Don’t let shady people steal your sunshine.
To be honest, I don’t know who in this western world still has a positive or even neutral impression of insurance companies but Gold Coast local, Andrew Grantham is decidedly not one of them.
The Coolangatta draftsman went surfing with his wife, recently, one fine pre-lockdown morning and when he returned, his 2018 Toyota Hiace was gone even though he stashed his keys in a Surf Lock device. One promoted by the police in fact.
His insurance company blamed his negligence on the affair and refused to cover the loss.
“When you make a claim you’re just treated like dirt. I felt like I was treated like the criminal. Like it was my fault the car got stolen. And for that I hate the insurance company more than the actual scumbags who stole my car,” he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Vague wording in his policy states that car theft is deserved when the keys are left “within the vicinity of the vehicle.”
His van was, he claimed, “his pride and joy” with he and his wife’s wedding rings inside and hopes and dreams of a vanlife future shining bright on the horizon. Traveling about the Lucky Country etc.
Grantham has fought, and fought hard, sending his insurance company police missives praising the Surf Lock li’l dangler with inspiring phrases such as “Don’t let shady people steal your sunshine. Consider using a surf lock attached to your car.”
His insurance company responded that they would not be buying Grantham a new vanlife because their client breached his conditions of cover.
“We make sure our claims process aligns with regulatory guidelines. This is in addition to our decision criteria that we use to ensure consistency and alignment with what is fair and reasonable.”
But back to insurance companies.
Are you a remaining fan?
Happy for the service provided?
Or are you a sunshine stealing shady person?
Also, where do you hide your keys when you surf?
Car shocks?
Under towel on beach?
In ignition?
A surf art if there ever was one.
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Keys should be shelved even if you’re just poppin’ up the shops
Get your revenge on insurance companies with the lost/delayed luggage trick.
Book your flight through one of the notorious hub airports like Madrid, Amsterdam, Istanbul, JFK. Won’t work in the middle eastern hubs as they are too efficient.
Book a flight with tight connection. You’ll make it bug bags won’t. Airline will put them on the next flight, which usually is next day.
Get the receipt from baggage services, wait 12 hours then go shopping for “essential ” clothes and toiletries.
I’ve done this so many times, works best with businesses policy, then you can but suits. Ive got skijackets, linen suits, so much stuff. Fuck em!
That is the question the world keeps asking and there just isn’t an answer. How is it possible to drive half a sleep on road that pitch the wrong way to a wave we have only heard about in a van with no cooling system and your feet rest on the headlight? My guess is that life is not nearly as fragile as we are told it is these days. Men used to sign up for war now they live in their moms basements playing video games well into their 30’s. Every 16 year old male should be forced to drive a 1965-75 vw until surviving a serious crash or turn 25 before being able to choose the car of their dreams.
Brah, always bare feet
Coming from the car theft capital of the world in KZN South Africa, this is honestly the best option out there https://www.seawag.com/
I lived there for years, they used to steal the cars with you in them there, are they getting soft now?
Well before we earned the title Mr. Chris and I decided to head back across the island for our last session at Bathsheba. Not wanting to make it easy to pillage the rental. Chris decides to put the key in a pocket provided by the leash company sandwiched in the ankle strap. Only to exit water with key snapped in half. We spent hour in dark with locals jimmying door lock with hanger. After gaining entrance we had to guess which way to insert bottom half of the key. Once inserted in the ignition no chance retrieval.Inserted second half smooth as silk engine turned over with second half of key engaged. We were off back to Miss Belgraves. Arriving at airport next day we hollered to the rental attendant “Key’s in the ignition!” as we moved towards the departure line.
That’s one less van with qld plates that will be illegally camping with it’s clueless van lifers taking selfies and shitting in a beach carpark near you this summer
Great news
Thats what you get for surfing the gold coast. I surf only off-the-beaten track, hike-in secret-spots, so not a problem for me.
Awesome man
Thanks man I really enjoy seshin my hike-in spots. Don’t have a car and live in Robina so don’t got much choice
the wonderful Gold Coast, 34km of pristine beaches, and only 5km is worth pi$$in in, the rest is just a cr@p closeout 90% of the year.. glad I moved away from that multicultural surf Mecca.. lol 😂
Stashed my keys under the car at Kirra. Pricks watched then took before I was 200m up the road enroute to barrel city. I panicked at first, then saw they got half way up towards Greenmount and the car conked out. Splutter, splutter, dead. They hop out swearing. That’s right fuckers it’s a piece of shit. Ya have to pull the choke wayyyyy out for it to run. Bwahahahahah
Mind you I had to walk down and push it off the road. Left it on sidewalk. Came back to a fine.
