When I retired from work last year, my wife and I set off on a road trip to France in our new motorhome. Two weeks into our trip, the engine failed on a campsite. We’d bought a £284 breakdown policy with the RAC, including European cover, and a recovery vehicle arrived promptly. The mechanic was unable to fix the problem, so we were told it would be towed to a dealership. However, the recovery truck was not long enough to carry the vehicle and, after trying to manoeuvre it off the campsite, the driver left it blocking a lane. A larger truck was eventually sent and, since it was getting late, the motorhome was moved to a storage depot for the night.
The site, shared with a breaker’s yard, was unstaffed and we were advised by the driver to stay with the vehicle for security reasons. That night we witnessed people with their faces covered entering vehicles and removing their contents. It felt very menacing. The RAC was unable to find a dealership willing to take us the next day and offered us a hotel, but we feared it would be unsafe to leave the motorhome unattended in the depot, so spent another alarming night expecting to be transferred to a repair garage the next day.
