Car and Caravan accident.

Trish Miller · Member

RE: Car and Caravan accident.

Grams · Guru

Hi Trish,

I am so sorry what happened to you both and your dogs. I am also disappointed with the police that they didn't organise something better to secure your belongings, even grabbing what they could and taking it with them back to where you were.

As for salvage rights...NO BLOODY WAY. You weren't at sea and the caravan and car you were in wasn't found unmanned floating on the road for the tow truck driver to take what he wanted. And again as for the police, that's disgusting, how could they say that....

I'm sorry you lost most of your stuff, and it's really never about the stuff itself but the memories behind them that get lost. Will the insurance cover all of your belongings as well as replacing your caravan and car?

I'm just gutted for you...

Gerty Dancer · Guru

After I totalled our 4WD, it was left out in the bush for 3 days until a tow-truck could go out to get it, and stuff was stolen from it too. The insurance company paid the amount that we had insured our contents for... but we were going camping at the time and there was heaps of stuff in the car, much more than the amount insured.
The one thing that pleased us was that my partner checked the GPS to try to figure out where we were, and it wasn't working... it was stolen later.

We were eventually picked up by a passing 4WD, who only took us as far as needed to get a mobile phone signal then we called family to come and get us.

No the tow-truck drivers do not have salvage rights but .....

Things like this bring out the best in some people, and worst in others, I can imagine how dreadfully disgusted you are feeling, also the anxiety about towing a caravan again. I hope your insurance company does the right thing and pays up quickly.

Sending cyber hugs to you both... keep on, things will get better.

Trish Miller · Member

Hello Fellow Travellers,

Thankyou for your replies, it means a lot to have the support of people who understand.

Our insurance will only cover the market cost of the caravan and landcruiser. The contents was only insured up to $500. Big mistake on our part. I encouraged all of you to check your insurance policies and learn from our mistake.

Both vehicles have been written off. We have hired a camper van and travelling back to NSW slowly, free camping all the way. We have met the most wonderful people who have encouraged us the same as you have all. We have decided when we get back we will buy another cruiser and caravan and continue the dream. We can't let this stop us from living our lives the way we want, we feel so lucky to have lived through it and will grab the chance with both hands and start out again.

Maybe with a few less things than before such as clothes line etc, but we will make do until we can build it back up again. We are in South Australia at the moment, heading to Port Lincoln tomorrow morning. If you see a white Hi Ace van on the road With WA number Plates, with 2 adults and 2 doggies on board, that's us. We are a bit like a sardine can at the moment LOL, but we will have another caravan asap. Anyway if you see us, please say hello to us as we would really love to meet you and thank you personally for the encouragement.

Safe travelling everyone, I will continue to post and update whats happening for those who are interested. Fingers crossed the insurance money comes through soon. Thankyou all again for your support.

Rgards

Trish and Steve.

my van · Guru

Trish Miller wrote:
Hello Fellow Travellers,

Thankyou for your replies, it means a lot to have the support of people who understand.

Our insurance will only cover the market cost of the caravan and landcruiser. The contents was only insured up to $500. Big mistake on our part. I encouraged all of you to check your insurance policies and learn from our mistake.

Both vehicles have been written off. We have hired a camper van and travelling back to NSW slowly, free camping all the way. We have met the most wonderful people who have encouraged us the same as you have all. We have decided when we get back we will buy another cruiser and caravan and continue the dream. We can't let this stop us from living our lives the way we want, we feel so lucky to have lived through it and will grab the chance with both hands and start out again.

Maybe with a few less things than before such as clothes line etc, but we will make do until we can build it back up again. We are in South Australia at the moment, heading to Port Lincoln tomorrow morning. If you see a white Hi Ace van on the road With WA number Plates, with 2 adults and 2 doggies on board, that's us. We are a bit like a sardine can at the moment LOL, but we will have another caravan asap. Anyway if you see us, please say hello to us as we would really love to meet you and thank you personally for the encouragement.

Safe travelling everyone, I will continue to post and update whats happening for those who are interested. Fingers crossed the insurance money comes through soon. Thankyou all again for your support.

Rgards

Trish and Steve.

I( do hope all in the future goes well , as we all are aware building up another rig will take time and effort . I gues you have the knowledge and experience now to help you.

herbie · Guru

my van wrote:
Trish Miller wrote:
Hello Fellow Travellers,

Thankyou for your replies, it means a lot to have the support of people who understand.

Our insurance will only cover the market cost of the caravan and landcruiser. The contents was only insured up to $500. Big mistake on our part. I encouraged all of you to check your insurance policies and learn from our mistake.

Both vehicles have been written off. We have hired a camper van and travelling back to NSW slowly, free camping all the way. We have met the most wonderful people who have encouraged us the same as you have all. We have decided when we get back we will buy another cruiser and caravan and continue the dream. We can't let this stop us from living our lives the way we want, we feel so lucky to have lived through it and will grab the chance with both hands and start out again.

