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The home of Australia's B.E.S.T. RV Water Filter!
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(B.E.S.T. by name BEST by nature - Bacteria Eliminating Silver Treatment) The home of Australia's B.E.S.T. RV Water Filter! |
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EVEN
THE BEST PLANS We put this page together for not only 'first-timers' but also 'seasoned' travelers just to outline the importance of having correct insurance cover. Hopefully not too many have had the unfortunate experience as we have. (We have also put a note at the end on what we found out about fire extinguishers!)
The Kombi Camper was not only our Recreational
Vehicle, but was also "OUR CAR"! When we first insured it, our insurance company was unable to supply a listed value on a ‘camper’ to insure it for an AGREED value. What we had to do to obtain an “Agreed Value’ was arrange an independent value from an authorised valuer. This was fine, we thought, as we wanted to make some improvements on the vehicle. So it was insured just at ‘Market Value’ while we set about adding this and removing that from the vehicle to our satisfaction prior to getting the ‘Agreed’ value sorted out.
We did some camping to find out what adjustments we wanted to make. Unfortunately, during this period, not much thought was put into the value of the contents, which we progressively added to over time. Plates, toaster, spare food, extras for the kids and ourselves. At the time of the fire, having
not completed all the improvements and arranging for the vehicles
re-valuation, the extras received no consideration from the insurer.
Although the policy did include a clause of $300 for personal
items. The fire brigade eventually had to use foam to
put the fire out. You can see the grass that was destroyed by the foam.
The vehicle wasn’t removed for 13 days, so no clean up was able to
undertaken. By this time the foam had well and truly soaked into the
ground, hence the grass and driveway had to be excavated. Even after a
bit of light rain 3 months later, the foam was still reappearing. When
you plan to buy a new campervan or car, you allocate time to do so. But
when you lose one, it becomes one of those facts of life – you have to
make the time, on top of that if you only have (had) one car, you
don’t have your own vehicle to go looking for a new one. Because
the vehicle is written-off, the existing policy is cancelled and when
you buy your next car, you are issued with a new policy, and
a new premium to be paid. A few months before we had purchased new tyres. However, the
good condition of the tyres isn’t bought into the equation by the
insurance assessor either when you have a loss like this. The
lesson learnt here is just as the assessor told us – “Insurance to
an insurance company is a business. So they treat every thing like a
transaction. For you, a situation like this is emotional. Insurance
companies don’t operate on emotions.” So through having only
‘Market’ value insurance meant we had to wait until the assessor
came back with an offer, this was 19 days after the event. Here is a breakdown of additional losses that we incurred-
You
may not be able to get complete coverage on everything that’s in your
camper, but make sure you have them listed with your insurer. In our
case we had some receipts but some of the items were just melted into
the remains of the car and were not detectable.
In the end, it all ended up OK and full marks go to our insurance company for obtaining the correct market value. Although the correct value was paid and the ground repaired, if we'd have had the AGREED value and all items listed, the loss wouldn’t have been as great and the recovery would have been a lot quicker.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT ABOUT FIRE EXTINGUISHERS...
As we weren't able to get to the extinguisher in the Kombi, we grabbed the one out of the new Jayco van and tried to put the fire out with it. Of course it was to no avail. When we went to have it refilled, we found out that some companies didn't have the ability to attach to the 'plastic' nozzle. Had it been a metal nozzle it would have been OK. So buy the time the nozzle was replaced, the cylinder tested, refilled and all parts checked, it was best just to buy a new one. Fire extinguishers require testing every six years. So with this in mind it is probably best just to buy a new and keep the old ones as additional back ups as they still 'might' work. They also explained to us that since the fire extinguisher is foam based, after traveling for a while, the foam will compact (shake down) to the lower side of the extinguisher. This could cause the foam to compound together, which could prevent it from being sprayed out. It was suggested that the fire extinguisher be mounted in a way that it can be rotated regularly to prevent this happening.
A MESSAGE WAS SENT TO US BY THE METROPOLITAN FIRE BRIGADE IN NTH FITZROY (STEPHEN MOORE, STATION OFFICER). BELOW IS A COPY OF THE EMAIL WHICH DETAILS SOME IMPORTANT POINTS REGARDING FIRE EXTINGUISERS! From: MOORE, Stephen [mailto:SMoore@mfb.vic.gov.au] Just a couple of points about Fire Extinguishers. The extinguisher pictured looks like a “Dry Powder/Dry Chemical” extinguisher. The extinguisher medium is a non toxic powder (not a foam) the powder does pack down with the constant vibration of travel and we recommend that every 6 months the extinguisher is removed, turned upside down and struck on the base with either the heel of your hand or a rubber mallet to loosen the powder. When using these types of extinguishers it is advisable not to breathe any of the powder in, while it is non toxic it will cause a “rasping” sort of feeling at the back of the throat if inhaled and can trigger an asthma attack in people susceptible to asthma. Use the extinguisher, empty the whole extinguisher onto the fire and then get away from the dust cloud. And yes the cost of refilling or testing is about equivalent to replacement cost so, as you wrote, put the old ones away as spares. Sorry to read the story of your Kombi but at least all the family escaped unharmed. Regards,
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