My boat was stolen about 2 weeks ago right from my driveway while I was home. I came out from my garage to walk my dogs and the boat wasn't there. I was completely shocked and just stood there for a few minutes figuring out what happened...
The boat was a 28' blue/white 2006 Hydra-Sports CC in mint condition with only 130 hours, Pro fishing package, C-80, Sony stereo on it and was insured by Progressive. The boat was found next day in the worst neighborhood in Miami stripped except for the t-top which they tried to get but probably run out of time. There's a big semi-circular gash around one of the pillars.
Right away, the guy I dealt with was not very compasionate or understanding and hassled me over the $50 storage fee. Then he wouldn't tow it to the nearest HS dealership and argued and harassed me because I wanted to take it to my dealer and not one of their repair shops within their network.
Finally after a lot of arguing I held firm and had it towed to my house because that's all he would pay for. I had to arrange to tow it accross the state to the nearest HS dealer on my dime.
He said that the boat was repairable even though it clearly had substantial damage. Anything of value was gone, all they left was the hull and t-top. I took it to the dealer for an estimate.
Forward to a week later, the insurance guy on the west coast of FL who does the estimates said the damages were in that grey area at around $70k and that if it was up to him he would declare it a total loss but now it's going back to their office in Miami to the other guy who wasn't that nice and they will make that decision.
So now I'm wondering...what would be the best course for action here.
1) Sit tight and let them decide
2) Call an attorney to help me get total loss
3) Work out a deal with them
4) Let them repair it and get back a patched up boat
It could go either way but I truly don't want the boat repaired and my wife is traumatized by the whole incident and having these guys come to our house again once it's fixed.
Does anybody have any experience or has had anything like that happened and what is the best thing to do here ???
The boat was a 28' blue/white 2006 Hydra-Sports CC in mint condition with only 130 hours, Pro fishing package, C-80, Sony stereo on it and was insured by Progressive. The boat was found next day in the worst neighborhood in Miami stripped except for the t-top which they tried to get but probably run out of time. There's a big semi-circular gash around one of the pillars.
Right away, the guy I dealt with was not very compasionate or understanding and hassled me over the $50 storage fee. Then he wouldn't tow it to the nearest HS dealership and argued and harassed me because I wanted to take it to my dealer and not one of their repair shops within their network.
Finally after a lot of arguing I held firm and had it towed to my house because that's all he would pay for. I had to arrange to tow it accross the state to the nearest HS dealer on my dime.
He said that the boat was repairable even though it clearly had substantial damage. Anything of value was gone, all they left was the hull and t-top. I took it to the dealer for an estimate.
Forward to a week later, the insurance guy on the west coast of FL who does the estimates said the damages were in that grey area at around $70k and that if it was up to him he would declare it a total loss but now it's going back to their office in Miami to the other guy who wasn't that nice and they will make that decision.
So now I'm wondering...what would be the best course for action here.
1) Sit tight and let them decide
2) Call an attorney to help me get total loss
3) Work out a deal with them
4) Let them repair it and get back a patched up boat
It could go either way but I truly don't want the boat repaired and my wife is traumatized by the whole incident and having these guys come to our house again once it's fixed.
Does anybody have any experience or has had anything like that happened and what is the best thing to do here ???