Ran her up on the rocks - what does insurance cover?

Too close. I want the boat fixed. I hope the boat yard does not price me out of my boat.
 
I would get a second opinion if you want to actually keep the boat. Granted I'm not there to look at it myself, but that estimate seems awful inflated. If you'd rather get a pay out, well I think you're about headed down that path.

Doug
 
If the insurance company deems the boat a Total Loss, you will still have the option to buy the boat back from them for the boat's Salvage Value. This could possibly be your best option --- depending on the numbers. If they pay you the boat's ACV, and then you buy it back for the Salvage Value, you might have more than enough money to get it repaired somewhere.
 
You MAY have enough money if the key word. I am sure the insurance company is also thinking of hidden damage that may present itself once they start the repair. And it may be too late to total the boat at that time. If in mid repair, your repair company finds something that is going to cost another 10k, then what? You are repairing a boat out of your pocket and will never get it out of the boat. Remember, even thought we treat these toys like part of the family, they are inanimate objects that , at times, you may need to let go and find another. Not saying it is that here, but it needs to be evaluated.
 
EricW said:
If the insurance company deems the boat a Total Loss, you will still have the option to buy the boat back from them for the boat's Salvage Value. This could possibly be your best option --- depending on the numbers. If they pay you the boat's ACV, and then you buy it back for the Salvage Value, you might have more than enough money to get it repaired somewhere.
Click to expand...


This is possible, but keep in mind too that you then have a "salvage title" for the rest of the boats life.... therefore possibly effecting it's future value in a very negative way....
 
Good point about the Salvage Title. A lot to consider when deciding to buy back a total loss.
 
Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

I called the ins co to see if they got the estimate, and when I told her the expected amount, she said she would have a surveyor go look at it ASAP.
 
Charlie, Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I have two comments:

1. As was previously suggested, you need to hire your own surveyor. One that works for you only - not for the boat yard, not for the insurance company - just you. He will be YOUR advocate to make sure that the full extent of the damage is identified and repaired properly. He will be a resource for YOU if/when the yard tries to cut corners on repairs and he will lend credibility to any issue you have with either the yard or the insurer.

2. Think again about whether you really want this boat repaired. This may solely be the insurer's choice, but you could certainly advocate one way or the other (with the help of your surveyor). 2000 280 Sunsports on Yachtworld have an asking price of $22,500 to $34,900. But, do you really want to own a boat that has had this much damage? Will they compensate you for the diminished value of a repaired boat when you try to sell it some time down the road? Are you willing to give up the boat for a long period of time for the initial repair and then again and again when work has to be re-done or you find new problems?

Just my thoughts.
 
Good points. A surveyor looks to be my best optioon right now either way.

If it's a total loss, would a survey from last year still be valid? The one I have is for $37k and that was before I brought her to the condition it is now. Will it help my case? I saw the boats on YW and they are no where near in the condition, or have the equipment I have.

Also, if the boat gets fixed, will the boat be worth less because it was repaired?
 
Keep in mind that nobody is looking out for your interests in this deal.......the repair yard is protecting themselves; the insurance adjustor is just interested in satisfying the letter of your insurance contract while minimizing the pay out. You are the one looking out for you.

The use of your own surveyor is to protect your interests. His survey can get you 3 results, if you make it a requirement of getting paid:

1. Determine the fair market value of the boat just before the accident,
2. Determine the value, if repaired properly, after the repairs,
3. Provide you a check and balance on the estimate for the repairs and the work needed to make the boat safe and seaworthy again.

An old survey will not do any of these things for you.

In this case, I think paying a surveyor the roughly $600 cash for the survey to protect your interests is almost a necessity. In nearly every case I've seen where the damage looked horrendous in photographs and upon a cursory view by a boat yard, the eventual repairs were not nearly as hard to do as was estimated. Right now everyone is in "cover my ass" mode and you need someone to cut thru the crap and give you a real idea of what its going to take to fix the boat, and what the values are. Only with those facts in hand can you make an intelligent decision about whether to proceed with repairs or to deal with a total loss.

Keep in mind that what it takes to find and buy another boat and then bring up to the condition of yours might cost less $ out of pocket than repairing the one that was damaged.

Hire a surveyor today.................
 
charlg said:
Good points. A surveyor looks to be my best optioon right now either way.

If it's a total loss, would a survey from last year still be valid? The one I have is for $37k and that was before I brought her to the condition it is now. Will it help my case? I saw the boats on YW and they are no where near in the condition, or have the equipment I have.

Also, if the boat gets fixed, will the boat be worth less because it was repaired?
Click to expand...

Charlie

Been watching this thread close, you know my next boat will be a 280 or 290SS.

IMHO - I was thinking the same thing about the low prices I've seen for 1998-2000 280SS. Heck some of the early 290ss have dropped big time in the last couple months. I would not the appraisal you got a year ago would be worth anything in today's market.
The comment about the boat being worth less would only mater when you get ready to sell it. I know in today's market you can a great deal on some good boats so why even look at one that was totaled?? Heck you should here the comments when I tell people my pristine 240SD has 400+- hours on it. :smt089
 
Met with the insurance surveyor today. His only objection to the estimate is replacing both lower units ($5k ea).

He was going to do a search on soldboats.com to try to get a valuation on the boat. Does anyone have access to that site?
 
Good news. The insurance company has authorized the boat yard to start the repair. They found the value of the boat to still be what I paid for it 2 years ago. They did find the repair estimate to be too high, but that was based on 'worst case', and the boat yard does not think there will be any surprises.

So, they are going to start to tear things apart and find out where we stand.
 
compensation said:
So did you hire your own surveyor? If so, what did he say?
Click to expand...

I have not YET. So far, the only contention I would have had at this point was the value of the boat, and that's a non-issue.

Once they start digging into the glass repair, I may bring one in then.
 
I agree. Not only hire him, but follow him through the process and document as much as possible with photographs. Leave no accessible compartment unopened as well as inaccessible ones if there is something that leads you to believe there may be fallout in there as well. I went through something similar a while back and it required cutting a whole in the bottom of a storage compartment to evaluate and repair.
 
Document the repair! My buddy's $250,000 buy on a 56' trawler just fell through because the surveyor just found out it had been run aground. They stopped the process there. Don't let that happen to you.
 
There is a possibility that I may be back in the water next weekend.
 
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