Re-insurance after write off.

[Matrosen]

My boat, after a being blown over in a hurricane, has been declared a total loss. In discussion with the surveyor he said that although the boat was not too badly damaged, the cost and delay in finding a company who would and could come to Melilla to repair the boat would result in too much cost for the insurance company and a delay of several months for me. He suggested that he declare the boat a total loss and that I repair the boat myself. There is no problem with that as I have the skills required to do this.
My question is this. Would I have problems re-insuring the boat with this or any other company? I will ask them but would like the panels advise before I speak to them.

 

[Richard10002]

Dont know the answer to the question but dont forget that, with a total loss, the insurers will pay out the insured value less the value of the hull in its' damaged condition.

A lot therefore depends on what value the surveyor places on the wreck that you will retain ownership of, and responsibility for.

from recent research, the way total loss works has left some owners with an absolute nightmare on their hands.

Cheers

Richard

 

[sarabande]

There was some comment when you first posted the pictures about who had propped and chocked the boat.

Is this still under discussion ? Is there any question of liability landing on the yard's, or someone else's, desk ?

Not being nosey, but it may help your decision to rebuild if someone else is coing to "contribute".

I am really sorry to hear your sad news, and hope that you have a succesful outcome, and get back sailing as soon as possible.

 

[mocruising]

In my experience having worked as a Loss Adjuster in the Marine Industry for 8 years and dealt with a number of Constructive Total Losses it would make no difference when insuring the boat following the repairs as long as you could prove that it had been repaired to a proffesional standard and the best way to cover this issue would be to discuss the repair scenario with a reputable surveyor take a load of pictures throughout the repair and get him back at the end to sign it off and write a short report.

 

[jeanne]

We had an accident with the hull of Iris Mary a few years ago. She is ferro, built by ourselves, and the insurance company, knowing the difficulty of getting a good repair by unknown hands (IF you could find someone), allowed and even paid us to repair our own boat. Their surveyor oversaw the repair and we have had no difficulty since. We had to have a new insurance survey last year as the boat is now over 20 years old, but had no problem with that either. The company is St Margarets.

Worth asking your company if you could do your own repair if they would cough up for materials and expenses and have their surveyor look at it once complete. They may be agreeable since you are bound to do a cheaper repair (and perhaps better) than a yard. Our costs were significantly less than the boatyard where we were hauled would have charged if they could have done it (they couldn´t). We were paid out for haul out, relaunch, time ashore, all materials, expenses for 2 helpers on plastering day, and a weekly rate for myself and my husband.

Good luck
Jeanne

 

[badman]

I read in an old sailing book about a man with one of the first spinnakers, he kept a shotgun in the cockpit to shoot the spinny if it got out of hand.

 

[badman]

sorry for the above wrong thread