As I just posted on my travel-log, we’ve just had an meeting between our Troll 530 and an Artic truck, where the truck came out as the clear winner.
I’ve started climbing the learning curve regarding caravan insurance claims and blimey, it’s not the same experience as sorting a car out!

The first thing was that I was told by my car insurance that I needed to claim for the van on my caravan insurance. I had assumed that since it was attached to the car then they (LV) would have covered it, but since it’s a clear claim on the other party’s insurance then I don’t really care who handles it, and it is better to use the caravan insurance which is on a new for old policy anyway.

Next; when I called the car insurance, they took the details and got in touch with their repair company and I received a call to make arrangements for the assessment within the hour. I also had a call from Enterprise who wanted to send a rental car to me, but the Hyundai was still roadworthy so it wasn’t needed. It was a different experience with the caravan insurance; after I explained that the van was being recovered home by Red Pennant, they told me to get 2 quotes for the repairs. So the onus was on me to find someone to fix it.

I’m rather glad about having to find a repair company as it happens because, with 3 years warranty remaining, and knowing how singleminded Hymer are, I want the repairs done by an approved dealership. We bought from ALV so that is my first choice, but I have to get it to them for an assessment and quote. 300 miles round trip. I called Lowdhams since they are much nearer but they are only accepting work from their purchasing customers.

I’m determined to make sure that the van is repaired to ‘as new’ condition since we’ve cosseted and polished it so it was kept like that. I’ve a feeling that there will be areas where this will inevitably be compromised but that’s my starting position since I’ve been paying the premium for new for old.

I’m also going to give Kool classics a call, to see what they think, since they only do repairs and service. I don’t see any sense in contacting general caravan repair companies as they won’t know the construction and the warranty will be voided.

My overriding thought is Thank god it’s still towable, otherwise it would be even more difficult to sort out.

So, I’m ready for your thoughts and experiences everyone…
Has anyone had a similar experience where the frame is bent? Looks to me like they will have to remove the aluminium skin to fix the tubular frame. Sound cheap!

Steve.

I’m going to go over it with a fine tooth comb tonight;
I’m no expert but I’ve discovered a slight bulge at the waistline under the offside rear window so that part of the frame is bent also.
Wheel arch surround is coming off one side and the external table rail is a bit loose at one end.
Tbh I hope it is written off as a new one will be a quicker job and no worries about future issues.

I seem to remember someone getting a repair quote by just sending photos of the damage. Might be worth asking your preferred dealer.
Steve

So sorry you have had that happen to you. Perhaps better than being abroad at the time, but still a horrible experience. I hope you can get it all sorted speedily - and to your satisfaction.

Simon and Claire

I sent multiple photos of my damage to Cameron at Leisure 1st, we did buy it from them. Prepare yourself, for a reasonable sized dent on one corner resulted in top and botom reskin on one corner. The quote over £17k. Reskin top and bottom one sidr and straighten slight damsge to frame. It was accepted aftrter others refused to quote, and is now as good as new.
With the damage on yours it looks like reskin all round top and bottom and frame needs straightening
As already said could well be a write off with the damage on yours

Aaaagh - repairs
This was the "slight damage" to ours compared to yours
No one was interested in repairing it
"It's an Eriba" sharp intake of breath

Quick update
We had a visit from the appointed engineer on Thursday, who was obviously unable to say much, but had a good look at the damage.
We took the van to ALV on Friday; they said it was beyond economic repair and phoned the engineer, who apparently agreed with them.

So, it looks like Little Flo is no more. We’re still waiting on the insurance company to make it official, but it appears it’s going to be written off.

Apparently, the side panels are £3k each. Multiply that by 4.
They did say that the whole body had pushed forward on the chassis then sprung back, which explains why the a-frame plastic cover was cracked. The wood panel around the fire was also cracked, which we hadn’t noticed.
Now got to start looking for a replacement- at least there is plenty of stock at the dealerships now. Hope one of them matches our wish-list.

It’s strange and a bit sad looking at Flo in our back yard, knowing that she’ll be taken for salvage soon. Thinking of hiding some leaflets to this site for whoever buys it - lots of useful bits available as spares. All windows except rear; roof is perfect, sink, table, most wood panels etc.

Update.
I’ve been quiet on this as I’ve gone through the claims process, mostly because it’s not been a great experience.
Just looking back at my last comment- 14 July!
We’ve just been paid out this weekend, following 6 weeks of weekly phone calls to the insurers, moving onto bi-weekly calls and a formal complaint.

The loss adjuster has been fantastic, and sent in his recommendations a few days after my last post, but the insurers must have a book full of stock answers with no content; “We’ve passed it to technical department as it’s beyond my grade to approve” as you might expect, it wasn’t possible to talk to technical so followed a series of requests to pass messages to them.
Things only changed when I made a formal complaint, then magically, they authorised the loss adjuster to make an offer.
That was 2 weeks ago, and still they held it up until my 3 calls to them on Friday - I had contacts in ‘Customer Care’ by then. 😂

Obviously, we’ve missed out on any remnant of summer weather now, and there is no way of claiming compensation for this. However, it has validated our choice of new for old cover, and we pick up our new 550 on 11th, when we’re going to enjoy a week at Pennine view.

I can’t help thinking that the company we paid to cover the van in case of mishap has just exacerbated our misfortune. We have had 2 previous claims over the years; both insured with Caravan Guard, and we’ve not had any trouble.

As we said at the outset, 3 months ago, at least no one was injured, and we’ll look a lot more closely at the insurance provisions from now on.

If you’re interested, we insured through Safeguard, who it turns out are just brokers, and I had deal with Davies Insurance.

Steve.

Wishing you a lovley weekend in your new van. It won't feel the same but you'll soon be making new memories.