I live in Panama City Beach, FL. Sea la Vie is on her side in Altha, FL. Looking for a boat repair shop that does glass work as well as replacing bow pulpit, spreader, a host of things. After a telephone conversation, insurance not happy with field adjuster report (incomplete). I need to get it somewhere for a good estimate. The boat was blown off it's trailer and the damage includes port rudder, roller furling, stanchions, transom seat ripped off and some other damage that's not coming to mind. Trailer will be a total loss. On the port side, a large chunk is out of the deck near the rub rail toward the front of the cabin. The cabin side by the black paint shows stress damage as does the hull about a foot under the rub rail. Also, the fiberglass on the bow, where the roller furling attaches is pulled away with about a 2 inch opening. I'm thinking if the fiberglass damage at the bow, hull, deck and cabin is repaired the boat will not be structurally sound when sailing, especially with a good wing or moderate to rough seas. I welcome thoughts as well as locations to take the boat in the area for an estimate.
Moved my Macgregor inland but Hurricane Mike got it anyway.
- Thread starter Sea la Vie
- Start date
Right now I'm willing to look further away to Niceville or Crestview, if needed. Due to the vast amount of work available (homes, boats, whatever) it's hard to get anything scheduled around here. I would appreciate anyone you could recommend. They may be able to help or, worst case scenario, recommend someone closer. The boat is currently at a farm in Altha. Hope to get it off it's side and back on the trailer, although the trailer may be too damaged for pulling. Will find out!
Sorry to hear of your predicament, could you not look at getting a marine survey and send that report to the insurance company? Almost sounds like the damage should have written to boat off.
That is in my plan if all else fails. Right now the insurance company and I are on a similar page and I have been following their requests. I would like to be able to to obtain insurance for the next boat. In the end, if we do not agree, we both hire separate people (in my case a would get a marine survey) to provide separate estimates (opinions) and then send the results to a mediator, I've never been in this spot, needing insurance to pay for damage. I have to acknowledge I may be going about it wrong. I've been spending most of my time dealing with the house, which is in good condition, but needing a lot of work. At least I have a dry home.
I should have known better. I had an insurance policy for 28K, the price of my boat, for a year. Using the same insurance broker, I changed to another company around July. The broker advised me the company broke the insurance down to 12K for the boat, 14K for the engine and 2K for the trailer. Their numbers, although they say I provided them, which I did not. I signed the docs, my head elsewhere, mostly because I was in bad health, resulting in a heart procedure in August, I lost a son in May and I trusted the broker. Well fast forward to post hurricane and the desk adjuster tells me the cost of putting the boat back on the trailer comes out of the settlement amount (a grey area as he called it). Further, the hull was valued at between 16 and 17K, they would only cover to 12K , the motor was covered for under 5K and the trailer for 2K. I was told the field adjusters report was cosmetic issues costing about 7K, but there may have been more and structural integrity may be an issue, but could not be ascertained as the boat was laying on it's side when inspected. The desk advised me to have someone due an inspection and obtain an estimate, which has not happened because the boat made its way onto the trailer just six days ago. They are offering under 20K, saying I can keep the boat. I think the engine is OK. I had been warned about this. I've tried contacting a couple attorneys but they seem to get lost in wanting to include my house in a lawsuit, and not the boat. I already have a private adjuster for the house, costing only 10% , with legal representation if needed, and not the 25-30% the attorneys want. I am not rolling over on this because 1) the amounts are not right and mostly 2) basically I was told I was lying about providing the numbers because the broker had no reason to lie about the origin of the numbers. Unless you have lived in a disaster area, the aftermath is much worse that the damaging event. Anyway, not looking for any sympathy, just suggestions.
Wow, that's tough. You can't mediate the coverage, so that means litigation. If your policy clearly shows the limits for each of the boat, trailer and engine, it will be a hard road to prove malice or negligence by the broker or company. Yes, the attorneys are going to be a lot more interested in a larger issue like a house. So, you probably won't get the boat loss represented on a contingency arrangement. I guess if I were you, I'd visit a local attorney in a small firm and buy a couple of hundred dollars of advice and see what they say. The boat and engine are probably worth a couple of thousand as she sits, so you can't spend too much for the difference between the $28 and $20K. BTW, I think the adjuster is in error on the putting the boat back on the trailer. IMHO, it would be an action of the insured taking prudent steps to avoid further damage and would be handled outside of the limits. Please understand that all these opinions are worth what you paid for them and are just off-the-cuff reactions without research. Buy some attorney advice. Good luck.
Maybe the separate liability part of your insurance would take care of putting your boat back on the trailer. My boat was laying on its side 300 feet on shore in a wooded area when I finally found out where it was. I only had liability insurance on it and to my surprise my insurance company paid to have it recovered and taken to a boatyard because it was a liability to the environment. Sadly, I had it demolished Just sharing my boat experience with hurricane Michael. And yes, dealing with the aftermath is so frustrating. Good luck.
I received about 73% from my insurance and was able to keep the boat. A lawyer advised that after litigating, I would end up with about the same amount. I have a salvage company that will take the boat to repair and flip the boat. Working out a price so that I get closer to the amount of the boat. Something had to give, repair of my house, my boat or my health. Looking to the future for another boat once house repairs are near done and I get my health back. As luck would have it, my turn on a waiting list for a dock in Ohio, with access to Lake Erie, came up (I have an Ohio home to get out of the summer heat and for medical skill/facilities not as available where I live in Florida) .
Good luck Sea la Vie, I wish the very best for you. I too will be looking for another boat after restoration of my house.