Maybe with a few less things than before such as clothes line etc, but we will make do until we can build it back up again. We are in South Australia at the moment, heading to Port Lincoln tomorrow morning. If you see a white Hi Ace van on the road With WA number Plates, with 2 adults and 2 doggies on board, that's us. We are a bit like a sardine can at the moment LOL, but we will have another caravan asap. Anyway if you see us, please say hello to us as we would really love to meet you and thank you personally for the encouragement.

Safe travelling everyone, I will continue to post and update whats happening for those who are interested. Fingers crossed the insurance money comes through soon. Thankyou all again for your support.

Rgards

Trish and Steve.
I( do hope all in the future goes well , as we all are aware building up another rig will take time and effort . I gues you have the knowledge and experience now to help you.

Hello Trish& Steve ,Hope each day for you both is getting that much more clearer , in what direction you both are heading towards your dream. Was talking to my son, regarding the situation you both found your self in ,after the accident ( son is involved in Insurance ) he said you should forward a report to the WA police ombussmans office, regarding the treatment you recieved following the accident. They are required to stay and protect your belongings until they are safely secured ( tow truck opperator arrives or in some cases the police remove and take care of your belongings. ...Also the Insurance council of Oz has a ombussman, in place if you are not happy in there dealings regarding time frame pay out /and any other issues you feel you are unhappy with.

Regards Herbie.

Cruising Granny · Guru

I came through across the Nullarbor in the last 3 days and saw no sign of your accident site. I'm pleased you all survived a very traumatic experience. The winds out there can be very tricky, even without a caravan.
It's very tricky out there in emergencies because it's SA but covered by WA Police based at Eucla.
I would have thought someone would have monitored the site eg emergency services such as SES vollies.
I hope insurance and all the formalities work out to your satisfaction.

herbie · Guru

Cruising Granny wrote:
I came through across the Nullarbor in the last 3 days and saw no sign of your accident site. I'm pleased you all survived a very traumatic experience. The winds out there can be very tricky, even without a caravan.
It's very tricky out there in emergencies because it's SA but covered by WA Police based at Eucla.
I would have thought someone would have monitored the site eg emergency services such as SES vollies.
I hope insurance and all the formalities work out to your satisfaction.

Hi Crusin Granny,would't of beeb much chance of seeing any of the aftermarth from Trish and Steves accident ,everyone just helped them self , kind of a situation i would hope to never be in out in that area. With the attitude of the police not securing their belongings in some way until the tow truck arrived. Bit like pick and payless wrecking yard .Help yourself kind of thing. So we all now know what to expect if we do happen to have a accident accross the Nulla .

johnq · Guru

If an offender gets bounced into court for stealing the belongings of an accident victim, s/he will dealt with most severely and rightly so. It is called looting. It is a despicable offence.

I cannot understand the alleged behaviour of the police or tow truck operator in this case. Usually police would be instructing the tow truck operator to collect all possessions and place them in a secure store. That is a usual, expected part of the recovery, isn't it? The police would be taking photos and making notes on site to protect the owners, taking custody of any small expensive items and documents themselves.

Any tow operator who said anything about taking 'salvage' would be certain to be set straight by police and enjoy a visit to his places of residence and business. Police only need reasonable concern that a crime has been committed or is possibly intended to take action.

Maybe some of the ex-police on here might comment, but what has been related is not the behaviour of any counry police I have known. They would go to all lengths to help someone who has suffered a misfortune.

This is very shabby, even in undeveloped countries people without a stitch to their name will usually rally around to stop looting. Any chance of posting details on sites and asking for witnesses? Pass the details to the police. There is a fair chance that there are mobile phone photos or car camera shots from other vehicles passing.

herbie · Guru

This is why to these people, the behaviour of these police ,is what is called unexeceptable behavoiur. And as for the tow truck driver it just leaves me cold to think he could/ would even say such a thing, to anyone in that situation. The insurance company needs to take this further ,so no one else has to go through this ordeal. I would like to know where this tow truck opperator came out to the accident from. He sounds a real top bloke (NOT )Wonder if he ever found him self in the same situation he would be happy to get treated in this way.

Trish Miller · Member

Hi everyone.

We have just purchased another cruiser and caravan. We are getting some gear together to go back on the road. We have been busy preparing the caravan for our next journey. Our insurance money has just come through finally. We have a few more things to sort out before setting off again, like working out how to put up the annexe etc as this is a much newer model caravan and everything is different.

The insurance company is aware of the belongings that were stolen from us and they have contacted the Police. They said they are looking into it, some things can never be replaced as sentimental value has no dollar value. We didn't have the contents insured for any more than $500.00... big mistake. I guess we have learnt a very expensive lesson.

We are looking forward to getting back out on the road again and hopefully meeting up with some of you from this site. We need to put the accident in the past and look forward to our future travels.

Thanks for your replies everyone.

Trish and Steve

jules47 · The Happy Helper

Good luck Trish and Steve - keep in touch on the site, and keep on keeping on - but as someone said, maybe a phone call to the police ombudsman in WA might be in order, might not get your stuff back, but some satisfaction in dealing with bad policing!

Happy travels from now on!

neilnruth · Guru

All the best from us too. We had no problems getting back on the road after our accident although a little nervous at first on my part. That soon settles down though. Take your time and enjoy the trip all over again.

jetj · Guru

Best of luck to you both.