Anyone ever made an insurance claim?

[Needafunboat]

Hi Guys,

So my starliner barn crash saga enters what is hopefully the final chapter - insurance claim.

I finally talk to the adjuster and he is very cool about the whole thing. He gives me three very interesting pieces of info.

1) They DO NOT COVER ICE DAMAGE. He sort of told me to try to come up with other reasons for the damage.

2) They will pay right up to the value of my boat (I had an agreed amount).

3) Since the motor is undamaged, they cannot take my boat as salvage. If they total out the boat, I keep it. While I'd love it if this happened, it makes no sense to me. I get to keep a perfectly good $4K motor? Does anyone understand this? The only thing I can think of is that it's worth it for them to just make a payment instead of process a bunch of little stuff.

I'm taking the boat to Kevin Brown (as suggested by Checkmate) to see what he says. Then may take it to Kary.

Any advice??

Thanks!

 

[gchildre]

Confusing...

I have made other insurance claims and helped others with theirs on automobiles but this is confusing;

1. The policy specifies what is covered or not covered, not what the adjuster says - this would be a great time to get the policy document out to see what he is referring to as "Ice Damage", he may have been hinting that you do this to document this claim within coverage areas.

2. Insurance will only pay out up to the agreed policy amount or a % (state by state) of the value. I have experienced automobiles becoming economic totals and when that happens you get a check for less than what you can replace the vehicle with and they keep the vehicle and sell it for salvage. You can purchase the vehicle for the salvage value but most insurance companies make this difficult and at the end of the day you have a vehicle with a salvage title. Insurance companies are not required to report any accident damage to CARFAX or others but they are required to report total loss-salvage situations.

3. This is confusing, if I recall, my hull-motor-trailer are considered insured as a single unit. I don't understand why you would be able to keep anything of the three if the boat becomes an economic total unless they break the value down as 3 individual parts and only pay out the total on the hull and/or trailer minus the motor.

I'll watch this thread, this looks to be a great opportunity to learn. If you have problems with the insurance company don't hesitate to communicate up through their channels, the squeaky wheel works in most cases.

 

[Big Red]

You dont have ice damage you have water damage >FROZEN WATER

 

[merc245]

I've had 3 claims on my boats over the yrs.Never a proplem with anyone.

Fight for your money,When my truck was stolen & totaled.I fought and won $900 more bucks than thier offer.Later I studied the prices of similar trucks and found they were close to actual price and I was the "high" one.

 

[appollo1]

Never had any problems with insurance claims when it comes to toys (snowmobiles, boats) made a few. A friend of mine had a storage problem with his boat also. The person who owns the building, their insurance should be the one covering the contents of the building, but if their insurance isn't covering your boat then your insurance should cover any and all damage to your boat no matter what the cause because it was in storage. If it is totaled you will be given the option to buy back, also if totaled they will take the boat, motor and trailer. Good luck.

 

[Heavy Handed]

The one boat I totaled was my Hydrostream Vegas, cracked the hull. In the end, I made two grand more than I paid for the boat when I bought it and had for 7 years.

They totaled the boat and have it back to me, I sold everything, paired that cash with the check the insurance company wrote me and had a nice chunck of money for a down payment on a house.

It can work to your advantage, but do your homework as others point.

Another important note: Don't get into a pissin match with a skunk (unless you have to).

 

[merc245]

When the sportfire was totaled they gave me $5500 and I bought it back for $500 then went on and sold the wreck for another $1300 for grand total profit of $6300 on a boat I could'n't sell for about $4000.
Made for the down payment on the starflite!

And all it cost me was a broken hand and 11 stiches to the lip!

 

[sim]

Just remember when dealing with insurance companies: The way they make money is by happily collecting your premiums and stingily paying your claims.
If they give you a hard time they need to be held accountable. What they often do is give you what THEY want in the hope that you will either give up or die before they have to do the right thing. On the other hand, sometimes they do the right thing the first time.
And keep in mind.......Your boat was, in fact in a collision-WITH A ROOF!

 

[Needafunboat]

Thanks guys,

I got the feeling that the adjuster was trying to help me out, so hopefully it will go well. I need to talk to the repair guy first and get my strategy straight. Alot will depend on him and how much he is willing to work with me. I have purposely held off on sending pics to the adjuster - I've learned it's easier to provide info. late rather than try to change things mid-stream.

Maybe I misunderstood what the adjuster was saying - totalling the boat, writing me a check for the whole thing and letting me keep the whole rig just sounds too good to be true... and we all know how those turn out.

On the up side, the bowed areas are still totally solid. There is one flat spot that I can fell shift very slightly - it is ahead of the ski locker. I shoved the camera down there and got a pic of it - it's where 2 pieces of plywood come together. Easy enough to fix. Floor appears firmly attached to stringers everywhere I can see (which granted isn't much).

So we'll see what happens here... I'll be traveling for the next few days so it may be a little while.

Thanks for all of the info!