Disaster Strikes our 2006 armara 520/4 as we depart.

We had planned a few days away to get some minor work done on our awning. On the day of us setting off the weather was not at its best but hey it was the middle of Dec.2011.On arrival at our storage depot I set about hooking up the van as I put the hitch over the tow bar I had a minor slip in the wet the cup dropped over the ball and my weight pushed the locking handle into position.” That’s lucky I thought to myself” and carried on, I pushed the Alko hitch lock into place, connected the emergency brake and electrics checked the lights out and set off. A 90 degree left turn, followed by a bumpy stretch to the tarmac, a 90 degree right turn, followed by a speed bump then finally a 90 degree left turn took us out onto the road outside the gates.200/250 yards down the road there was a loud bang the van had become uncoupled from the car the emergency brake had applied itself but due to the camber of the road and a soft verge the van entangled itself in a hedgerow alongside the road our speed was no more than 20 mph at the time this happened. Fortunately for me it was early in the day and this road was very quiet. The damage done on inspection by the repairers and our insurance came in to just over £6500 none of this was structural all cosmetic. The estimated time for the delivery of parts. 6/8  weeks. The time to repair the van 10/14 days. Thankfully we had taken out a good enough insurance policies to cover all aspects of the claim and had the van had any structural damage we were insured new for old. We are not novice caravanners and I am a professional driver who has hooked up all kinds of trailers to a large variety of vehicles and taught people not only how it should be done but how to drive with them in tow. This you can imagine really depressed me that it had happened to me. I hope everyone who reads this will take on board just how easy it is for a mistake to turn out as a disaster fortunately there were no other vehicles or passersby involved in the incident and other than a few broken branches no damage to any other property.

My wife and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Andrew Taylor who runs Westby hall caravan storage for his immediate help and his genuine concern and Crossleys of Leyland who undertook the repairing of our beloved van. I would like to say thanks to my wife who throughout the incident kept a calm head and made the necessary phone calls required at the time.

We lost use of our van at the right time of the year ”if ever there is one” the new seasons underway and we’re looking forward to it. We’ve been out already for a few days yes to get the awning fixed and had a good time. Our thanks to Val Occleton who undertook those delayed repairs .

Finally have a good year and remember to double check it does pay. Happy caravanning...