rumrunner29

One motor is completely torn down for inspection, the other is still in the boat. I have the inspection report for the motor that was inspected by the claims surveyor. It was all done last year at the end of summer. Once the claim was denied and I knew I didn't have enough cash to repair it, I winterized it and put the covers on it. Now, I wish that I had fought the insurance company, just didn't think I could win even though I knew what caused the failure. If I rebuild them, I would like to change to a better intake/carb, but the old intake will probably survive and the carb is ok.

jeff1000man

You can still fight them on it. Keep calling and harrasing them. Most of the surveyors that work for these comapnies are idiots anyway. Trust me, I've been in the claims business for almost 7 years now all over the country. You can always report them to the attorney general's office. That gets their attention without paying an atotorney yourself. Or make a complaint to DOI. Dept Of Insurance in your state. Tell them that you beleive your insurer denied the claim on BAD FAITH without a thorough and complete investigation.

Customer service is way more important to insurance companies these days than how much the claim is settled for. A big complaint on their state records hurts them way more than a payment for a claim that small.

rumrunner29

Thanks Jeff,

My biggest problem with the insurance is that I really don't know what to do next. I have never had a claim denied and after I accepted the fact that they wouldn't pay for it. I kinda forgot about it. Now that its been 7 months since the claim, I thought that I didn't have any options except to pay for it all myself. How would I report them to the AG, or the DOI. I would assume that I would need the opinion of several professional marine mechanics on my side as well. The mechanic that tore it down knew that it had to happen like I said, but the insurance didn't believe us.

jeff1000man

The rules change a little from state to state, but usually you have a year. All you have to do to report to AG, or DOI is call them and ask them what you need to do file a complaint against your insurer for unfair claims settlement. They have a legally binding state compliance requirement to respond in a very short amount of time. That gets the ball rolling. Then all you need to do is have some sort of proof that the canopy belw off and water entered the engine and caused damage. THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE is irrelevant because all you have to prove is cause and origin of damage. If ANY damage is caused the way you said it is, then ALL damage would be the burdon of the insurer. Hope this helps

wjb21ndtown

Wait wait wait... Most challenges to insurance policies are contract challenges, and general contract challenges have a 6 year statute of limitations. Some may have shorter statutory limitations, but that is the starting point. You lose credibility by waiting, but it doesn't bar your claim (look up "latches" in a legal dictionary for a further explanation).

Don't just fight your insurance company by pestering them, fight them intelligently. Talk to a marine professional, get an opinion in writing that best supports your case (i.e. something that actually says that IF a boat is left uncovered for months it COULD get enough water in the motors to do the type of damage done to your boat), and get an attorney to write a letter for you. If you don't get an attorney to write a letter for you off of the bat (which might not be a bad strategy as you'll have to pay them) AT LEAST get a professional opinion, and write a carefully crafted letter to your insurance provider (I will help you if you'd like). That might get you some $$$ to repair your boat.

Griff

I really don't understand how that much water could have gotten into the engines either, unless the hull plug was in and the water in bilge was higher than the dipstick or the flame arrestors were off.

These engines could probably have easily been saved if the proper attention was given to them when the water was first discovered.

rumrunner29

I understand your doubt, I could not believe that water got in the motors either, but I have found no other way that this could have happened. The reason that the engines were not saved was because the engine hatch was off for repair for 8 days and I did not use the boat. When I notced the mooring cover had blown off, I didn't think anything about, just put it back on. The day I got the hatch back, I put it on and started to get the boat ready to go, but the motors would not crank. I did not understand why the starters engauged, but motors didn't turn. I am not a mechanic, so I went in and started to research why this would happen. I took the boat to a friends garage 2 days later and found water in the oil, we then removed the spark plugs and cranked the motors. When we did this water came out of the plug holes. We then drained the oil from the motors and took steps to try and prevent any more damage, but the motors had set too long with the water in them before we found the problem. The boat did not have the plug in and the motors have never been submerged. actually, I have never had a problem out of the boat and it had been out many times last year before the hatch was removed. The starboard motor was removed and torn down for inspection. We found rust leading down from the intake into the cylinders and found water in the oil pans. There was no evidence of gasket failure and all exhaust headers were checked for leaks and we didn't find any. I do not plan to harrass the insurance company, rather I am going to have a marine surveyor do a damage inspection and then take his report (if its favorable) to the insurance company and ask that they reconsider the claim, if not then i'll just have to eat the repair cost. Thanks again for all the advice.

ridefast77

iTrader: (5)

i have 2 454s i am asking 2500 each good motors parting a hole boat out let me know 252-646-2751 thanks have a lot of other parts to

ridefast77

iTrader: (5)

latham steering, k planes and more

stevesxm

what is your theory about how the water got in ? if the carb if left wide open and it got rained in sufficiently to ruin the motors, i would really enjoy reading the nasty letter your lawyer would send.

[I] dear great weasel insurance company,
my client was monumentally stupid and didn't think it was necessary to cover his carbs while the hatch was off so the motors got rained in for so long they rusted into moorings... please mail us a check...

you can't really expect them to pay for that... its hard enough to get them to pay legitimate claims never mind " space aliens came and filled my motors with water" ones...