I feel a little uncomfortable posting this, as I am not a believer in legal action as a routine course of action, but many of us paid a sizable chunk of money for an extended warranty (not the 5-year hull warranty) on our Hunter sailboats. I understand that the company that Hunter used for this warranty went bankrupt sometime last year. Is there any legal action that may be taken by Hunter owners to help mitigate our losses? Mine extended warranty cost $5K, and of course now that I'm out of warranty and just experienced a significant problem (like $7K significant) I learned that the extended warranty was no more. Hunter has refused to provide any help at all on this, even though the boat is two years old and the repairs pointed to assembly issues with our rudder post bearings.
Hunter Extended Warranty
- Thread starter H45DS
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I have had some success with the state Attorney General's office here in Ohio. It cannot hurt to involve them. A letter from them to Hunter might get something going.
I suggest that you use the small claim court. It is cheap (about $20), quick and simple. You can sue up to $7500 in Oregon. You can make the boat mfg and the dealer co-defendants since they were involved in selling you the warranty and probably profited from the sale.
I suggest after you download and fill out the court form, that you first send it to the defendants with a letter. Say something like you have tried to resolve this with them without success. Thus, you have decided to go to the court. You are making one last try to settle this matter. If they do not resolve this matter to your satisfaction within 10 days, you will file the lawsuit with the court.
I suggest that you call them and get the name of the president of the companies (or off their web sites) and send it via FedEx to the presidents of the companies. They then will know that they will have to go to court and might think about satisfying you.
Allan
I suggest after you download and fill out the court form, that you first send it to the defendants with a letter. Say something like you have tried to resolve this with them without success. Thus, you have decided to go to the court. You are making one last try to settle this matter. If they do not resolve this matter to your satisfaction within 10 days, you will file the lawsuit with the court.
I suggest that you call them and get the name of the president of the companies (or off their web sites) and send it via FedEx to the presidents of the companies. They then will know that they will have to go to court and might think about satisfying you.
Allan
I think the problem here is that Hunter is not providing the warranty. If Hunter would have installed an XYZ brand engine in your boat and they went out of business, would you expect Hunter to repair the engine?
I would agree that this is an uncomfortable situation, but unless you become part of the bankruptcy, it is doubtful that you will get anything except for an attorney bill. I doubt if there is going to be ANY recourse in small claims court, but considering your $5000 out of pocket for the warranty and the $7000 for the repairs, it may be worth some time.
I think you will find thousand of people that have purchased extended warranties on their automobiles over the last few years that are facing the exact same delima.
I would agree that this is an uncomfortable situation, but unless you become part of the bankruptcy, it is doubtful that you will get anything except for an attorney bill. I doubt if there is going to be ANY recourse in small claims court, but considering your $5000 out of pocket for the warranty and the $7000 for the repairs, it may be worth some time.
I think you will find thousand of people that have purchased extended warranties on their automobiles over the last few years that are facing the exact same delima.
Could you please tell me the nature of your rudder post bearing problem? I sail a 44 DS and am on the lookout for this type of issue.
Thanks
question
Just a question, would something like a rudder bearing have even been covered under the extended warranty had the provider not gone belly up? My impression was it covered mostly electrical/mechanical systems and accessories and not so much hull/structure.
Just a question, would something like a rudder bearing have even been covered under the extended warranty had the provider not gone belly up? My impression was it covered mostly electrical/mechanical systems and accessories and not so much hull/structure.
Below is the response I got from Hunter. Florida cancelled all warranty policies last year, which I believe means that claims arising after the cancellation date would have no standing whatsoever. For claims that arose before cancellation, you may still be able to file a claim form. But, keep in mind, you can't get blood from a turnip. A class action attorney mind consider a claim against Hunter Marine, but the dealerships might be harder to tag as a class action claim due to the numerous jurisdictions in which they are located. But this is all speculation on my part.
"You are correct, the State of Florida website ( http://www.myfloridacfo.com/Receiver/interMarine/intro.htm ) says they have been placed into bankruptcy by the state of Florida. We have been told that owners with policies should continue to submit claims using the information provided on the State of Florida website. We have asked but been given no other information by the State of Florida.
Hunter had no say in how the company was structured to meet the State of Florida requirements for selling insurance. Nor were we in control of how the escrow account or bankruptcy was handled. All we do know is that we have both paid good money and you now have no coverage to show for it. This foreclosure has possibly left a lot of boat and car owners without the extended coverage they were expecting.
The state of Florida informed us in June of 2009 that all owners would be notified about the claim process in writing. I have yet to hear of anyone who was notified in writing. Hunter has requested update information on numerous occasion but we continue to receive the same information as everyone else which is see our website.
I’m sorry that I could not give you a more encouraging answer about reimbursements, but this is what we know today. The only thing I can assure you is that we are just as unhappy about this as you are. "
"You are correct, the State of Florida website ( http://www.myfloridacfo.com/Receiver/interMarine/intro.htm ) says they have been placed into bankruptcy by the state of Florida. We have been told that owners with policies should continue to submit claims using the information provided on the State of Florida website. We have asked but been given no other information by the State of Florida.
Hunter had no say in how the company was structured to meet the State of Florida requirements for selling insurance. Nor were we in control of how the escrow account or bankruptcy was handled. All we do know is that we have both paid good money and you now have no coverage to show for it. This foreclosure has possibly left a lot of boat and car owners without the extended coverage they were expecting.
