This is a story about insurance, but perception is everything!

Now, you might be thinking that seeing a naked accountant in the middle of a field merely shows that the pressure has finally got too much and something broke. Well, not so. I was indeed naked in the middle of a field, but I was in the shower of a caravan in the centre of a huge campsite. A little more detail adds a lot to, or perhaps detracts from, the image.

I bought a small caravan a couple of months ago. I have never owned a caravan before, so it has been a new experience. I had tickets for a couple of outdoor events and the optimum solution to the problem of where to stay was either a tent, a tent box or a caravan. I used to enjoy camping but these days the ground seems very low and hard. I have seen a lot of tent boxes on cars but the thought of climbing out of one in the middle of the night for a call of nature seemed a bit risky. So, a caravan it is!  Comfy bed, toilet, shower, oven, hob and a fridge, all in one small convenient box on wheels. It even has gas central heating … perfect.

Anyway, I was busy equipping my new caravan and needed to buy a small bottle jack. This I acquired from a local motor factors. However, while I was browsing, I came across battery packs for starting cars as an alternative to jump leads. I had a couple of unfortunate experiences with my car not starting after I disconnected it from the caravan in the previous few days and had to get a neighbour to come by with his car to get me started.

After some consideration I went back to the same motor factors, and acquired this small box, which at the end of the day is my insurance against getting stuck somewhere at some ungodly hour with a car, caravan attached, and not starting. I was not buying a battery, I was paying an insurance premium, except this attracted VAT and not Insurance Premium Tax. It works perfectly. I have always got my jump leads in the back of the car, but you need another car to make that work.

On the occasion that I was standing naked in the middle of the field, showering in my caravan, I could hear that the car belonging to the family in the neighboring tent would not start. They were getting packed up and ready to leave the site..

He had to get someone with a car elsewhere on the campsite to drive alongside and they got it started using jump leads. This would have been at about 7am on a Monday morning. Now, you are probably wondering why I did not rush out with my battery pack. Well, I was naked in the shower at the time and I did not think it appropriate. I am not sure if the image of a dripping wet naked accountant would have been welcomed at the time.

But I did feel a certain glow of satisfaction that as I also got ready to leave later that morning my insurance policy, my battery pack, would ensure that I had no problems. Given that I frequently start out at 5.30am, or earlier, and can be driving quite late at night, this is important to me. I am happy with the insurance premium!

The campsite was next to the Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit, and I was there on a 3 day ticket to watch the British Grand Prix and assorted other races. Although the Grand Prix was the main attraction, the other racing was just as good, just perhaps not as fast or with such well-paid drivers.

In previous years, I had travelled down by coach on an orgainsed excursion from Inverness, but it was not going this year so I had to do something else. But this meant that not only did I get an extra day at the circuit, but I was at the circuit longer each day and my accommodation, my caravan, was much closer.

Reminds me of that old saying that necessity is the mother of invention. It certainly was for me and I found a better solution than the coach trip if it had been available this year. I also have the caravan for another 3 day event I will be attending in August not far from Silverstone.

Mind you, buying the caravan was the easy bit. I then had to equip it for my first trip away. On that trip I discovered all the other things I needed. The internet is good in these situations but at the end of the day, there is no real substitute for real life experience. It’s the same with our tax and accounting work. You can know the theory. You can pass all the exams and, in my case, a long time ago! But until you can add some real-life learnings, you cannot deliver the best advice.

It’s the same whatever you are doing. You can get advice, you can read up on the subject, but you need to have experienced it in a real-life situation before you really understand.