Insurance claim incidentals

[Teddy]

Does anyone know what you can claim when your boat is being repaired, lift and repairs are being covered, but my insurance company is being a bit vague as to what I can claim for out of pocket expenses. They have agreed to pay petrol expenses, but nothing else. I will lose over a week of boating and will have to freshen the anti foul around the water line. Incidentally, the claim was not my fault, and the other party's insurance is paying. Any guidance / advice would be appreciated due my lack of claim experience (Ist claim in 42yrs).

 

[simonfraser]

You’ll be asked to agree a settlement at some stage
put all the costs down now and discuss, you probably won’t get it all
but don’t ask don’t get
did your genuine Rolex watch fall over the side during the incident ? ?

 

[rbcoomer]

No first hand experience, but from what I have seen from a yard perspective, they tend to be far more 'fair handed' than car insurance. I can't see them paying for loss of use or routine items like antifoul however. They will look at things like betterment and routine repairs, so as an example if an old worn carpet was damaged and required new, they would likely pay a contribution but not whole cost. If a hull was damaged and required stripping back and repair, it may make sense to sandblast the whole hull and then it would likely need gelshield & antifoul. If damaged area was 20%, they might pay the repair cost, all the sandblasting, but only 20% of the cost of gelshield & antifoul - the balance being deemed improvement/routine maintenance. Always worth asking, but don't be surprised if they decline. You would rightfully expect the boat to be as good as before any incident, but perhaps not better - although if cost is reasonable you may be pleasently surprised.

 

[Seastoke]

Was it the week you had booked to go away on the boat, if so you may as well claim for your whiplash.

 

[superheat6k]

The principle is that you should be financially back where you were before the incident giving rise to a claim.

So an Insurer will not pay for betterment (any form of improvement), consumables, nor inability to use the boat - although you could challenge this part if for instance you had a trip planned and had to make alternative arrangements, but even then only the difference between expected costs and any spend above that, and that would have to be reasonable - so you couldn't claim for a trip to Disneyworld in lieu of a week or two around the Solent.

Antifoul would be regarded as maintenance / fair wear & tear and would be knocked from the bill.

When I put in a claim oil and filters were rejected as consumables, but anti freeze was accepted as it would not otherwise have had to be changed.

The thermostat was not included, but the labour to change it was !

 

[Tranona]

You are claiming on your own insurance and what they pay will be governed by what the policy says is covered. Almost certainly there will be no betterment nor any consequential costs. Does not matter whose fault it is, the claim is covered by the contract you have with the insurer, although they may well at their discretion make goodwill or ex gratia payments. The normal approach would be to make sure the quotes you get include things like re-antifoul IF that is needed solely because of the incident - although if I were your insurer I would consider that betterment. Really cannot see any justification for paying any petrol expenses so think they are being generous. Never seen any insurance contract that included paying petrol expenses.

It is different if you are claiming direct on the third party as your claim is covered by the law of tort where you can claim to be put back in the position you were before the negligent action of the third party. That may well include loss of amenity such as missing your holiday. Loss of a week's potential boating would probably be rejected unless for example the boat was commercial and lost a charter booking. However be aware that making a direct claim on the third party (and their insurer) can be hard work as they have every incentive to minimise their costs.

For that reason most people claim on their own insurance and leave them to fight the third party.