14 Months and still not back in the water.... Can anyone help?

[petem]

Hi All,

I apologise for overloading on info.

- the claim was accepted by insurers the same week, but then Escalated to the underwriting insurer, and that process took at least 4 weeks.

- the survey took another 2 weeks to action.

-seeking a yard to carry out the repair took 3 months, as each one did not meet the survey requirements, or the repair quote was amiss due to lack of knowledge (one claimed to have visited the boat, but had in fact just called another competing yard).

- after 3 - 4 months Princess accepted the repair job.

This is where weeks were spent between insurers/surveyor and Princess arguing the way to do the repair. Princess wanted new engines, but surveyor wanted long block strip and replace. The latter took longer and cost more in the end.

- The repair was underway in Late June. This is where nothing moved unless I made phone calls due to “bad internet, phone lines down, annual leave...” and a myriad of other excuses on both sides.

- boat is sea trialled and ready for delivery but now we are waiting the insurer to pay out final amount (admin)

THE QUESTION really is who holds these companies to acccount for taking this long, or is this all normal?

When you say "surveyor" do you mean the Insurer's loss adjuster? I wonder if employing your own Loss Adjuster would have sped the process up?

As you were in Lymington, couldn't Sal Marine / Berthon undertake the repairs?

As for "who holds these companies to account" there is the Insurance Ombudsman and ultimately the Courts if they are failing in their duties to you.

Pete

 

[petem]

BTW, who is the insurer?

 

[Elessar]

When you say "surveyor" do you mean the Insurer's loss adjuster? I wonder if employing your own Loss Adjuster would have sped the process up?

As you were in Lymington, couldn't Sal Marine / Berthon undertake the repairs?

As for "who holds these companies to account" there is the Insurance Ombudsman and ultimately the Courts if they are failing in their duties to you.

Pete

You employ a loss assessor. Insurance co has the loss adjuster. Should have been brought on when the replace / repair dispute arose. Horse / stable / bolted now.

 

[kashurst]

I have had poor experiences with insurers surveyors when their recommendation turned out to be the slowest and ultimately most expensive route.
Big repairs can take a long time - particularly if the engines needed replacing/rebuilding - this is the bit I don't understand.

from the posts so far its seems that:
the flexible exhaust bellows fro the exhaust elbow to the exhaust horn has split. - it can happen its made of rubber/silicon with hot seawater/exhaust gases running through it. At some point along the last journey the bellows has split allowing seawater into the engine bay (from the engine raw water cooling system) and exhaust gas into the boat interior via the bilges.
the crew/skipper didn't know anything was amiss until tying up at the last destination - when it was noticed that exhaust fumes were coming out of stern cabin window. Was there any bilge pump alarm on? If not there can't be that much water in the boat.
Engines working OK, both drives working OK during journey and whilst tying up.
Arrive at destination, tie up - open engine bay - lots of water and soot. water still coming in even with engines off. So there is enough water now in the engine bay to lower the hull in the water. The split is now at sea level so water is still coming in. 3 Bilge pumps are running.
Whilst waiting for technical assistance, sea water still coming into boat via the split. - only when the lifeboat crew stuck a towel in the exhaust horn did water stop coming in.

Question: just how deep did the water get in the engine bay?

It seems to me that a lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon to make money out of this. Legs off, rebuilt engines etc etc. No wonder it took a long time. If I have misunderstood something I apologise in advance, but I am afraid I am struggling to be sympathetic.

Things may have been easier/quicker/cheaper if: (Yes I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but is there a training issue here too? )(yes I am probably being a smart ar@e)
block the exhaust horn with towel, let bilge pumps empty engine bay - with the generator on to save batteries. (good idea)
buy and fit new exhaust bellows. (about £180! - it's a Volvo part)
give engine bay a really good rinse and clean
tell insurance co what happened - explain concerns over future electrical issues, ask about starter and alternator refurbs.

Take boat for a good blast to heat up engine bay and make sure everything dries out nicely.
Go to pub have a bitch about Volvo.

But if the problem is a hole in the exhaust horn (the metal pipe going to the transom shield) that would need lift out, block up, outdrive off, and engine moving to enable access - betterment clause would apply. But why rebuild the engines? The boat didn't sink, it just got a bit wet in the engine bay. If the water went higher than the sump then change the oil in both engines a few times.

Or am I missing something?
(feel free to tell me to get stuffed etc)

 

[petem]

Was there any bilge pump alarm on?

Good question.

 

[Portofino]

What do you mean by "holds to account", are you seeking some form of recompense?

Also, I'm still struggling to see why Princess were involved, I'm sure Porsche had little interest in Portofino's farming exploits.

