Getting travel permits with hire vehicles

Submitted: Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 06:34
ThreadID: 105195 Views:2216 Replies:5 FollowUps:13
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Hi all,
Does anyone have any experience applying for travel permits with hired vehicles? I've got a Britz 4WD booked for next June from Alice to Perth, hoping to take the GCR and the section of the Gunbarrel from the Heather Hwy to Carnegie.
Obviously this is planning way in advance :) but I guess I knew from the moment I looked at the online forms for the travel permits needed that it may not be quite as simple as I hoped, since I won't have a reg number / state for the vehicle until I pick it up.
I attempted to contact the two agencies via various email adresses I found on the sites but I've had two electronic undeliverables and one no-reply in over three weeks. I realize I'll probably have to pick up the phone, but before I start racking up expensive over-seas phone calls to end up getting redirected countless times, I was wondering if anyone had gone through this and might have some pointers on who they contacted (for either WA or NT) and how they managed, so I can maybe direct my inquiries towards the right people.
Thanks!
Steve
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Reply By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 06:56

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 06:56
Just a word but I can't help with your immediate question.

Before we bought the 4x4 we were going to hire one. However we decided not to because the car hire company would not give us the okay to go on the Gibb River Road until just the day before pickup. That was risky to us as it could blow all our plans.

Have you asked Britz about taking their car on the GCR and Gunbarrel?

Phil
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Follow Up By: SteveCanuck - Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 07:24

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 07:24
Hi Phil,

Yes that is a risk I'm taking. Britz is fully aware of my intentions but obviously permission can't be given until I get there - in fact they allowed me to book a sat phone but not pre-pay for it in case I can't take my original route, and won't really need it.

I went through a similar thing a couple years ago when I went from Alice to Broome and back to Darwin, and I had to wait until that morning to make sure I was allowed to take the Britz 4wd on the Tanami and the Gibb River Road. Over a year of planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip hinged on the folks at Britz circling two road names on my hire agreement that morning...which luckily they did (after getting a good chuckle at my horrific Canadianized mispronunciation of 'Tanami'). So all went extremely well...and so much for 'once-in-a-lifetime' :)

Like last time I plan on arriving with a solid plan B (and possibly plan C). The folks at Britz in Alice were awesome and if they decide I can't/shouldn't take the campervan on a specific route, there is probably a good weather-related reason, in which case I probably don't want to.

Thanks!
Steve
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Follow Up By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 07:34

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 07:34
Good to see that you are really doing your homework. Our son had a prang up on Cape York with an inexperienced driver in a hire car. The bloke was on the Tele Track, a non gazetted dirt track, without permission. The hire company somehow with some good legal action made the poor bloke pay for everything before he left the country. Two front corners and bull bars etc. Bloody ouch.

Anyway that is beside the point, I hope that you enjoy the adventure.

Phil
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Follow Up By: Bushranger1 - Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 07:46

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 07:46
Great advice given above.
Check carefully where you are permitted to go with the vehicle
Wife & I worked on a Cattle Staton in the North West On the Gibb River road. We helped a tourist with a hired 4WD that he had written off & found out weeks later the insurance company pinged him for the whole value of the vehicle due to not having permission to drive it there.
Another thing to watch is that some insurance policies will not cover single vehicle accidents on hire vehilcles.

Cheers
Stu
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Follow Up By: SteveCanuck - Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 08:10

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 08:10
Definitely good advice! Along with verifying - and complying with - route restrictions, I also max out on liability reduction and get the single vehicle accident coverage as well. Makes for a very expensive 2 week hire but far better than the alternative.

And Stu, your story about the National Park pass is exactly what I'm hoping to avoid! With any luck someone has had to get these permits with a hire vehicle. But I guess there is always the absolute worst-case scenario of hitting up an Internet cafe in Alice the day of, since I should be able to get the instant issue passes. Not a plan I want to rely on though.

Thanks!
Steve
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Follow Up By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 08:44

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 08:44
It's a long shot but why not send Britz an email and see what people there can say about the permissions. You aren't the first that has gone down that road. (sick joke)

Phil
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Reply By: Bushranger1 - Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 07:28

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 07:28
G'day Steve,
Cant specifically help with the the permits you need but a couple of years back I had the same situation when trying to apply for an online NSW National park pass.

