCD) below, minus attachments. As it appears GEICO and National General (via Good Sam) will not require title and registration, info below will hopefully be moot for me but may be of use to someone else:

"Thank you for contacting the Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) Registration and Titling Program.

Yes, many insurers require a truck camper be registered and titled. Once registered and titled, truck campers do not have annual Registration due to HCD but any ownership changes will need to be reported to HCD. Should you choose to sell the truck camper, please contact us so we may provide guidance on the requirements to update the record at that time.

After a truck camper is registered, the registration and title are typically not cancelled unless the unit is being declared as Salvage.

That is great to hear the manufacturer intends to assign a serial#. What you’ve described will be acceptable to HCD. We encourage you to confirm with the manufacturer that they intend to provide a Certificate of Origin for the unit.

Below is a list of the documents and fees to submit to HCD to register and title the truck camper.

Application for Registration form (HCD RT 480.5)Original Certificate of OriginIf any dealer, lienholder or inventory creditor is listed, releasing signatures are required on the Certificate of Origin or a Lien Satisfied form (HCD RT 475.3)Possible Requirement - Bill of Sale (HCD RT 475.1), purchase order, invoice, or other documentation of the purchase.This may be requested if the Certificate of Origin does not clearly show the release to the intended Registered Owner.Estimated Fees: $23$23 – Registration Fee

HCD does not collect Use Tax when a truck camper is registered and titled.

If you expect to have lender or lienholder on Title of the truck camper, please let us know so we may provide additional instructions and fees.

As we require the original documents, we encourage you to retain scans, copies, or clear photos of all documents submitted at least until the new ownership documents are received. The mailing address for applications is below.

HCD
P. O. Box 277820
Sacramento, CA 95827-7820

(signed)

 

[SkyP]

One of the big pluses to a truck camper to me is- no property tax on them in my home state of SC.

My 2018 Camplite 16TBS travel trailer costs me around $1200 a year property tax just to own it. It cost about the same as a mid level pop up truck camper originally.

 

[57Pan]

Well here in Washington state they require you to license your camper. When I bought mine originally I struggled getting the title changed over because they wanted me to pay sales tax on a much higher price than I paid for it, eventually I got it straightened out and paid sale tax on the price I paid. The first 2 years I didn’t insure it probably not the wisest thing to do, but this year I have insurance on it and it is costing me only a few dollars a month thru USAA. License here is Wa. Is about $30 a year for now.

 

[ntsqd]

I have been told by a reliable source that technically CA requires flatbed trucks of any GVW to stop at the truck scales. Reportedly even a utility bed with commercial plates is supposed to stop. In practicality it doesn't appear to be enforced unless that are other things going on at the same time.
I live in an oil fields area and I've noticed that the pipeline and structural welders are not building custom flatbeds for their trucks any more. More and more they're working out of pick-up beds. Used to be a small hobby of mine noting all of the cool little custom fabricated features that they each built into their beds. Not any more. I would expect that a flatbed with a camper bolted to it operated with non-commercial plates would be exempt from this, but I'd look into it before going down that path.

I've debated declaring the truck and camper to be an RV and having the weight fees removed from the registration. The problem in doing so is that if I'm ever hauling something in the bed w/o the camper in place and a LEO notes the non-commercial plates on the truck I can be held liable for all of the weight fees retroactively back to when I did the conversion. The rep at AAA told me that even a bag of groceries in the bed could trigger this if the LEO wants to be a jerk about it.

 

[favoritecyn]

I'm looking to purchase a new truck camper in Indiana and drive back to CA where I live. According to the Indiana dealership, I don't pay Indiana sales taxes or CA sales taxes to the dealership. I thought that was off. I googled a little and found that CA is a non-reciprocal state to Indiana so I should pay Indiana's sales tax of 7% to the dealership. But, do I still have to CA tax as well? I am having a hard time finding any other CA state official guidelines, laws etc. I know I don't have register or title it in CA. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[michelle_east_county]

I'm looking to purchase a new truck camper in Indiana and drive back to CA where I live. According to the Indiana dealership, I don't pay Indiana sales taxes or CA sales taxes to the dealership. I thought that was off. I googled a little and found that CA is a non-reciprocal state to Indiana so I should pay Indiana's sales tax of 7% to the dealership. But, do I still have to CA tax as well? I am having a hard time finding any other CA state official guidelines, laws etc. I know I don't have register or title it in CA. Any thoughts are appreciated.

California wants sales tax on anything purchased out of state if other state tax not already paid up to the amount of California tax plus local taxes (city and/or county). You can pay the remainder when registering camper (see above posting re how that works) if you had to do so for insurance or loan purposes. If that doesn't apply to you (it didn't to us with GEICO) you're supposed to report and pay the remainder on your state income taxes. I thought about not doing so, but one does sign tax forms swearing the above is true, etc, and figured they might somehow track such a purchase via insurance coverage. As we bought a camper in Colorado and no sales tax was collected for out of state resident purchases, we owed the full California sales tax amount. I imagine Colorado will eventually collect from others in future as they're now leaving revenue on the table.

 

[favoritecyn]

California wants sales tax on anything purchased out of state if other state tax not already paid up to the amount of California tax plus local taxes (city and/or county). You can pay the remainder when registering camper (see above posting re how that works) if you had to do so for insurance or loan purposes. If that doesn't apply to you (it didn't to us with GEICO) you're supposed to report and pay the remainder on your state income taxes. I thought about not doing so, but one does sign tax forms swearing the above is true, etc, and figured they might somehow track such a purchase via insurance coverage. As we bought a camper in Colorado and no sales tax was collected for out of state resident purchases, we owed the full California sales tax amount. I imagine Colorado will eventually collect from others in future as they're now leaving revenue on the table.

Interesting! Thank you for replying.