| Rick,
I'm not really very informed to answer all the questions you've asked,
but I can make a couple of comments based upon my experience in settling
with an insurance adjuster in Florida for my catamaran destroyed by
Hurricane Elena:
- If you have a specified value policy and the boat is destroyed,
then you are entitled to the entire amount. Because it is the
insurance company that elects to cover a stated amount, they are
suppose to pay the entire amount or replace your boat with
a comparable make and year. Whether a boat is totaled depends
upon the percentage of repairs to the insured amount. Hence, a
Catalina 30 might be totaled before a Sabre 30 would - given the
same amount of damage. Sometimes owners get together with a
boatyard a jack the damage way up to get closer to this percentage.
Beware! Some insurance companies try to sneak out of this and
pay you a depreciated market value for your boat instead of the
full, stated value. I am going through this now.
- If your policy is depreciated from the make and year, then the
situation for totaling the boat is based upon a lower market value.
Insurance companies may then choose to total a boat more readily than
they would if the policy has a higher stated value. In this case,
you probably want a lower yard estimate if you really want the boat
repaired.
- Pay a surveyor to look over the yard estimates. That is probably
your best bet as to whether or not you are getting a fair shake.
Boatyards are sometimes in league with the insurance companies
since that is where the money comes from.
- If your insurance agent tries to badger you into an unacceptable
settlement, don't settle and perhaps contact a maritime lawyer.
A simple little phone call or letter from a maritime lawyer will
probably give you exactly what you want.
- As for resale, any damage is definitely going to hurt resell if a
surveyor detects it later. My surveyor told me that a boat that
has been damaged can be made to be stronger than the original - but
you can't count on this and he would advise his/her client against
the purchase of the boat --- or at a sigficantly lowered price. Case
in point: New England Performance Yachts has had a C&C 24 on their
lot for over a year. The boat is way under market value, but the
boat once fell off its cradle and needed awlgripping, new rigging,
etc. and has a bad stigma attached to it now.
Be sure to retain your repair receipts after the work has been
completed: these can be used to counter the future surveyor if
a question arises.
Wish I knew more when I originally insured my boat ....
Bob
|
| I could be wrong, but my adjustor seems to be on 'my side'. His suggestions for
how thorough I need to have the boat surveyed and the types of expenses that
will be covered have cheered me up.
At the moment my damage appears to be mostly 'bolt on' replacement stuff,
rudder, jib halyard, etc.; even the scratches are minor and near or below the
water line. I mentioned that I had planned to bring the boat home this
year and wondered if I could still do this. He said that by all means don't
change my plans and that they would cover the trucking tab.
Insurance will cover a number of expenses that I normally would have incurred
had there been no storm. Hauling, unstepping and storing the mast, cradle and
storage while surveying and estimates are performed and transportation to and
from a repair facility (my home). He warned me not to say that I was personally
going to make the repairs but if asked to just say that the repairs were
done while the boat was stored at my address. Since the insurance company
will pay an amount based on a yard/surveyor/adjuster estimate of repair costs I
should be able to recover most of my 1% deductible. This assumes, of course,
that I consider my labor to be free.
I'm not excited about doing this extra work but I am pleased that I'll still be
able to get the boat home. I had some major projects planned this winter, CNG
stove and "Cold Machine" already purchased, and I didn't look forward to the 3
hour roundtrip if I had to do that type of work in Marion.
He also didn't think that my insurance rates would be affected by this claim
and also doubted that rates in general would change. His opinion that the
rates already reflect the risks associated with the Buzzards and Narragansett
Bay areas.
|