December 2016 – WorldofWills

Heating the ‘van

It’s winter. It’s pretty cold and I don’t want the van to get too cold inside or it’ll take forever to warm up.

We do have a portable halogen heater that we bought in Aldi, but I’m not too happy putting it on a timer to switch on overnight so we bought a small 1Kw oil filled radiator that we will connect on a timer so that it keeps the van warm at night.

An electric heater is fine when we are on electric hookup, however a 1Kw heater is not going to keep us warm if we are out and about in the van in the depths of winter. The best way to keep the van warm when not connected to the electricity supply is to use its gas fired blown-air central heating system. The problem with this is that we use the same gas bottle to power the kitchen hob and the fridge, and we only have the one 11Kg propane bottle, and we really don’t want to run out of gas.

We have the space in the gas locker for 2 propane tanks and have already done the hard part of connecting up the LPG filler point so we decided to buy and fit the additional bits necessary to double our gas carrying capacity.

Our configuration now consists of two Alugas 11Kg bottles, both bottles are connected to the LPG filling point on their inputs, and both outputs are connected to a T-piece which is connected to the gas regulator. Both bottles will be filled at the same time, and gas will be used from both bottles at the same time. I cannot see the need for either a manual or an automatic switchover as both bottles will be refilled at the same time from the same fill point.

The regulator and T-piece are fastened in place by 15mm pipe clips which fit quite well and should hold it all in place.

All checked for leaks and it seems to be fine. All we need to do now is to fill up with LPG.

Regulator is above the bottles so should not become gunked up.

The aluminium bottles weigh very little so will not really impact on our van’s payload. I wanted to use the new 14kg bottles, but they would not fit the gas locker. Still, with 2 x 11Kg we should be able to survive at least 10 days before needing a fill up even in the coldest winter.

Update 8th January

We filled up with gas on Friday, putting in around 17 litres. This filled one tank which was 3/4 full anyway, and half filled the other. No smells of leaking propane, phew. Next time we’ll fill it to the brim.

DVLArsehole

I am a law abiding citizen, I have never had any penalty points on my driving licence, I have never had a visit from the ‘plod’, I have always paid my taxes and kept my nose clean.

I recently bought a motorhome, a beautiful 2014 Hymer B544. It’s worth a pretty penny. Being a sensible person wanted to protect my investment so I took out comprehensive insurance on it to ensure it was insured prior to me getting my hands on the keys.

We used the van for outings to the New Forest, Somerset, a few times to France and more recently in Wiltshire knowing full well that for any fire, theft or road accident involving our van our costs would be covered by insurance.

The DVLA had other ideas. They use a register called the Motor Insurance Database (MID) which is a record of all insured vehicles in the UK. When you take out insurance on a vehicle, your insurer advises their underwriter to update the database with the details of your insurance, vehicle etc.

The letters start coming:

I received a letter from the DVLA advising me that my motorhome registration details were not in the MID. This spurred me into action; I called my insurance company who stated that I was insured and that they would prompt the underwriter to get the details entered.

and another letter

I subsequently received another letter from the DVLA and responded to them with a copy of my insurance cover sheet and contact information for them to contact my insurer so that they could resolve their data issue. My assumption was that’s what they would do and the matter would be closed: How wrong I was.

This time its a threatening letter

I received yet another letter from DVLA stating:

This I found infuriating. The implications of it are that the correct data is now in the MID, however, they are imposing a fine on me for something that was outside of my control. I wrote back to the DVLA asking why they are imposing this fine when I have provided proof that I had insurance on the ‘van since March. I had no intention of paying the reduced fine nor the full fine.

The threat continues…

Their next response was equally infuriating.

I have included my response below: they were clearly lying. I contacted my insurer who confirmed that there was no record of DVLA inquiring about my vehicle. I phoned the DVLA to try and clear up this mess, but they were completely unresponsive.

Despite me including my phone number on each and every letter, no phone call came from the DVLA. I awaited their response with bated breath.

Ah, a different response this time

I received a further letter.

Ah, now we’re getting somewhere. My persistence looks like it might pay off, they are going to have to get off their backsides and do their job.

Finally..

I was right all along, and now they have admitted it. They have withdrawn their threat of a fine and of court action.

I thought about how they had treated me and after a few days I penned the following reply:

I am left with the feeling that the DVLA had only one purpose in writing to me and that purpose was to impose a fine. They didn’t care about the rights or wrongs, they just wanted to collect revenue. They were unprepared to listen or discuss the situation, none of their letters was signed nor had a phone number that I could use to call to discuss. The only phone number given on their correspondence was to an automated payments system.

