2018 Insurer Hall of Fame (or Shame)
- Thread starter Gunni
- Start date
Gunni,
Just to clarify... The boat is not insured under my homeowners policy. It is a totally separate.
The boat lives in Michigan. My Michigan homeowners insurance premium was not affected, nor was my auto insurance, but my Virginia homeowners premium was. I have been with my Michigan agent for over 40 years and had been with the Virginia agent for more than 10 years.
Just to clarify... The boat is not insured under my homeowners policy. It is a totally separate.
The boat lives in Michigan. My Michigan homeowners insurance premium was not affected, nor was my auto insurance, but my Virginia homeowners premium was. I have been with my Michigan agent for over 40 years and had been with the Virginia agent for more than 10 years.
Originally, everything except the Virginia house was insured by the same company.
Now the Virginia house is also insured by the same company as well. However, we do “shop” regularly for better rates for the same or better coverage.
As a former dealer and insurance adjuster/later as an investigator, I will comment.
Kermit's boat was brought to me for repairs. The orginial adjuster was not nor a marine surveyor and in fact was not familiar with boats. The demands and comments from that adjuster, I called Boat US as I was pretty fed up with the unprofessionalism of that adjuster. I indicated who I was and the company name also advising I had done some claims for them in the past. That adjuster was dismissed and an actual marine surveyor was assigned out of Charleston whom we both knew of from the past. Anyway, I prepared an estimate for Kermit which was submitted and paid. It did not appear to be a lightening strike but appeared to be a charge thru the shore power. The system was replaced by me and all the lines were blackened. I was thankful for the protection; otherwise the boat could have burned up. My recommendation when you do have a claim and the adjuster sent out is not marine oriented, demand a marine surveyor and/or align yourself with a well known sailboat dealer whom you know and dealt with to intervene on your behalf. Sorry Kermie to hijack your response.
Jssailem also gave some good advice. Each state has an Insurance Commissioner and of course what can be done is up to that state statuates or laws. Rest assured insurance companies do not like hearing from state insurance commissioners. You could go to small claims court and if you do, ask for ATTORNEY reimbursement if the carrier is negligent in their responsibilities but make darn sure you have the proof as hear say evidence will be ignored.
I hope this helps.
Gunni is correct about the insurance carries reporting all incidents whether paid or not as that is reported to an insurance bureau just like all medical as well without your permission. If you bundle, the suggestion of a different carrier for boat insurance claims may also fall under the reporting to a central agency. Therefore, ask the question of the boat insurance carrier if claims or reporting of incidents are reported to any agency. It use not to be the case but not sure of that today.
Referencing the above, I recently change home insurance carriers and an incident that I reported to the old carrier came up when the proposal was made. I verified the incident but no claims were paid. That case was closed; thus no claims experience against me with the new carrier.
Kermit's boat was brought to me for repairs. The orginial adjuster was not nor a marine surveyor and in fact was not familiar with boats. The demands and comments from that adjuster, I called Boat US as I was pretty fed up with the unprofessionalism of that adjuster. I indicated who I was and the company name also advising I had done some claims for them in the past. That adjuster was dismissed and an actual marine surveyor was assigned out of Charleston whom we both knew of from the past. Anyway, I prepared an estimate for Kermit which was submitted and paid. It did not appear to be a lightening strike but appeared to be a charge thru the shore power. The system was replaced by me and all the lines were blackened. I was thankful for the protection; otherwise the boat could have burned up. My recommendation when you do have a claim and the adjuster sent out is not marine oriented, demand a marine surveyor and/or align yourself with a well known sailboat dealer whom you know and dealt with to intervene on your behalf. Sorry Kermie to hijack your response.
Jssailem also gave some good advice. Each state has an Insurance Commissioner and of course what can be done is up to that state statuates or laws. Rest assured insurance companies do not like hearing from state insurance commissioners. You could go to small claims court and if you do, ask for ATTORNEY reimbursement if the carrier is negligent in their responsibilities but make darn sure you have the proof as hear say evidence will be ignored.
I hope this helps.
Gunni is correct about the insurance carries reporting all incidents whether paid or not as that is reported to an insurance bureau just like all medical as well without your permission. If you bundle, the suggestion of a different carrier for boat insurance claims may also fall under the reporting to a central agency. Therefore, ask the question of the boat insurance carrier if claims or reporting of incidents are reported to any agency. It use not to be the case but not sure of that today.
Referencing the above, I recently change home insurance carriers and an incident that I reported to the old carrier came up when the proposal was made. I verified the incident but no claims were paid. That case was closed; thus no claims experience against me with the new carrier.
in most states, denial of a valid claim is an unfair consumer trade practice. in most states, certain insurance companies hire adjusters who jerk customers around by denying valid claims on the likelihood you won't bother trying to sue them. for a claim under $10K you can file a case in small claims court without a lawyer. if you have a valid claim, i've found that the filing of a complaint, claiming unfair insurance claims practices, suddenly gets a quite fair settlement.