I ended up calling & speaking to several peolple that I had no Licence plate number due to picking up a rental. I suggested a subsitute as supplying them with my drivers Licence number instead. After much frustration I gave up as they could find no way of accommodating my request. Gotta love goverment inflexibility!
Got a bit of symathy from a ranger or 2 allong the way when I explained my plight & they let me off the park use fee because they felt sorry for me.

Not suggesting you travel with no permit though as you don't want to get caught without one.
Lets hope they are a little more flexible with the information supplied for the permit you need.

Cheers
Stu
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Reply By: Member - John - Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 11:35

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 11:35
Steve, If I can help out with any phone calls you need, please let me know, will be much cheaper making them from Aus rather than Canuck. Cheers, John
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Follow Up By: SteveCanuck - Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 04:32

Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 04:32
Hi John, thank you so much for the offer, I really appreciate it. Might take you up on it...if I manage to somehow track down the right numbers to call.
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Reply By: Mick O - Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 17:15

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 17:15
The permits you seek are issues by the WA Department of Indigenous Affairs. Not having a rego number is an issue but not a spectacular one. Having the permit in your name is what matters.

The contact person is Joan Groves at DIA. I will give her a ring and see how you are placed. Will post the results back.

Cheers Mick
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trip would doubtless be attended with much hardship.''
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Follow Up By: Mick O - Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 17:20

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 at 17:20
They've changed their name to Dept. Aboriginal Affairs now. Phone not working for some reason.

email; permits_queries@daa.wa.gov.au

DAA Permits

I will try again tomorrow. May be my home phone causing the problems.

Mick
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trip would doubtless be attended with much hardship.''
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Follow Up By: SteveCanuck - Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 04:47

Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 04:47
Hi Mick,

Thank you so much for doing this. It looks like you may be running across the same issue I did.

I sent emails to the following:

permits_queries@daa.wa.gov.au: rejected instantly with address unknown.
ngcouncil@ngaanyatjarra.org.au: sent November 5, haven't heard anything back yet
permits@clc.org.au: sent November 5, got failed delivery notice a few days later.

Not easy folks to get a hold of...at least electronically. (And my wife poked fun at me for 'planning so far ahead'...)

Again though, thank you for taking the time to make the call. You guys are awesome, thank you!
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Follow Up By: mikehzz - Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 06:40

Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 06:40
Mate, if it was me, I would fill out the online form and put TBA in all the make, model and rego fields. Also, in the details field where you can write a story, tell them you are Canadian hiring a car. This will get them contacting you one way or another. I'm sure there will be a work around. Cheers.
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Follow Up By: SteveCanuck - Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 13:22

Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 13:22
Thought about that. Might try that if I don't get anywhere maybe by the new year. Thanks for the suggestion!
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 14:03

Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 14:03
I was thinking the same as what Mike has suggested.
Maybe just put in a made up rego number etc.
As Mick said, your name on the permit is the main thing.
If you are ever checked just say, sorry the hire car company supplied the original details and then supplied a different vehicle.

Bottom line, your intentions to do the right thing and you have obtained a permit is what matters.
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 23:57

Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 at 23:57
Mick's kind offer to reach DIA by phone would have to be the best approach. The have NEVER got back to me on emailed questions. By contracts, the CLC in central Australia are much easier to deal with and always get back in touch.

Motherhen
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Reply By: Candace S. - Friday, Nov 22, 2013 at 18:30

Friday, Nov 22, 2013 at 18:30
I'm late to this thread, but here's my input.

I bumped into the same problem when planning my 2008 trip (I was also using a Britz vehicle).

As I recall, I phoned the permit-issuing agencies and explained the situation and they granted my permits without the requsted vehicle particulars. BTW, I'm a yank but I was living in Japan at the time, lol!

Honestly, given the overall cost of your trip to Oz, a couple of long-distance calls are not that much!
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Follow Up By: mikehzz - Friday, Nov 22, 2013 at 18:36

Friday, Nov 22, 2013 at 18:36
Hey, it's Canadian dollars Candace :)
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