Each letter I received from the DVLA was titled ‘Failure to Insure’. At no time did I own the van and not have fully comprehensive insurance for it.

I am left with the conclusion that the DVLA is overstaffed with underperformers, inconsiderate people who cannot be bothered to do their job properly and who lie when it suits them.

My lesson learned from this episode is that if you are not guilty of, nor reponsible for the charge they are putting forward, then under no circumstances pay anthing to the DVLA until all alternative avenues have been explored and exhausted. Persist in stating your innocence if you believe it and let them take it to court if you reasonably believe that you are right. Keep copies of all correspondence between them and you; these will be needed in court.

Camping in the cold

We were both getting itchy feet again and both felt the need to have a break and spend a few days away in the ‘van, but not too far away. I’ve wanted to visit Caen Hill locks on the Kennet and Avon canal ever since I saw it in photos so booked a stay (Sunday to Wednesday) at the Devizes camping and caravanning camp site which is halfway between Melksham and Devizes, is adjacent to the canal and within a mile or two of Caen Hill.

We packed our warm clothes, fleecy sheets, winter duvet and headed off on the Sunday afternoon, first stop at the Shell garage to inflate the tyres and to fill up the gas bottle. No need for any diesel as ‘LC was still full of cut price French fuel. Our journey to Wiltshire was quiet with very little traffic and we arrived at the camp site within 2 hours of leaving home. Needless to say we did not unpack the BBQ table etc as the temperature was around 5C and it was very dark.

We decided to avoid cooking on the Sunday night and instead visited the Three Magpies pub right outside the campsite gate. Here we drank and feasted until late(ish)

Monday morning was sunny and very cold but we did get the BBQ out and started the day with a cooked breakfast, a full English but without the eggs.

A great way to start the day, BBQ breakfast and fresh coffee. The first cooked breakfast I’ve had for years.

Delicious

Following breakfast we walked into Devizes along the canal towpath in the bright morning sunshine for a good view of the system of 29 locks that allow the canal to rise 230 ft over a distance of 2 miles.

Canal boats moored at the top of the lock system a short walk of Devizes town centre.

Autumn colours in the winter afternoon sunshine

We had a wander around Devizes town centre with a stop for lunch at Brogans where, apparantly, they have hand cream and tissues in the ‘ladies’ toilets, I can’t even begin to imagine why. Then we decided to head back to the van while it was still daylight and not too cold. On the way back we spotted a Kestrel perched on an overhead wire, and a Barn Owl fluttering silently over the canal right by our campsite.

Monday night the temperature plummetted to around -7C, but we didn’t worry. We had brought a home made Chilli Con Carne with us and had a film to watch so we put the heating on and only ventured out to the toilet block a few times before bed.

No cooked breakfast on the Tuesday morning – it was too damn cold!.

We caught the 10:38 bus outside of the camp gate and were off to visit the Bath Christmas market and have a look around this lovely city as well as to visit the Abbey. Here are a couple of photos of the big window and the ceiling.

Off to The Three Magpies for dinner once again.

Wednesday morning was very frosty and freezing but it was nice and snug in the van. The campsite showers were nice and warm despite the -7C outside temperature. Cooking breakfast was a little more arduous as our BBQ’s butane didn’t want to perform, but we managed it in the end.

An icicle had formed on the side of the van below its gas heater outlet

We had a brilliant time at the Devizes camping and caravanning site. The facilities were first class; its showers were clean and warm. There is a good pub/restaurant on its doorstep; there is a handy bus stop for easy access to Bath, Melksham and Devizes; and the site has easy access to the canal tow path so you can walk or cycle to Devizes, Melksham or further afield.

Our ‘van was also brilliant; it kept us both lovely and warm despite the freezing outside temperatures. During the day while out and about, our gas heating was set to its lowest setting. We also have a small (1Kw) electric powered oil filled radiator running on its ‘medium’ setting which is about 500W. The electric heater kept the van from getting too cold especially on the Tuesday when the outside temperature hovered around freezing all day. On our return to the van in the early evening we would turn the gas heating up to half way and leave it there until bed time. During the night the gas was turned to a lower setting (2) and the electric heater was turned to about 250W. This was all we needed to keep the van nice and snug.

Where shall we go next Fiona?