Originally Posted by
rangiewoman
My boys have had wheelchairs for about 25years and we have never had insurance, and believe me they were typical boys and were very rough on their chairs. Most damage done to the chair will be already covered, as long as it wasnt intentional. As far as running someone over, well my boys just go slow in public and havent ran anyone over as yet. The closest incident I can remember was at the footy. The game was over and everyone was leaving at once. It was so packed that we werent moving. Someone trying to barge through the crowd knocked the control of Ryans chair making it jump forward, before Ryan could stop it. Ryans chair hit into this woman and she ended up sitting on Ryans lap in the chair. She wasnt hurt, and everyone was laughing, she got up, apologised and then waited her turn like everyone else. A lot of the boys friends are in wheelchairs and I have never heard of any of them running anyone over in public either. But Shaun did manage to run over himself with his own chair once (story for another time). I figure if someone is looking at their phone etc and walks into them, then its their own fault. Over the years my boys have blown up a few chairs. Once Ryan decided to tie a rope to the back of his chair and drag his friends on their skate boards down the street, while doing a wheelie in his chair (yes, he had a chair that if he went fast enough, he could get to run just on the back wheels). That motor didnt last long. Another time, him and Shaun decided to play chicken, one driving along the road while the other came down a driveway, both going at top speed and trying to just miss each other. Well that didnt work out well, they collided and another motor blew up. Got to the point I would ring up the Childrens Hospitals Wheelchair department, and they would laugh and ask 'what have they done now'. I think the wheelchair assist could be a good idea. I havent bothered because if they break down, I can just pick them up in my car. But if you havent got a car that will carry your chair then it is a good idea. I did try to get insurance once to cover the wheelchairs when they were being transported in my car. I worried that if someone ran into me or I reversed into something, it would be thousands of dollars worth of damage. At the time I had 2 electric wheelchairs as well as a very expensive lifting device in the back of my car. When added up, they were worth more than 7 times the value of the car which was only 3 years old at the time. I rang my insurance (RACV) and was told that they werent covered and could not be added on to my insurance, even for an extra cost. So they are basically just not covered. I rang the wheelchair department and was told that in the event of a car accident, they would PROBABLY cover it. Wasnt happy to know that they may not be covered but there was nothing I could do about it. I dont know if things have changed now as that was a long time ago, but it is worth checking out if you are carrying your chair in your car.
