Exactly what tracks & beaches are we allowed on ?

Good question! Something that we'd be interested in knowing the answer to as well.

Hi Birdy

I would suspect that means any roads ,tracks or beaches that are gazetted.

EG: Any of the above that are governed by road rules and speed limits.

I would confirm this with your insurance company.

Cheers Steve.

Probably doesn't really matter what everyone else thinks you may or may not be allowed to do. If the Insurance Company imposes a particular definition, restriction or whatever into the policy, the solution is simple - ask them for an interpretation of that point. If they can't provide you with one, then I'd be demanding that they remove the said 'section' from the policy.

Do they cover you for theft of contents ?

Yep apparently so. Waiting for the PDS to read the fine print.

Hi Birdy,

We have our camper trailer and belongings insured with Western QBE and when I asked them about what they meant by allowed by law, I was informed that if it was on a map then I was covered. However, say if I just went through the bush and wasn't following a track that was on a map then I wouldn't be covered. However that was the person on the phone not sure if that is actually written anywhere. Plus we haven't had the need to test it out so far, hopefully never will.

Regards,

Kerrie.

"For example an isolated beach up north WA that is non sign posted. Are we allowed to drive down tracks to the beach or not ???"

This is largely governed by the local shire but they they rarely put up signs saying "4x4 WELCOME" so if they want to ban them at some time in the future,they can say you never had approval in the 1st place.

An exception is in Esperance where they have speed limit signs on the beach

Any gazetted road or track, COVERED, any where in Australia Covered, Insurance companies have a way of DeFiNiNg small print at times as we all know.
Personal experience shows they generally come to the party' particularly when taken to task. Accident or misadventure.

Ian

The only way to be sure, would be to check with the Shire responsible for that area. In the SW, beaches that are regularly driven on are not signed that you can drive on them, and my son had no problems claiming insurance when someone ran into him on the beach. The only problem is that as it was not on a road, the police did not want to become involved, although we insisted on putting in accident reports. They did not do the usual blood tests at the hospital either (pity - the other lad had been drinking).

One of my sons drove on a beach near Bunbury once and was approached (i can't recall if it was by a Shire Ranger of whoever), and gave him a map of which areas of the beach could and couldn't be driven on. There was no signage visible.

G'day Birdy

Over the years we have often wondered where and in what situations our vehicle is actually covered as we find ourselves in some strange places sometimes. Last week I spoke to our broker. Our insurance covers us in every situation unless we are somewhere that "WE KNOW" we are not allowed to be.

Example 1 - If a track is sign posted as closed and we ignore the road closed sign we are not covered. BUT if we enter the closed track in another way (eg a side track not sign posted as closed or through the bush) and are unaware that the track is closed then we are covered.

Example 2 - If a beach, track, area etc requires a permit for safety reasons ( and I guess they will always argue that a permit is required for safety reasons) and you do not get a permit then no cover. Same exception as above.

Example 3 - If a beach is sign posted "no vehicles" and we still go on the beach then no cover. Same exception as above.

This means that under your example of a non sign posted beach then yes we are covered.

We know some folks are fairly negative on insurance companies and reckon they will fight tooth and nail not to pay a claim (and I guess they may be right about some) but we have a good long term relationship with our brokers, trust what they say and have never had a issue with paying claims in the past.

We are underwritten by CGU Insurance.

I guess to make sure do your research before heading off. Information on permits required, track closures and places you shouldn't be is fairly easy to come by.

Hope this helps. Cheers and have fun.

Dodgin

PS Make sure your possessions are covered when in the open air and not just in a locked vehicle. Eg When your campsite is unattended.