Ouch! I got hit

[Autoteacher]

Yesterday a boat coming in to our docks caught the wind and an inexperienced capt. caused his bow mounted anchor to crash into our aft cabin window and wall. Now I need extensive fiberglass, window glass and wood work. The boat's owner has insurance with progressive and they only want one estimate and do not have a local adjuster.
What should I do to protect my self, and get my boat fixed as soon as possible?
Cost is going to be in the $ 4-5K range based on estimates so far. Who has a boat yard in South Florida that can do all the work?



Our boat is a 40 1986 Marine Trader Does anyone have a spare wood window frame for the starboard aft cabin?

 

[Pau Hana]

Make sure your insurer is made aware of your claim concerns. Yes, I know the common fallacy is that you'll automatically get raped premium wise at the mention of the word "claim".

Hogwash.

Insurance is to make you whole- in claims, it's very common for your insurance policy to make you right, then subrogate against the offending party. Now, if Progressive is doing their due diligence, all well and fine.

Get as many estimates at you need, from reputable shops. Do not settle for anything less. Keep a detailed record of all correspondence between you, the offending party, and Progressive- written is always better than verbal (unless recorded)

Overkill? I don't think so.

 

[hollywood8118]

Autoteacher,

Make sure to update the forum on the progress on the claim and the performance of Progressive. They have been pretty well talked down on the forum and I am interested to hear how they do. ( No I do not have Progressive insurance )

The accident sucks.. Good luck and be Patient

HOLLYWOOD

 

[ksanders]

Make sure your insurer is made aware of your claim concerns. Yes, I know the common fallacy is that you'll automatically get raped premium wise at the mention of the word "claim".

Hogwash.

Insurance is to make you whole- in claims, it's very common for your insurance policy to make you right, then subrogate against the offending party. Now, if Progressive is doing their due diligence, all well and fine.

Get as many estimates at you need, from reputable shops. Do not settle for anything less. Keep a detailed record of all correspondence between you, the offending party, and Progressive- written is always better than verbal (unless recorded)

Overkill? I don't think so.

If it were my boat, the first call would be to my insurance agent.

He'd take care of me.

 

[Larry M]

...Insurance is to make you whole- in claims, it's very common for your insurance policy to make you right, then subrogate against the offending party...

Have you called your insurance company? In 1997, our last boat was damaged by another party. We contacted our insurance company. They sent a surveyor out immediately. They paid the claim then subrogated against the other guys insurance company. The other insurance company did pay our deductible. This was after I signed an agreement that said by accepting the check was not an admission of guilt by the offending party. From the original estimate, to when all the repairs were completed, the cost almost doubled. In the end, all the repairs were done to our satisfaction and our only loss was the use of the boat and the hassle factor. Good luck.

 

[Pau Hana]

If it were my boat, the first call would be to my insurance agent.

He'd take care of me.

Yessir

Have you called your insurance company? In 1997, our last boat was damaged by another party. We contacted our insurance company. They sent a surveyor out immediately. They paid the claim then subrogated against the other guys insurance company. The other insurance company did pay our deductible. This was after I signed an agreement that said by accepting the check was not an admission of guilt by the offending party. From the original estimate, to when all the repairs were completed, the cost almost doubled. In the end, all the repairs were done to our satisfaction and our only loss was the use of the boat and the hassle factor. Good luck.

Thank you for posting this, Larry- this is a perfect real world example of how the insurance claims process should work.

 

[Capecodder]

Good luck with the repairs. I missing Banana bay today.

Mark
"Osprey"

 

[THD]

My experience with Progressive is only with cars, but after being hit by a progressive client I was not too pleased. They wanted me to go only to their "approved" shops who wanted to use only used part and to do the job as cheaply as possible. Their adjuster gave me their estimate, wanted me to accept a check on the spot and sign a release all at the same time. Luckily for me those 3 years in law school paid some benefit. Mu insurance company, USAA, sent me to a different shop where additional, not visible damage was found that more than doubled the repair cost.

I definitely would follow the advice above and get your insurance company involved ASAP. With that kind of repair, you likely can't accurately assess the true repair cost until someone gets going on the work. If Progressive writes you a check, that will be the last you hear from them no matter what the repairs actually end up costing.

 

[C lectric]

Call YOUR insurance company. Do nothing untill that is done OTHER than to protect the boat from the elements or animal entry and tell them about that.
Your insurance company will then go after the other guys.
I'm in Canada so some procedures may be a bit different but I went through this last year. Yours sounds much worse.

 

[BruceK]

There is a difference, here anyway, between lodging a claim, and notifying your insurer of circumstances which may result in a claim. If you just notify, and the other boat`s insurance is coming through, you may not need to claim. My policy gives me one claim without affecting premium for every so many years of no claims, so I have a reason not to claim if I can avoid it and as a retired lawyer I can pursue the guilty myself.
But then I`m thinking, what if the other insurer messes up the repairs, you then call on your insurer, they don`t like that....I guess the answer is telling them what you are doing, or making a claim. Local advice is probably best.