The state of Florida informed us in June of 2009 that all owners would be notified about the claim process in writing. I have yet to hear of anyone who was notified in writing. Hunter has requested update information on numerous occasion but we continue to receive the same information as everyone else which is see our website.
I’m sorry that I could not give you a more encouraging answer about reimbursements, but this is what we know today. The only thing I can assure you is that we are just as unhappy about this as you are. "
Re: question
My dealer explained to me that the HUNTER 5-year warranty covers the hull from blisters, etc. But nothing else. :-( I guess it is unclear as to whether the third-party warranty company would cover something like this. <shrug>
Sure thing. I posted my original issue description here: http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=121655. The conclusion of the story is that there were two problems: the Lewmar servo/clutch assembly failed, which essentially prevented the clutch from disengaging completely; and the rudder post bearings were worn pretty badly (flat spots on several of them) and needed to be replaced. Lewmar is standing behind the servo/clutch mechanism and is sending a replacement (rumor is that this is not the first such failure to release the clutch), but I'm paying the labor for debugging the original failure as well as the removal of the failed unit and the installation of the new unit. The rudder post bearings are a different story. Lewmar suspects they were damaged by Hunter during the installation of the rudder post. So it's a he-said/she-said moment. :neutral: At this point, I'm not sure I really have anywhere to go on this one. :cry:
Steve, I suspect you're right and I'm likely in good (but frustrated) company. My thinking was that Hunter served as the agent for the warranty company, and no doubt received a commission for each warranty sold. Hence there could be some culpability on the part of Hunter's actions in selecting a warranty company that was undercapitalized (etc). Dunno... I think it may be worth contacting an attorney to see what a professional opinion nets.
H45DS: Have you pursued your rudder damage with your insurance company? If this was a result of some type of grounding or other damage, you may be able to file a claim with them.
For anyone that is worried about rudder issues, you should probably have the vessel pulled and inspected NOW as a preemptive strike. For sailors on the east coast and great lakes you may be pulling your boats for the winter in the next few months any way. The ones in the West & South East may have to absorb the cost of pulling the boat just to do this inspection.
I think it is a worth while thing to do if there is a know problem, otherwise I would wait until the next scheduled haulout.
For anyone that is worried about rudder issues, you should probably have the vessel pulled and inspected NOW as a preemptive strike. For sailors on the east coast and great lakes you may be pulling your boats for the winter in the next few months any way. The ones in the West & South East may have to absorb the cost of pulling the boat just to do this inspection.
I think it is a worth while thing to do if there is a know problem, otherwise I would wait until the next scheduled haulout.
Ed, would you mind e-mailing me at g.pitts@verizon.net? I'm interested in your experience with the State AG.
Hi Steve,
I agree with your advice on pulling the rudder if there is ANY question. Putting a problem off doesn't solve it, and it is always better to fix a smaller problem than letting it become a bigger problem that still has to be fixed.
In our case, there was no grounding or anything accident related that led to this issue. The clutch/servo from Lewmar simply failed, which probably caused most of the "heavy" helm we experienced. The remainder was caused by the rudder post bearings. My suspicion is that the rudder bearings were damaged when the rudder was originally installed, but that's nearly impossible to prove one way or the other. :cry: I do, however, have a photo of the bearing assembly that was clearly broken and a repair attempted. I don't think Lewmar would ship out a sub-par bearing assembly. However, I could see it happening in the boat production environment given the push to get these boats built and shipped.
Thanks!
Gene
Gene:
I would check with your insurance company. You may get them to pay for the repair and they can fight with anyone that needs a good beating!
I would check with your insurance company. You may get them to pay for the repair and they can fight with anyone that needs a good beating!
Hunter is liable
I dont know what was represented to you buyers, but when we purchased our boat some 2 years ago it was represented that we were getting a 5 year warranty. Details of how the warranty worked were not provided. We assumed Hunter was providing the warranty, and actually went for a Hunter rather than a Beneteau because we felt that with a warranty from Hunter we could sleep better. Now with the first warranty fiasco, we, as all of you are left high and dry. Hunter is liable because they used the 5 year warranty as a marketing ploy to their benefit, and had an obligation to check out the credentials and rating of the warranty company, if they were passing the warranty off. After all none of us had a choice in which warranty company to select. I am all for a class action suit. Hunter is not even trying to recoup the premiums (which we all paid indireclty) from the Florida insurance trust fund and hire another warranty company to portect their image and clients. Legal pressure is a must to get them to react
I dont know what was represented to you buyers, but when we purchased our boat some 2 years ago it was represented that we were getting a 5 year warranty. Details of how the warranty worked were not provided. We assumed Hunter was providing the warranty, and actually went for a Hunter rather than a Beneteau because we felt that with a warranty from Hunter we could sleep better. Now with the first warranty fiasco, we, as all of you are left high and dry. Hunter is liable because they used the 5 year warranty as a marketing ploy to their benefit, and had an obligation to check out the credentials and rating of the warranty company, if they were passing the warranty off. After all none of us had a choice in which warranty company to select. I am all for a class action suit. Hunter is not even trying to recoup the premiums (which we all paid indireclty) from the Florida insurance trust fund and hire another warranty company to portect their image and clients. Legal pressure is a must to get them to react
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