Having worked in the insurance industry a few years ago I can see a hole in the cover offered by the breakdown and insurance companies. My 16-year-old motorcycle broke down in France whilst returning from the Le Mans 24 Hour race and, on phoning the Axa assistance service (they are behind most breakdown policies), I was advised that, should the bike not be repairable, it was likely that due to its low "market value" I should consider "abandonment or recover the vehicle myself at a later date" (his exact words).

The good news is that my bike "qualified" for recovery, there apparently being a break point of £750 which is the cost of recovery, and it duly arrived home a week or two later. I myself was repatriated and the service for this was fine. But it seems that although I have paid for recovery the insurance company can decide not to provide this service based on the vehicle's value. So your advice to JW to take out cover (RAC is expensive and limited by the way) for an M-reg camper van will not give his son the assurance of repatriation he believes he is getting.