A family from Worcestershire is demanding "full justice" after their campervan was returned to them "absolutely destroyed" 14 months after breaking down in France.
Matt Collins said the family's nightmare began on August 20, 2025, when their campervan broke down in France.
While the RAC repatriated the family, from Winyates in Redditch, back to the UK days later, the vehicle was left behind under the RAC's care.
The family were left for 14 months without a vehicle, but have been left "shocked" by the state they found it in when it was returned to the UK last week.
Mr Collins said: "To wait 14 months to have my vehicle repatriated by the RAC was distressing enough, but to have it delivered to my driveway in a completely destroyed, undriveable condition is an absolute insult.
"The RAC has returned what was a beloved campervan as a pile of scrap metal. The engine has been entirely stripped out and literally dumped in boxes inside the vehicle's cabin, the passenger seats are unbolted and floating loose, and it has suffered extensive new structural rust and roof damage from being left exposed outside to the elements for over a year."
Mr Collins said the family had waited over a year for a repair to be completed on the campervan after it broke down in August 2025.
He said: "For the next eight months, the RAC sent a continuous chain of text updates, promising the vehicle was being repaired and parts were being chased.
"In December 2025, the RAC explicitly assured us in a text that a garage would repair the vehicle during the first week of January 2026.
"That repair never happened."
Mr Collins said that after "months of shifting excuses" regarding parts deliveries, the RAC sent a final text on April 23, 2026, stating an update "is not available at this time."
Since that text over five months ago, Mr Collins claims the RAC "completely ceased all communication" until October 9 this year, when the company "agreed to pay for all the French repairs and the full repatriation costs to bring the van back to the UK".
Before its repatriation, the family had raised concerns that the vehicle has been left unmonitored and deteriorating in a yard in France for over a year.
The RAC has apologised for the length of time it has taken to resolve the issue.
Mr Collins is now asking for "full justice" and "complete financial accountability" for the damage to his campervan.
He said: "This is a shocking breach of trust and a complete failure of care by a major national breakdown service. I am not accepting this. I am demanding full justice, a comprehensive explanation from the RAC executive team, and complete financial accountability for the destruction of my property."
A spokesperson for the RAC said: "We’re extremely sorry for the length of time this has taken to resolve. Mr Collins has been badly let down by an independent garage that was meant to be repairing his campervan, and this should have been managed more proactively by our partners in France.
"We are now working directly with Mr Collins to put things right and bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion."
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