Volvo headlight question

[roadtripvolvo]

Hi, this is my first post. I have a V70 T5, 2001, and I’m about to embark on an 1800 mile road trip with kids and dogs. I got a dipped beam error message and so I bought a new bulb. Then after two weeks of this message the bulb came back on and error message went away without changing the bulb. Since we’re leaving on this long trip I had my husband change the bulb anyway. When he was doing it, the black plastic almost H shaped piece that goes between the bulb/connectors and the cap essentially shredded in his hands. It looks like one prong of the H melted. This is a passenger side light, but a similar situation has developed on the driver side. With the passenger side it’s still in there just kind of gently resting between the wire connectors (which are fine… not corroded at all), and on the driver’s side it is tighter but on it’s way out. What does this part do? Does it hold the connectors in place? Can I get it replaced? Do I need to? I’m in such a hurry (we’re leaving in 5 days) and we live somewhere there aren’t dealerships nearby so it might take my repair guy a day or so to fix it. Can we just put some silicone grease on or electrical tape on the wires to prevent shorting? I just don’t want to have a short/fire mid-drive. Thanks in advance for your help! Nancy