Insurance advice after **** day

[sailorman]

You may be teaching granny to suck eggs - Eamonn is a very skilled craftsman in GRP repairs.

he still needs a sensible & reasonable pay-out

 

[yoda]

My thoughts are with you having been damaged by a third party earlier in the year. Work with your insurer and your surveyor (the insurers should appoint one) to get the best possible deal and ensure you claim all the out of pocket expenses like travel.

Modern cradles are generally very good but vibration from the wind in rigging causes legs to move in unexpected ways. There are a number of precautions that can be taken to reduce the risk and if anybody wants a copy of what I insist people do where I run a small lay-up facility please drop me a PM. The advice is from surveyors who have dealt with a number of incidents where boats have fallen over in Plymouth.

Yoda

 

[BlackPig]

HI Eamonn, sorry to hear about Hummingbird. I'll have to pop up and check Carrie is OK

 

[pagoda]

HI Eamonn, sorry to hear about Hummingbird. I'll have to pop up and check Carrie is OK

Sooner rather than later.
There's a further substantial LOW coming in next Tuesday ish , maybe not as strong as that just past, but not trivial.

Very sorry to hear of the damage sustained. You're no doubt aware of insurer's desire to reduce claims, so be on the look-out for any suggestion of "betterment". They will often try to claim a proper repair is an improvement on before with an older hull, and may even argue against epoxy resins being used - since the repair may actually end up stronger than before...
There is enough time to get her fixed up for next season !

Graeme

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

You have had good advice, the situation is clear.

This is totally between you and your insurers. Talk to them about the damage and work with them to decide who should do the repairs.

If they want to try to claim back anything from another insurer, or the yard, or anyone else that is entirely their affair and has nothing to do with your claim.

 

[Mark-1]

Gutted to hear this news CW. The weekend I spent on Hummingbird was sheer joy and the memory tides me over many a dull day.


My SO once crashed a 10 year old car. It was old but it was mint and she'd had it from new. Unsuprisingly they said it was uneconomical to repair and give her the market value which was about a third of what it would have taken to get anything nearly as good. In fact we couldn't find anything as good and ended up buying it off the insurer and repairing it oursleves. As it happened we weren't out of pocket but we had a ton of hassle. Having seen how well Hummingbird has been looked after I hope you don't end up in the same situation.

 

[bedouin]

If your own insurer pays out there may be a chance of them charging you "betterment" which I understand they are allowed to do. I'm not sure if that could happen if someone else's insurance paid up.

 

[SAWDOC]

Very sorry for you. You do all in your own control to keep your boat safe and seaworthy and then you get a cruel blow like this, completely out of your control.

 

[FullCircle]

Eamonn, I still have the Poteen.
Fill in the insurance, post it, and go down the pub. Good vibes from GJW normally.

See you and Hummingbird in April hanging off that poxy pontoon at Cumbrae.

I have faith.

 

[bikedaft]

total bummer, really sorry to hear that

your ins should sort out most of it with some prodding from you, but may take a while :-(

if you claim on your insurance, then its in their interests to claim from other people, so more likely to become a "no fault" claim for you, and they use their larger legal dept/resources etc. that's my theory/2p worth anyway. and they should know what they are doing.

make sure the surveyor is independant. different surveyors will tell you different things about the same boat so pick carefully, if you have that option.

let us know how you get on. at least no one was injured. tho still v upsetting.

edit para 3 - i'm not implying that you don't know what you're doing! it's me that wouldn't know what i would be doing...

 

[AntarcticPilot]

he still needs a sensible & reasonable pay-out

Amen!

 

[KellysEye]

> after all it was his boat that done the damage.

No it wasn't your boat your boat hit his. From the picture yours is the only boat blown over, in which case there could be legal recourse for the yard's negligence in not securing your boat properly. The insurnce company may recoup it's loss by that means.

 

[Kelpie]

> after all it was his boat that done the damage.

No it wasn't your boat your boat hit his. From the picture yours is the only boat blown over, in which case there could be legal recourse for the yard's negligence in not securing your boat properly. The insurnce company may recoup it's loss by that means.

Uh, the boat we are talking about is not the one that blew over.

 

[jhr]

Don't think this is right.
For example, looking at my policy which is with GJW it explicitly covers negligence "Your vessel is covered for accidents; damage caused by latent defects; negligence; theft......"
But they do NOT cover "loss or damage to your vessel caused by your recklessness or wilful misconduct."

In another policy a few years ago the cover included "negligence" but excluded "gross negligence".

Wording varies , as you say, and the Devil is in the detail.

My advice still stands, notwithstanding.................

 

[sailorman]

Uh, the boat we are talking about is not the one that blew over.

 

[PeterGibbs]

Afraid Ian that if insurers dont cough up HB will be getting scrapped.
I certainly couldent fork out 10-12k for new mast, rigging, and furling gear.
I would have hoped that the other boat owner's insurers would pay up.
What I really want to know is should I claim through my insurers, GJW?
C_W

I appreciate your reservations about bringing your insurers into it but you have no choice. If you have legal cover in your insurance you may need this to exercise a claim on the neighbouring boat that damaged yours, and this may entail a dispute with the yard / whoever controlled the laying up / shoring. As described I can't see why you should shoulder the loss.

Very sorry for your plight.

PWG

 

[Frankie-H]

Afraid Ian that if insurers dont cough up HB will be getting scrapped.
I certainly couldent fork out 10-12k for new mast, rigging, and furling gear.
I would have hoped that the other boat owner's insurers would pay up.
What I really want to know is should I claim through my insurers, GJW?
C_W

You must claim through you own insurers. They will appoint a surveyor and they will apportion blame, if any. You must not get involved with the legal complexities. At the end of the day you are insured against damage and it is your insurers who will talk to third parties, if the want to. They will probably not even do that. It is similar to a knock for knock claim in your car. If they are any good they will advise you and help you through all this.

Good luck

 

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and even the offer of the loan of one prson's boat, which is extreemly kind.
I did contact my insurers who adviced me to claim directly from the other owners insurers, this was instantly knocked on the head by his insurers so I went back to my insurers who agreed to proceed with a claim, I then sent loads of pics to my insurers and a detailed list of damage.
I am awaiting estimates before submitting the claim form.

Thanks for the suggestion that I clean my boat to make it better looking, now you have hurt my feelings.
I thought I had done well with the oxalic a couple wks ago.
Guess I will have lots of time to clean her over the next.....
C_W

 

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Would it be a good idea for Clyde Wanderer to clean his boat, except for damaged areas, to give a better sense of condition to assessor?

Well so far I am still waiting for a result from insurers.
They had a surveyor out yesterday so its a waiting game now.

As for "cleaning boat" after looking around my boat for a while yesterday the surveyor asked me when her topsides were painted, he was surprised at the excellent condition when told it was the original gel and not paint.
I took that as a compliment.
C_W

 

[TQA]

Hmm a surveyor who can not tell the difference between paint and gelcoat, that should inspire you with confidence.