Got barreled though.
What will he Instagram now that #vanlife has been taken away from him? Pivot to #liveyourbestlifeinarental ?
It’s obviously really boring to say this but using using a surf key lock and attaching to any part of car is breaching conditions of policy. Of course they will deny the claim. It’s in every fucken policy now and is not vague. What’s really fucked is that most insurers only updated this condition in policies a few years ago, and when they did, they didn’t tell policy holders about the update when it came time to renew.
The term forced entry is what they always challenge. I’ve had two claims declined over this with one being an aggravated robbery.
For those in Australia, don’t even fuck about disputing with the insurer, just go to AFCA and make a complaint – in both instances I received a letter from the insurance company within two weeks saying the claim was still revoked however I would receive a seperate cash settlement within 3-5 days (which was ironically the replacement value of what was stolen). This poor fucker should probably give it a go anyway
As a younger man I’d check to see no one watching and stash key before a quick wet out d’bah..didn’t realize the cheeky cunts were in the bushes on the hill watching!..haha only took sunnies and cash…( in the days before mobiles)
If I’ve ever seen a brother with a kink for the yellow skin and fluffy puss hair, it’s this man.
Btw, You haven’t lived till you’ve had your shit ransacked on the goldy, only to find it in pawn shop on the Cooly strip the next day. ‘But it says my name right there under the stringer cunt!’
First, thieves are cunts. Utter cunts. Get a fucking job you useless, unemployed, drug-fucked cunts. If it ain’t yours, leave it the fuck alone. Can’t afford it? Look in the fucking mirror and ask yourself why.
Secondly, insurance companies are cunts. Utter cunts. Got the happy, singalong jingle on the TV with happy, smiley families and happy, smiley teleworkers. You ever seen any cunt smiling when they make a claim to those cunts? And you ever get anyone on the other line other than some bitter old cunt whose only vocabulary is “no” or “can’t”?
Finally, why is cunty thievery so prevalent in western countries? In the Arab world, cunts’ll chop off your hand. Just this morning here in Japan I got out the surf and some bloke had left his expensive looking tide watch at the shower, water, tap thingy. I watched and waited as 4-5 people used the thing before me and not a single one if ‘em showed even the slightest bit of interest in the watch. It’ll still be there tomorrow. In Oz? Cunts’ll chop off your hand for it if can get ‘em some ice for the day. Cunts.
Bonus section. Why the fuck do car companies make those electric key things and not even give you the option of a normal fucking key? For the family car I gotta fucking carry that giant slab of plastic thing in my pocket all day. Just gimme a fucking key to put in the door. It ain’t that fucking amazing to push a button to start the engine instead of putting a fucking key in the ignition
Are you Wiggs or related to him?
I’ll take that as a compliment. He’ll take it as a slur. No and No
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Yes, for some odd reason, umbrellas are fair game in Japan. Utter cunts when it’s pissing down rain and your umby goes missing. I reckon it’s coz they only cost about $3 for el cheapos at the convenience stores
Tell us how you really feel.
Love the key in a zip lock bag and play hide and seek with new spots every time!! Try and forgo the sand where possible as have spent 30-40 mins digging before.
Last time up coast had a family set up a picnic over the top which was fun getting them to move
A mate used to chuck his key in the bitou bush on the way from the carpark to the path. Right up to the moment he reached in to have a look and jumped back about 10′ when he saw an Eastern Brown* snake licking his lips and looking at him. He has found alternative arrangements since.
*”Arguably the quickest killing snake venom in the world.”
Yeah I can’t afford a red car and buying a new key after nearly every surf. So I went with a PT Cruiser with wood paneling. You know the classic surf car.
Bigger scumbags -insurance companies, health care companies, or politicians?
Always leave the car unlocked with the windows down and throw the keys in the bushes or bury them in the sand. It’s worked for me. I’ve never had my truck broken into or anything stollen from it. I also get an extra work out when I can’t find my keys after surfing when I have to run home and get the spare. Win win.
Warning: you will never trust a lock again and you will be oddly addicted to this channel https://m.youtube.com/watch…
how do you break open a key safe thingy??
Easily apparently