So someone I know rolled their (company's) brand new(ish) Hilux
Found out a few days later that the comprehensive car insurance has lapsed (>30days)
What can be done?
Worker's comp only covers medical expenses, does it cover physical assets?
Can they salvage any money?
Deets: Company is a small company, was driving from one company estate to another in the countryside
He tried to avoid a roo & rolled. No injuries
2017 Hilux, Probably $50k-ish?
TIA OZBs
exactly, one of the first things you learn driving in the country. Never swerve for animals as you are just putting your life in danger (and possibly others) for an animal that is so unpredictable that it will just as likely jump into the path where you just swerved to anyway.
This^. I remember reading years ago of a young female driver who swerved to go around a rabbit (of all things) sitting squat in the middle of the road; two wheels hit the gravel, she lost control and the car rolled. It cost the young girl her life.
A couple of years ago I did the big lap around Oz and I learned very quickly to call it a day half an hour before sundown. Way too scary.
In WA you need bull bars at night. AND A HUGE TRUCK TO PUT THEM ON
@MontyMacaw: Those road trains just plough through any Brahman bulls and cows that wander onto the road. The drivers don’t even bother braking. Saw lots of dead cattle beside the hwy in the Kimberley and Pilbara.
I came here to say this. It is rare to miss one, they are unpredictable, just hit it then repair.
You should at least try to brake.
He broke instead
Avoiding the incident is a lot cheaper, but the point being that swerving is not the solution to avoid the incident. Braking and controlled steering has worked for me in the past, but it’s always slow down before changing direction.
And everybody has the superpower to go back and use a good idea after they shit themselves and think ahead.
@MontyMacaw: It should be second nature, swerving is inviting death. If your reactions are too swerve then I suggest avoid driving anywhere you may need to do so. If you don't have the time to brake then you hit it, dead on, otherwise brake and then controlled steering if it is safe to do so, if you don't have the time to work out if that is safe then it isn't safe.
@gromit: Of course you are right. But not everyone has the same instinctive bents. We are all different depending on our experience and reflexes.
@MontyMacaw: I think the point being made is that you need to learn to override your swerve instinct. Of course it’s natural to want to move out of the way, but you are hardly going to swerve and ‘roll over’ at running speed. Our instincts haven’t evolved to cope with reflex actions at higher speeds so they need to be learnt and trained.
I would demand Toyota for a full replacement or refund as it was advertised as "unbreakable!"
I would demand Toyota for a full replacement or refund as it was advertised as "unbreakable!"
I think that was sarcasm but, You know what? it's actually a valid point.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/red-bull-does-not-give-you-wings…
If red bull can be sued for false advertising over 'Red Bull gives you wings' when it doesn't give you wings.
Why can Toyota advertise they are unbreakable, when they certainly damn well are breakable?
https://www.toyota.com.au/news/unbreakable-hilux-gets-even-s…
Tags don't work like that
And it's all through that press release as "unbreakable" with quotes. Take it to court and a judge will just go "would a reasonable person expect a car with metal, plastic and glass to break? Yes. Ok out of my court".
Common sense
@spackbace: No we are not, however -
Toyota don't advertise "Unbreakable oh unless its the plastic or glass or metal, well the whole car actually"
Still not legal advertising…
I like this, What do you think my chances of success are? 99/100%? XP
Honestly, if you reaaaally wanted to start a class action and wait 5 years, pretty high.
Find a cheap repair shop / panel beater to fix it. Tell the store the car has no insurance. Fix the car and then get insurance.
If the cost is too high, see if any repair store or second hand car dealer is willing to buy it cheap.
I don't condone doing it, but pretty sure the standard practice is:
list the car for $3k on gumtree with READ DESCRIPTION in the title
take 3 great photos that show absolutely no damage
put "minor damage to front" in the description
Get 200 phone calls a day
My question is: what the hell else is this guy letting lapse or not keeping the right checks and balances on?? Check your Super payments. Especially now.
<whispering> I’d talk to a lawyer about that whiplash and other permanent injuries that the rego pays for. And btw I am not suggesting fraud here. Unless you are a specialist you can’t diagnose yourself so ask an insurance lawyer to recommend a suitable medical
expert for you.
Grout in the tyres
which insurance company are u with?
I really don't understand how something like this can be missed. I feel for the small business, but these are very important issues to address.
You say that they have quite a lot of insurances here and there. It seems that this kind of thing is best off with a broker. There are a tonne of them out there and they can try and get you better deals. Some insurance brokers might be more competitive than others. Some might be linked to banks or to financial advisors.
It is very difficult to assert a claim on a policy that is now denied.
There are some instances where that is possible but it can be very fact dependent. When I wore the hat of a claims monkey, I used to have to deny claims made by people when they were either uninsured or when there were sufficient reason to deny such a claim.
Some things that might assist:-
From the sounds of things, these enquiries are for naught. But it's worthwhile asking.
Also, when doing salvage, the cost of the tow is fairly expensive so if the vehicle can be safely transported to an auction yard or wreckers then that might soften the blow on whatever salvage offer you get..
The problem is doing anything that might be found out. Being found to be fraudulent with an insurance thing will ruin the company and anyone inking their name to it.
FWIW, Toyota 4wds sell for stupid amounts of money at auction as salvages (talking $10k)
I saw a 2018 dual cab Hilux sell recently as a salvage vehicle (NSW Stat write off) for $23k (not including buyers premium). It blows my mind. Between them and early 90's 75 series LandCruisers. 500,000+ km, almost 30 years old and $20k prices at auction… WTF?
Yes and this one wont be on the WOVR, so even better.
Its a company car, for sure it should not be the responsibility of your friend. It is reasonable for him to assume company cars are insured. Ask him to check the company car policy and most likely he should be fine.
Problem is OP is with the owner of the company, so if OP's 'friend' is fine,OP would not be fine
Companies problem so why worry? If you work for someone they dont have insurance on a 50k+ car then you cant do much about stupidity - Your friend might not be too popular with his employer but essentially it is one of the circumstances when it IS his fault but ISNT his problem
Strongly suggest OP stays right out of this and stops wasting our time.
Seriously OP its NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!
And they wont listen to you anyway.
OP seems very involved, not unusual for a rural extended family business.
Trust OP gleaned some useful feedback.
They don't call it the Rollux for nothing
I saw people use instant noodles and superglue to fix and shape things back and spraypaint it. Might be an idea.
If they do insurance through a broker, there would be cover under the Professional Indemnity cover of that broker, assuming they were negligent in allowing the policy to lapse without the clients knowledge.
If they do their own insurance, then they are SOL. Tell them to engage a broker for all their insurance needs going forward.
The first rule of driving on wildlife infested roads is to hit them dead centre. The driver was lucky not to get injured, this time.