insurance outcome (good!) thanks too Sunshine :-)

hi all
last nights storm was not great - my boat neighbours pen ropes broke during the night and his boat spent the night belting mine. Both our boats have sustained a lot of damage.
I have pictures of his broken pen ropes which failed at the splice and at weak points in the rope. my ropes held up fine
I lodged a claim with my insurer who advised that i would have to incur the excess even though it was a 3rd party impact because it was caused by the wind/storm unless the other boat owner was willing to admit liability.
The other boat owner is also insured with the same company, so there is no way he is going to admit liability as the insurer would then deny his claim!!
Early days in the claim obviously but interested to hear on how to approach this as it seems by maintaining my boat and ropes i am in the same position as someone who has not and the insurer getting 2 excesses for one incident...
cheers


sunshine's picture

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Don't accept such a shallow approach

Thu, 2023-08-03 18:48

 Did you take any photos of the broken ropes as evidence.  There is no way ropes should part unless degraded by sunlight.  Simply because it was a storm doesn't make it an immediate "out" as all boat owners have a legal obligation to adequately maintain their mooring lines.  If you need a hand drafting a formal demand drop me a pm.  I would add that if in a commercial marina the terms and conditions might well specifically address mooring requirements 

pelagicyachts's picture

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thanks Gordon I took photos

Fri, 2023-08-04 08:47

thanks Gordon
I took photos of the broken ropes, condition of the shackes and eylets, and video (to prove that what i was photographing were actually the ropes that broke where i had taken close up photos)-
simplistically i see this as one event where two boats were damaged, the breaking of the other boats ropes being the cause- if those ropes (two) had not broken i would not have suffered any loss. We have both lodged claims, i am yet to get a shipwright quote, the other boat's damage has been quoted at $80k, should i push for a waiver of excess now or proceed with the claim and fight that part afterward?
thanks in advance
Clint

sunshine's picture

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Yes you should seek to have the excess waived

Fri, 2023-08-04 09:10

And as many policies have no claim discounts ensure that you retain your discounts  

pelagicyachts's picture

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thanks - good point!

Fri, 2023-08-04 09:21

thanks - good point!

Swompa's picture

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 Similar happened to my dads

Thu, 2023-08-03 19:48

 Similar happened to my dads yacht. He was insured by Club Marine and overnight a yacht beside spent 8 knots banging into the side. Thankfully Dads was aluminium and the other was glass so noothing major on Dads that a sledge hammer and bog couldn't fix.

Covered by Club Marine and there was no need for excess payment as it was not at fault.

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Insurance

Fri, 2023-08-04 10:42

 Who are you insured with?

davewillo's picture

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 If you're in a yacht club

Fri, 2023-08-04 11:00

 If you're in a yacht club Clint then everyone is obliged to ensure their ropes and hardware are in serviceable condition. Whichever way you look at this you're an innocent party.

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pelagicyachts's picture

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thanks Dave some clubs police

Fri, 2023-08-04 17:03

thanks Dave
some clubs police it more than others, in a further twist, the owner who lives away has paid a contractor to maintain the boat and ropes and has been invoiced for both recently... oh dear!

sunshine's picture

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In that case the contractor has a clear legal liability

Fri, 2023-08-04 20:06

 And both boats owners may well have recourse.  From a legal perspective a letter of demand should in the first instance be sent to the offending boat owner who should then immediately pass to his contractor to pass to his legal liability insurer.  

pelagicyachts's picture

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Hi all huge thanks to

Wed, 2023-10-04 08:39

Hi all
huge thanks to Sunshine who helped guide me through this - i got an email today stating the insurer would pay the claim in full with no excess applicable -
whilst this would seem to be the logical response to claim where your boat has been damaged by another and by no fault of your own - it has highlighted to me the importance of gathering your own data/photos/evidence at the time of the incident and understanding the approaches insurers will use to try and avoid paying your claim in full.
Boat is going to look a bit sad for a while as due to the 2 month delay from the insurer in approving the claim the shipwright is booked out until first quarter 2024....

cheers
Clint

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 Thta's a great outcome Clint

Wed, 2023-10-04 11:17

 Thta's a great outcome Clint and as always, brilliant work by Sunshine.

Shame about the shipwright. It's unlikely I'll see you at Rotto anytime soon!

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pelagicyachts's picture

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thanks mate- oh dont worry i

Wed, 2023-10-04 12:43

thanks mate-
oh dont worry i will be there! - now that claim is approved i am cutting off the damaged section of the bow rail tonight and damaged rubstrip - will run some glass over the hull join (which is damaged but not breached) to keep water out and i will be easy to spot :-)
( ill be the one with a beer in my hand !)

davewillo's picture

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 Sounds good Clint. I'm sure

Wed, 2023-10-04 16:13

 Sounds good Clint. I'm sure we'll manage to have a beer this summer!

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pelagicyachts's picture

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just one? :-)

Thu, 2023-10-05 08:32

just one? :-)

davewillo's picture

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 At a time of course! :-)

Thu, 2023-10-05 11:28

 At a time of course! :-)

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Brock O's picture

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Good Stuff...wonder if this

Wed, 2023-10-04 14:40

Good Stuff...wonder if this went back to the maintenance company's insurance looking after the Pen.

pelagicyachts's picture

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i am unsure but the only

Wed, 2023-10-04 15:06

i am unsure but the only comment they made about waiving the excess was that the other boats ropes were "not great" - the "maintenance company" was an individual and i am unsure he would be covered by any insurance.... I will park it there ! :-)

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 It would be interesting at

Wed, 2023-10-04 16:15

 It would be interesting at our club as they arrange for one of the members to do your ropes!

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sea-kem's picture

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 Great outcome mate 

Wed, 2023-10-04 21:29

 Great outcome mate 

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Love the West!

pelagicyachts's picture

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thanks mate- Gordon was a

Thu, 2023-10-05 08:29

thanks mate- Gordon was a great help - it feels like a big win - but the sad part is it is just what i am entitled to under the policy!!
They obviously try it on with everyone and if they have a success rate of X% it obviously adds a lot to the bottom line..

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Legend

Thu, 2023-10-05 10:09

 The legend continues.

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pelagicyachts's picture

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one of the (many) great

Thu, 2023-10-05 12:08

one of the (many) great benefits of this site Adam (with thanks)

straith's picture

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great result

Fri, 2023-10-06 06:22

 It seems like its getting harder and harder for companies to honour their commitments, just recently had to roast RAC for a very basic cockup in a roadside assistance incident involving every step of the process.

They did follow up at least with apologies etc after i made a song and dance but Im just getting tired of fighting all the time just to get what i paid for.

 

davewillo's picture

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 Just a recent experience

Tue, 2023-10-10 11:19

 Just a recent experience with NRMA. My young bloke lost an argument with a tree and bashed his car up badly (he was absolutely fine). They assessed it as a write-off and then got a call from their assessor. Agreed what I thought was a very good market value assessment and got the money the following week less excess. The whole thing took about 2 1/2 weeks and the only person I spoke to was the assessor, the rest was online. Very easy process.

Just hope I don't have to make a claim on the boat!

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