Correct .
It was insured with a Porsche scheme .
I went back to the corner in the middle of nowhere with a mate , some new posts , hammer and U nails and re in stated the dozen or so posts that pulled up .The wires were intact .Did not bothered mentioning that or recall ever filling in a claim form , just hugely embarrassed by the whole affair .
Humble and grateful just cost me the excess that’s all .Too embarrassed to ask for a loan car as well .

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I went through a 3 wire barbed wire fence after spinning off in a 6 month old Porsche .
.

Let me guess. You turned off the PSM and lifted off mid bend?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Is this whole thread some kind of verbal diarrhoea competition?

Agreed. If I understand correctly the OP is complaining about £2k of betterment and the length of time it took to repair his boat? I would say he should be thankful. His family was safe, his boat was saved, the emergency services and Yarmouth harbour went beyond the call of duty, his insurance company paid up, he got his boat mended by the manufacturers and he's got 2 sparkly new rebuilt engines. Yes he lost a season's boating but it could have been a massive lot worse

 

[PilotWolf]

The actual repair time was actually under 3 weeks, but the surveyor constantly having to approve payouts etc. and everyone just generally switching off unless I poke them has been a laborious task.

Not fought anything in the UK in many years but used to enjoy fighting big companies for fun. If you can afford a solicitor I get a strongly worded letter claiming for loss of use for untimely completion of their job tasks. Or even just a registered letter to each company involved giving them the option to split a fair settlement paid individually or between then - be reasonable but I make the total of everything you've paid out of pocket (other than service items as VP said, however if this was 10 months before service due I include the refraining percentile deduct ie deduct 2 months/20%), and if they fail to pay or even respond send Small Claims Summons - I found that maybe 80% that actually replied didn't show up in court so automatically lost and unless its changed it was a pretty informal hearing- the 20% that did lost. And they're not allowed legal counsel in court. Maybe not now having read the rest of the thread...

Done a couple here in last 8 years, 1 for for my wife's unpaid wages - started about $1200 - ended up costing them closer to $7000 because they tried stupid things to avoid paying; We just took them back to court every time racking up their costs. Sorry to go off topic but one of the court orders was to provide copies of bank statements, the woman now fighting alone as the partner had basically walked away, then lied and didn't mention the savings accounts in her 6,7,8 year old kids sayings weren't hers after the judge asked how many accounts she owned - when we presented the statements with them all highlighted the judge asked if she'd like to reconsider. She said no and the judge said this is the final time I m going to ask and if you lie again you're going to jail for contempt! The court rooms here are open to visitors and usually the other cases being heard will sit in - the reaction in the courtroom was like Judge Judy. She filed for bankruptcy after our last filing and we lost $65 inn costs for something. Sorry for thread drift.

Hope you get it sorted.

W.

 

[Firefly625]

Just read this thread, thought it sounded interesting. Haven’t the foggiest if it’s about boats, Porsche’s or dogs. I feel I have wasted 15 minutes of my life..

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Don't worry, that's about par for the forum. Nothing is wasted... Just time spent.

 

[2013PrincessV39]

Don't worry, that's about par for the forum. Nothing is wasted... Just time spent.

I'm Happy to report that we are now back on berth!

Thank you to all the posters who provided me with insights into how this process can/has worked for them in the past, and for really setting some ground rules for what can be a lengthy and intricate process for those that are new to it.

For those that questioned the validity and on/off topic overflow of information that I put up online, I can only apologise for oversharing, which was all meant to provide as much context as possible.

As someone with a full time travel-heavy job, and several part time engagements, this has been a real time drain that I have had to bear on my own, and with no real connections to the boating community down south, it has been a real echo-chamber of worry, doubt and constant on-the-go learning. (I think our move to a new marina will do wonders for that side of things!)

The real takeaway for me is to get my questions up much sooner in a process like this, as this forum is a real goldmine of information and those willing to provide their perspective and even assistance.

Thank you all!!

J

 

[rafiki_]

Good result. Well done

 

[henryf]

If I could try to sum up fair contribution using the car tyre analogy:

New tyres fitted Saturday were slashed Sunday. Insurer pays full cost.

Tyres with 2mm of tread left (8mm new, 1.6mm legal limit, 2-3mm recommended change time). Anything insurance contributes is a bonus but essentially you were due to change them. Maybe not now but in the foreseeable future.

Choose your battles in life and always try to stand on the other person's side of the fence before digging your heels in.

Henry

 

[jrudge]

Looking at your logo Henry it is a wonder you have 2mm left!

 

[Portofino]

:

Looking at your logo Henry it is a wonder you have 2mm left!

They will expect a client contribution towards a respray at the rear end I expect too .