Insurance Company denies claim
05-17-2013, 09:06 AM
#1
Registered
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Insurance Company denies claim
My 2006 Baja was sitting next to my house on the trailer in NJ when Sandy came to town. I had about 4' of water around the property according to the watermarks on the house. The plug was out of the bilge so water partially filled up the boat from the bottom up. End result was lots of corrosion to everything, rust and mold stains on the vinyl interior. Boat would have been washed away like all of my neighbors but it was trapped by objects and houses around it so it basically partially sunk in place with the trailer buried up to the axles in the sand. Insurance is denying anything that has to do with mold, corrosion or rust even though the mold, corrosion and rust happened because of Sandy. This boat has 100 hours on it and was pristine beforehand. What should I do next????????
05-17-2013, 10:08 AM
#3
HP Marine Ins. Specialist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Insuring any kind of boat
Posts: 985
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My 2006 Baja was sitting next to my house on the trailer in NJ when Sandy came to town. I had about 4' of water around the property according to the watermarks on the house. The plug was out of the bilge so water partially filled up the boat from the bottom up. End result was lots of corrosion to everything, rust and mold stains on the vinyl interior. Boat would have been washed away like all of my neighbors but it was trapped by objects and houses around it so it basically partially sunk in place with the trailer buried up to the axles in the sand. Insurance is denying anything that has to do with mold, corrosion or rust even though the mold, corrosion and rust happened because of Sandy. This boat has 100 hours on it and was pristine beforehand. What should I do next????????
05-17-2013, 11:10 AM
#4
Registered
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
SECTION I - LOSSES NOT INSURED
1. We do not insure for loss to the property described in
Coverage A either consisting of, or directly and immediately
caused by, one or more of the following:
a. wear, tear, marring, scratching, denting, deterioration,
inherent vice, latent defect, mechanical breakdown,
corrosion, electrolysis;
b. freezing, thawing, pressure or weight of water or ice,
whether driven by wind or not;
c. rust, mold, or wet or dry rot;
1. We do not insure for loss to the property described in
Coverage A either consisting of, or directly and immediately
caused by, one or more of the following:
a. wear, tear, marring, scratching, denting, deterioration,
inherent vice, latent defect, mechanical breakdown,
corrosion, electrolysis;
b. freezing, thawing, pressure or weight of water or ice,
whether driven by wind or not;
c. rust, mold, or wet or dry rot;
05-17-2013, 11:43 AM
#6
Registered
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 376
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
SECTION I - LOSSES NOT INSURED
1. We do not insure for loss to the property described in
Coverage A either consisting of, or directly and immediately
caused by, one or more of the following:
a. wear, tear, marring, scratching, denting, deterioration,
inherent vice, latent defect, mechanical breakdown,
corrosion, electrolysis;
b. freezing, thawing, pressure or weight of water or ice,
whether driven by wind or not;
c. rust, mold, or wet or dry rot;
1. We do not insure for loss to the property described in
Coverage A either consisting of, or directly and immediately
caused by, one or more of the following:
a. wear, tear, marring, scratching, denting, deterioration,
inherent vice, latent defect, mechanical breakdown,
corrosion, electrolysis;
b. freezing, thawing, pressure or weight of water or ice,
whether driven by wind or not;
c. rust, mold, or wet or dry rot;
05-17-2013, 11:44 AM
#7
Registered
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 376
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
SECTION I - LOSSES NOT INSURED
1. We do not insure for loss to the property described in
Coverage A either consisting of, or directly and immediately
caused by, one or more of the following:
a. wear, tear, marring, scratching, denting, deterioration,
inherent vice, latent defect, mechanical breakdown,
corrosion, electrolysis;
b. freezing, thawing, pressure or weight of water or ice,
whether driven by wind or not;
c. rust, mold, or wet or dry rot;
1. We do not insure for loss to the property described in
Coverage A either consisting of, or directly and immediately
caused by, one or more of the following:
a. wear, tear, marring, scratching, denting, deterioration,
inherent vice, latent defect, mechanical breakdown,
corrosion, electrolysis;
b. freezing, thawing, pressure or weight of water or ice,
whether driven by wind or not;
c. rust, mold, or wet or dry rot;
05-17-2013, 12:44 PM
#8
HP Marine Ins. Specialist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Insuring any kind of boat
Posts: 985
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Dave,
If you got a letter denying a claim for the circumstances and cause of loss referenced in your very first post in this thread, you need to raise a huge flag with your claim to the adjuster, their supervisor and the State Farm legal department. Your policy clearly states:
SECTION I - LOSSES INSURED
We insure for accidental direct physical loss to the property described in Coverage A, except as provided in SECTION I - LOSSES
NOT INSURED.
SECTION I - LOSSES NOT INSURED
1. We do not insure for loss to the property described in Coverage A either consisting of, or directly and immediately caused by, one or more of the following:
a. wear, tear, marring, scratching, denting, deterioration, inherent vice, latent defect, mechanical breakdown, corrosion, electrolysis; b. freezing, thawing, pressure or weight of water or ice, whether driven by wind or not; c. rust, mold, or wet or dry rot
HOWEVER, WE DO INSURE FOR ANY RESULTING LOSS FROM ITEMS A. through F. UNLESS THE RESULTING LOSS IS ITSELF A LOSS NOT INSURED BY THIS SECTION.
Your adjuster needs to go back and get to the INITIAL CAUSE OF LOSS (i.e. THE HURRICANE!). You need to run this up the supervisor pole because after reading your policy, I do not see why this claim would be denied. I know I'm not State Farm and I know that I do not sell their product, but just in reading the policy language it seems as though your adjuster is not citing the initial cause of loss but rather looking as the causes of loss after the boat sank and water receded. Stand firm. If your agent isn't going to bat for you or doesn't know marine insurance (yes, it does happen when agents sell policies that they don't know) well, then you need to be your biggest advocate and ride the supervisor to reopen the claim and get the correct cause of loss cited.
If you got a letter denying a claim for the circumstances and cause of loss referenced in your very first post in this thread, you need to raise a huge flag with your claim to the adjuster, their supervisor and the State Farm legal department. Your policy clearly states:
SECTION I - LOSSES INSURED
We insure for accidental direct physical loss to the property described in Coverage A, except as provided in SECTION I - LOSSES
NOT INSURED.
SECTION I - LOSSES NOT INSURED
1. We do not insure for loss to the property described in Coverage A either consisting of, or directly and immediately caused by, one or more of the following:
a. wear, tear, marring, scratching, denting, deterioration, inherent vice, latent defect, mechanical breakdown, corrosion, electrolysis; b. freezing, thawing, pressure or weight of water or ice, whether driven by wind or not; c. rust, mold, or wet or dry rot
HOWEVER, WE DO INSURE FOR ANY RESULTING LOSS FROM ITEMS A. through F. UNLESS THE RESULTING LOSS IS ITSELF A LOSS NOT INSURED BY THIS SECTION.
Your adjuster needs to go back and get to the INITIAL CAUSE OF LOSS (i.e. THE HURRICANE!). You need to run this up the supervisor pole because after reading your policy, I do not see why this claim would be denied. I know I'm not State Farm and I know that I do not sell their product, but just in reading the policy language it seems as though your adjuster is not citing the initial cause of loss but rather looking as the causes of loss after the boat sank and water receded. Stand firm. If your agent isn't going to bat for you or doesn't know marine insurance (yes, it does happen when agents sell policies that they don't know) well, then you need to be your biggest advocate and ride the supervisor to reopen the claim and get the correct cause of loss cited.
Last edited by WakezoneINS; 05-17-2013 at 12:46 PM.
Offshoreonly Advertiser
