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What a horrible start to our holiday in cornwall, we travelled down during the night to avoid all the traffic and were doing really well, we were only 67 miles from cornwall and disaster struck We got a puncture and it cause us to hit the central reservation, scarping all the side of the car and  caravan, damaging the car wheel and ripping open two tyres on the car. It sent the car and van wobbling all over the place and luckily hubby managed to control it and pull it off the road. As you can imagine we were gutted....this was only our second trip away with our recently purchased van. We rang our insurance and they arranged breakdown recovery for us, we were taken to exeter. The guy that picked us up said if we can get a new wheel and a couple of tyres for you, you could get back on your way, have you holiday and sort the car body work out once we were home....if only it was that simple.  Once we got to the garage they said that it could have damaged the suspension, we rang the insurance and they said they would send someone to inspect the car as the recovery poeple wern't their approved dealers and wouldn't be able to do anything.  We waited and waited by this time it was after dinner we'd been on the road since 1am and not eaten or slept, we were in the middle of nowhere without any shops.  After a number of calls to the insurance and bodyshop where the car was to be inspected we were told they couldn't come till later that afternoon and could we get the car over to them (about 20 miles away) where they would look at it straight away. Insurance arranged for the car to be taken on the breakdown truck again, and we left the van at the recovery yard having been told we would get a car with a tow bar and be able to pick the van up on the way back down. Once we got to the approved dealer we were informed that they had nothing with a tow bar on, and after ringing round neither did anyone else

Well we were really stuck now, the recovery poeple had a discovery that we could have had but the insurance said no,  as once again they weren't an approved dealer, all we were entitled to was a small runaround car as there was no other vehicle involved in the accident. If we wanted the discovery we would have to pay for that out of our own pockets. Hubby said we would have to go home,  hire it to go home and then he would have to bring it back and get back home by train or something.  I was devastated.......and said there was no way i was going all the way home....we would hire the discovery (another £500 for the ten days) have our holiday and then use it to get home. So we sorted this picked the van up and got on our way. It was about 8.30 pm when we finally got all sorted and set up and we were all worn out.

Next morning we decided to off hire the discovery and make use of the hire car off insurance, this would save us a few hundred pounds and we would just hire it back when we wanted to go home,  so off we went to take the discovery back and pick the hire car up, if we hadn't been messed about so much the previous day we could have sorted all this out then, as it was we missed 2 days of our holiday trying to sort things out.

So we had our holiday which was nice but had really been tarnished at the start, and the weather wasn't brilliant, but we made the most of it and got on with it. While in Newquay one day we spotted a sign in a shop window for a man with a van and tow bar Great....we rang him and he said he would charge £300 for taking the caravan 400 miles home....although we weren't saving huge amounts of money it would save my hubby having to drive the discovery home, then back to cornwall, then having to get home once again. So we booked him

A couple of days before we were due home the insurance company told us the car was to be written off....then we got a voice message form the body shop saying they had started on the car but were waiting for parts   After a number of calls to them and insuarance it appears the insurance had written it off but the bodyshop said they could do the work so started on it. They were hoping to have the car ready for us to come home in but couldn't guarantee it so we just stuck with the plan of the man with the van and us going home in the hire car.  Before we came home we had to change cars once again as the bodyshop didn't want us to take there's all the way home and then  them having to fetch it, so we hired one that we could leave here once ours is returned to us by the insurance company.

Well now were back home safe and sound with the caravan and a hire car until ours is brought back The caravan hasn't got that much damage it only really the awning rail luckily on the other side that we don't use, that is all crushed in and a few scrapes. We are insured have rang up and informed them, we need to get 2 quotes to fix it and send some pics in..........have spoken to someone as its an Avondale and they arn't trading anymore he said he does have some rails that he may be able to bend to fit but will need to see it........so fingers crossed, just have to wait to get car back so we can take it to him.

So as you can see it was quite an adventure for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, thank God you were all safe! Metal can be mended or ditched - unlike loved ones! 

Adrian

My god that is awful but I have to say I did read it thinking how lucky your husband was able to react as he did. The consequences in many cases would have been SO much worse.

Well done hubby and so sorry about the holiday

Blimey! thats a terrible start but glad to hear no one was hurt!! We pick up our first van in a few weeks and will certainly be checking the tyres and pressures, etc before we head off on our first holiday.

BTW our van is 2nd hand and the previous owners had tyron bands fitted to both wheels and the spare. I know it won't help now but you might want to consider them for the future. A lot of people talk highly about them and some insurance companies offer a discount. I can't comment personally about them but their website is:

http://www.tyron.co.uk/why_tyron_caravans.htm

Hope you get the van and car repaired and back on the road again soon!