Two weeks ago, I sat catching up on blog work whilst Craig and Dexter ran some errands in his van. I was so engrossed in the blog, I barely noticed that it had taken them more than 3 hours to get back, I just assumed perhaps they’d taken a detour to a soft play centre, or grabbed a MacDonalds. My phone was on charge in the kitchen, and I wasn’t checking my emails, there was no need. My son and his daddy were just doing boy things and giving mummy some headroom to clear a pretty exhaustive backlog.

When I finally popped my head for five minutes and grabbed a glass of lemonade, I glanced outside the window and saw Craig’s van being towed past our front door. There followed that sinking panicky feeling that us mums are famed for; you feel sick, but somehow your adrenalin kicks in and you stay functional. Although I couldn’t see in the cab of the truck so hadn’t seen my two boys, I could see the van had taken a battering. The front bumper was completely crumpled up and it obviously wasn’t drivable. As fast as my pregnant body would allow, I grabbed my coat and shoes and ran out the front door.

Thankfully, Craig then emerged from the tow truck passenger seat with an excitable Dexter. Both were completely unscathed - not one cut, not one bruise. The sense of relief was unbelievable.

It seems Dexter (riding in his car seat in the van) had been fussy as Craig had approached a set of traffic lights. It was enough to distract Craig who turned around for the briefest of seconds and he knocked the idling vehicle in front of him. This was actually a van much larger and heavier than Craig’s and the front of the van crumbled under the strain.

Just like that, a thick black mark appeared on a 20 year unblemished driving record. He had a fairly significant crash in his teens and now has metal pins in his arms, but this has only served to transform him into one of the most careful drivers I know. He’s now a van driver by trade and for more than 2 decades hasn’t had so much as a dent in any of his vehicles. He was pretty angry at himself and the fallout has caused untold stress. For the last two weeks we’ve been battling to get the insurance rushed through, and he’s now on his second rental (to keep working) which is costing a fortune. Thankfully, it’s looking like his work van is fixable and should be ready to be picked up midweek. I just can’t wait for all the drama to be over.

Of course this whole story could have been worse… Dexter and Craig are okay, the van wasn’t written off, and we have a contingency fund to cover any emergencies. He could have been on his motorbike instead and suffered a similar momentary lapse in concentration, then the damage to bike and Craig could have been far worse, if not unthinkable.

It’s really made us wary of our insurance policies on all our vehicles. We have a family car, a van and a motorbike - all of which have fairly big excesses on fully comp cover. Like many people, our excesses are big because we’re trying to keep premiums down, but this accident has taught us a big lesson. It’s definitely worth paying out a little more monthly to offset against any nasty surprises. It’s also worth avoiding headaches and scrutinising your paperwork to understand exactly what you are covered for. Having used a broker for all of our insurance needs, claiming for this accident was a complete pain in the backside as we struggled to chase up a resolution with our actual provider.

Having reviewed all of our policies, I was a bit shocked to find out the insurance on the motorbike was the least robust. We’re now looking to switch to Footman James Bike Insurance when it’s next up for renewal. It’ll one less worry to know we have just one number to call if anything goes wrong, and we’ll finally have cover that suits our needs rather than one we’ve simply selected for being the most competitive.

Now to do the same for our car and van… you can’t put a price on the safety of your family.

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