Boat Value for insurance clasim

[tly]

This last week a storm attacked our area and messed up a number of boats.With bows sticking out of water during storm it was an attempt at Boathenge.

My 2001 rig (125 on 17ft aluminum dual console) received a fair amount of damage due to bashing into dock, then breaking loose and beaching itself. The lower unit was mauled, the prop ground to an unrecoverable mess and unknown damage to transducers and trasnsom attachments.

My real concern is the unquantifiables. Both sides and the transom have gouges and long scratches where they made contact with docks. Aluminum is not that mallable and the paint/decals probably difficult to redo over the gouges. This damage certainly affects my resale, not to mention my pride. Also, what about later transom weakness or after effects, I cannot help but think that if lower unit is messed up there must have been stress on the transom as well.

How would I approach the insurance claim? What do I hold out for?
The boat is not totalled and can soon be functional again (barring transom issues) but what value do I place on ergonomics?
It is not quite like hail damage on a car which can be removed but does not affect operation.

Your ideas please.

Thanks,

TLY

[Terry/JNR]

Your insurance should repair or replace to prestorm condition. Any local marine dealer can write an insurance estimate, whether it sells your brand boat/motor or not, that your insurance company will accept.

[fishin]

You have touched on a very sticky situation,once you get the claim check,the ins.co. has washed their hands of the claim.Any problems after that are yours.Be very certain that all...all items on your rig are checked and checked.As the last post said any marina can write a estimate,then the pain in ##### comes,the ins claim adj. will come and fight to save ins. co. money. You must stick to your rights,and boat must be in same condition as before the storm,Let me tell you a story,,We purchased a new rig1998,used it one time,then we got broadsided,and the problems began,even that the boat was brand new,it was almost 1 yr. old,as per time. Our marina totaled the boat.The ins co. said no we will fix it,the marina said ok,we shall put on flat bed-send to Canada- fix and ship back,cost,-more than a new boat.I told them the ins co.That I will not allow this boat to be fixed in US.Well after a long fight the ins co said ok,now we stood to loose $2.000 on the deal as the 1999 went up that ammount.Well we were fortunate not really,but the person that hit us paid out of his pocket $8.6000 for the new boat,and did not want ins.co. involved.To make a long story short,make sure all that you want fixed is documented,and if you have a good relationship with your dealer,I would take it there and every scratch must be fixed,where you want.
GOOD LUCK...

[chrism]

There's no telling what the insurance company will do - most of it will depend on your coverage. If you have insurance that will cover what happenned, first thing to ask is if it is replacement or depreciated value. Then get the quotes. Then decide whether or not to fix it.
If you have good coverage, it shouldn't be a problem...or should I say if you have an understanding adjuster. If you have replacement coverage, it is not an issue - get it fixed regardless of cost by the best fixer-upper shop in your area.
Depreciated repairs are a pain because you may have to justify the value of what is being fixed-this is where recent photos are handy.

My suggestion would be to get the motor/sonar access. fixed ASAP so you can fish, then have the paint/decals/transom done in the off season as it will take a while - assuming your transom isn't damaged to the point where you can not use it.

Just be sure to have it all documented well on paper and that there is no misunderstanding/communication gaps in the insurance claim/repair scheduale

I had a claim recently and now I will be taking photos of my boat regularily for the records. I figure it can't hurt!

Good luck man!

[Smitty]

I had a '96 Lund Pro Sport that had a problem with the corner of a steel dock a few years back and got to experience the whole insurance thing first hand. Put a pretty good gouge in the boat about 4' long (just short of going through the freeboard).

I'm sure someone that was good with aluminum could have patched it up to look ok, but what I did is go to the manufacturer (Lund) and got a quote on repairing the boat to original condition. In their estimation, that was actually replacing the freeboard on one side of the boat (not much for parts but a ton of labor). They indicated that since aluminum stretches when gouged/dented, this was the only was to properly repair the rig. My insurance company didn't argue a bit since the manufacturer provided the quote, and since it was only about 9 months old I really wouldn't have been happy with it any other way.

Bottom line, get it fixed to the condition it was in prior to the incident so that you're happy with it. There are no second chances in a situation like this.

Good luck

[Jack G]

I ran into a similar problem last spring (2000). I got no help regarding how to approach repair work from several boat dealers to whom I inquired.

I took advice from this message board and called Lund. They indicated that if I could take very good pictures of the damage they could give me an estimate for repairs from the Photos. I took several pictures and sent them with a narrative of the damage to Lund. Lund sent me an estimate for repairs and advised that I should also get an estimate from a Lund dealer for derigging my boat, transporting to the Lund factory and back again and then rerigging the boat. I got a local Lund dealer to do that for me. I then gave everything (estimate from Lund factory and from Lund dealer) to my insurance co.

The insurance co farms out the claims work for boat claims if they are over a certain amount and mine was over that amount. The claims adjuster came by & took photos of the damage and a few days later I received a check for the total estimate (Lund factory repair and dealer derig and rerig estimate).

I was satisfied with the settlelment.

Good luck!

Jack

[tly]

Thanks much for he insights. I never considered sending the craft back to the factory, or a quote from them. I have possibly the world's finest dealer but we had not advanced to that stage yet.
The notion of periodic documentation is a good idea. We do household, why not boat?

All we want is to be as good as we were tuesday evening, no more no less. As pointed out, missed water time has a value itself.
Hope to be back on water soon. Thanks folks.
TLY