help with insurance claim anyone

[gunnin88]

Last year I hit a small log in the water. I pulled the boat out inspected in and all appeared good. I continued to use the boat for the rest of the summer. This year when I went to use it I found out last year the impact had knocked the belows loose around the shaft and salt water sat in there all year. the gimble housing is badly damaged and making the seal of the new boot bad from corrosion. Progressive insurance told me corrosion is not covered, my argument is this corrosion was a direct result of the impact last year (this is the professional opinion of my mechanic as well).
What do you all think should I pursue or give up?

Thanks..Jason

I might add this is a 5 k fix to do right

 

[Summer Fun]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

Jason, Welcome to iboats,

What year/ brand / model of boat are you talking about ??.

 

[riptide09]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

Did you report the collision last year? Earlier this year I hit a log and it appeared the only damage was my prop. I made a claim knowing my deductible was more than the prop replacement. I wanted to have it on record in case something else turned up. If you did not report it you might be out of luck.

 

[gunnin88]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

I did not report it as there was no visble damage at all.

the boat is a 2005 larson 248 lxi volvo dual prop out drive

 

[gunnin88]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

I understand they don't cover corrosion my argument is it was indeed a result of a impact with a log.
the length of time I took to make the claim should not matter. You can wreck you car today and make a claim 2 years from now when you find out it costs more than you want to spend. I run a body shop and see it all the time.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

Really, it hurts nothing to try. The worst case is that they'll stand pat on their claim decision. There are avenues for claim appeals, as well.
It's your time, but the amount at stake might make it worth you pushing a bit. They may offer to help you out when they see you're not going to easily go away.

 

[gunnin88]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

Yeah I can be a real hard *** too Toyota motor company can attest to that. Thats a whole diffrent story but I think I will try. Just wondering if anyone has ever heard of this before. I just don't think you can blanket deny this due to corrosion.

I guess I should have ran it and let the dam thing explode into peices then they would probably cover it..

 

[NYBo]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

I think you have a snowball's chance in the nether regions. You didn't report the hit when it happened. Unnoticed, the bellows had failed and you used the boat for an extended period which resulted in damage. This damage wouldn't have occurred if a proper post-accident inspection had been done and the bellows fixed. Sorry, but this sounds like a losing case to me.

 

[gunnin88]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

Well after all this it turns out when I hit the log last July I was insured with Allstate I just figured that out, and they said it is indeed covered. Thanks for your help all.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

This year when I went to use it I found out last year the impact had knocked the belows loose around the shaft and salt water sat in there all year. the gimble housing is badly damaged and making the seal of the new boot bad from corrosion. Progressive insurance told me corrosion is not covered, my argument is this corrosion was a direct result of the impact last year (this is the professional opinion of my mechanic as well).

No it ididn't. You and your mechanic both have the wrong opinion.

BUT, EVEN IF IT DID, you did not live up to your DUTIES under the policy, which say that you MUST PREVENT further damage. (This is called mitigating damages.) You did NOT mitigate your damages. If you had, you would not have ANY corrosion damage at all.

So even if (and that's a HUGE "if") the impact knocked the bellows off, your claim is denied because you allowed the corrosion to happen. Then of course, corrosion is specifically excluded.

This is why, if you are not a professional, or don't know what to look for, you should ALWAYS take your boat to a pro after an impact.

***And his new carrier ALLSTATE covering this loss is why everybody's insurance rates keep going up.***

 

[security6]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

No it ididn't. You and your mechanic both have the wrong opinion.

BUT, EVEN IF IT DID, you did not live up to your DUTIES under the policy, which say that you MUST PREVENT further damage. (This is called mitigating damages.) You did NOT mitigate your damages. If you had, you would not have ANY corrosion damage at all.

So even if (and that's a HUGE "if") the impact knocked the bellows off, your claim is denied because you allowed the corrosion to happen. Then of course, corrosion is specifically excluded.

This is why, if you are not a professional, or don't know what to look for, you should ALWAYS take your boat to a pro after an impact.

***And his new carrier ALLSTATE covering this loss is why everybody's insurance rates keep going up.***

You can only mitigate damages you know about. OP didn't do anything wrong because he didn't know about the damages.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

He struck something and checked it out. He MISSED the damage. He did do something wrong. he didn't find what he later describes as visually obvious damage. He failed to mitigate his damage. Ignorance is no excuse.

 

[Stachi]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

Well after all this it turns out when I hit the log last July I was insured with Allstate I just figured that out, and they said it is indeed covered. Thanks for your help all.

It looks to me that the insurance company thought he was within his rights....good for you brother....

 

[roscoe]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

I did not report it as there was no visble damage at all.

the boat is a 2005 larson 248 lxi volvo dual prop out drive

Ahhh, but there was visible damage, as it knocked the bellows loose. You just didn't see it.

Or at least that is there position.

 

[roscoe]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

I understand they don't cover corrosion my argument is it was indeed a result of a impact with a log.
the length of time I took to make the claim should not matter. You can wreck you car today and make a claim 2 years from now when you find out it costs more than you want to spend. I run a body shop and see it all the time.

But you did not mitigate further damage.
The repair would have been far less costly had the damage been repaired before the saltwater caused the corrosion.

 

[Cuyose]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

At the very least this should remind us all to check systems on a regular basis. I am actually learning to try and calm down a bit more when I am out on the water. I am anal about stuff failing and going wrong. I just bought a 1985 Carver Voyager 28, great boat, good survey, runs nice. Previous owners took it out on the Puget Sound all the time, never had any issues.

I still find at least one thing every time I go out that I plan to tackle as preventative maintenance. Whether it be ignition and ground contacts, exhaust hoses and risers, drive shaft packing seals, flame arrestor cleanliness, steering linkages, you name it.

With a boat such as yours with a single engine, spending 15 minutes pre and post outing checking stuff over is just good time spent you cant re-do later when your boat is layed up with an issue.

I pretty much go into the insurance situation as they will look for any way to deny a payout and the time spent fighting that battle could have been better spent with a little due diligence. I do wish you good luck with the claim though, even with pre and post inspections you will miss things.

 

[Purecarnagge]

Re: help with insurance claim anyone

I'd recommend going back to All State the company that you left. They paid a claim they didn't have to. Might not be the cheapest but they paid your questionable claim.