Insurance claim- Repaired before survey!

[sandfish]

Hi! just wondering, has anyone come across this before?

Our boat was damaged (whilst on its moorings) by another vessel breaking free causing considerable damage by flooding. Witness marks clearly showed a collision but were limited. Although we advised the owner and their insurers of our intended claim, they went ahead and repaired the damage before the surveyor was able to view the damage.
The result being all evidence of the collision was removed from the offending vessel. This is making our claim more difficult.

Does anybody know where we stand in this situation?
Have they acted illegally by doing this?

 

[moonraker 36]

did you not take any photo's..?


we learn the hard way sometime's..

 

[boatmaster]

Hi! just wondering, has anyone come across this before?

Our boat was damaged (whilst on its moorings) by another vessel breaking free causing considerable damage by flooding. Witness marks clearly showed a collision but were limited. Although we advised the owner and their insurers of our intended claim, they went ahead and repaired the damage before the surveyor was able to view the damage.
The result being all evidence of the collision was removed from the offending vessel. This is making our claim more difficult.

Does anybody know where we stand in this situation?
Have they acted illegally by doing this?

As i see it, the offending vessel owner is perfectly entitled to repair his vessel, its a shame that you didnt get pics, but easy said after event. is the oofending boats owner admitting liability?

 

[Searush]

Any witnessses to the marks on the other boat? Marina manager or HM would be useful. How about contacting the repairer of the other boat for a witness statement?

 

[DAKA]

Hi! just wondering, has anyone come across this before?

Our boat was damaged (whilst on its moorings) by another vessel breaking free causing considerable damage by flooding. Witness marks clearly showed a collision but were limited. Although we advised the owner and their insurers of our intended claim, they went ahead and repaired the damage before the surveyor was able to view the damage.
The result being all evidence of the collision was removed from the offending vessel. This is making our claim more difficult.

Does anybody know where we stand in this situation?
Have they acted illegally by doing this?

You need to provide a lot more detail please.

If a vessel breaks free in extreme and unexpected conditions then you shouldnt be so confident that the owner is liable for your damages.

Removing the evidence wouldnt bother me too much, its not a criminal case needing evidence beyond reasonable doubt, a judgement will be made on the most likely scenario, surely you should claim off your own insurance and leave them to worry about the recovery ?

 

[Philiz]

Does anybody know where we stand in this situation?

IMHO to claim off his insurers you have to prove liability i.e. negligence in the boat being inadequately secured etc. Could be a bit of a long haul so you'd probably be best advised to involve your own insurers and let them argue the toss if they feel there's any mileage in it.

Have they acted illegally by doing this?

Not in my book, he's entitled to have his own boat repaired whenever he likes, there's no obligation for him to leave his boat in a damaged state until you tell him you're happy for him to have it repaired. Didn't you take any photos?. If not presumable the HM etc. will bear witness to the presence of the damage of the insurers require it.

 

[sandfish]

Thank you all for your interest, as I'm sure you can appreciate I don't want to go into detail on an open forum,
however I can say that there is no doubt that the mooring broke due to neglect or that this boat hit ours this has been admitted by their insurers,
However there would have been marks on the other boat but as it was repaired and antifouled (having only been in the water two weeks it did not require antifouling) and then put back into commission the insurance appointed surveyor could not see any witness marks

In short it looks to me as the owner ( or their insurer) has wanted to evade/avoid a claim.

 

[dt4134]

Thank you all for your interest, as I'm sure you can appreciate I don't want to go into detail on an open forum,
however I can say that there is no doubt that the mooring broke due to neglect or that this boat hit ours this has been admitted by their insurers,
However there would have been marks on the other boat but as it was repaired and antifouled (having only been in the water two weeks it did not require antifouling) and then put back into commission the insurance appointed surveyor could not see any witness marks

In short it looks to me as the owner ( or their insurer) has wanted to evade/avoid a claim.

If you say their insurance has admitted the boat hit yours why does it look to you like they're trying to avoid the claim.

Surely if the other boat owner thinks it is an open and shut case he'll want to get his boat back in the water as soon as he can, including patching up any scrapes on the anti-foul.

 

[sandfish]

they have admitted the collision, but say there are insufficient witness marks to support the flooding, their surveyor could not see the damage as it had been repaired.
They have even said it could have been caused by another boat! even though this would have been impossible!

 

[boatmaster]

they have admitted the collision, but say there are insufficient witness marks to support the flooding, their surveyor could not see the damage as it had been repaired.
They have even said it could have been caused by another boat! even though this would have been impossible!

It seems to me that you will need to claim on your insurance and let the legal team go after the other party. generally this is the way things are done and they thrash it out for you.