Be careful about who u choose for marine insurance!!

Walleye 100% Club · **Posted:** Sat Apr 12, 2014 8:29 am

Be careful when insuring your boat for the up coming season as to who u get to insure it and my advise to u is to have the boat inspected by a certified marine surveyor and I will tell u why!
I thought after all I have and still continue to have to do, (simply because MD marine insurance sent a marine surveyor down from Orilia to examine my boat and write a report) that I should tell my story in hopes I save someone from having to go through this same bullshit!
I bought a Nitro bass boat(I will be making another post about the nitro boat today also)the end of may last yr and used it up until the end of July fishing regularily out of it as I do fish the Quinte fishing series!
I took it out onto the lake for one Tourny and hit some rather large waves but for all who know me know I'm a pretty careful person, ended up 2 days later upon my next trip fishing my partner noticed a rather large crack on the inside that was not there a couple of days before.
I contacted a local marine repair shop after having Dicki recommend I see this guy who used to do fibreglass repair I did so and he told me I was looking at roughly $10,000 so I called insurance immediately.
After a month or so they sent a marine surveyor down from Orilia named Buchanan marine appraisals to look at the boat and to make a really long story some what shorter in his report he stated "in his opinion the cracks were there before the claim was made" and with that being in his report I had to enlist the services of another surveyor to come down at my expense to attempt to give me a report stating "in his opinion the cracks were not there" and then the reports would have to be sent to an umbudsman to wait his decision. The surveyor told me I was wasting my time and that the other surveyor had "stole from me" because of the statement he made about "in his opinion"
I am still going through a legal procedure as of yet all because this marine surveyor crook said what he did so to all out there who have no warranty on a boat please do yourself a favour and seek a marine surveyor and pay to have your boat inspected.
No one ever told me to do that and I wish someone would of!
Also I bought a 2010 Nitro Z7 and STAY away from nitro as they are shitty built boats!

Paul

stripey85 · **Joined:** Wed May 09, 2012 11:32 am **Posts:** 152

i have a GREAT insurance agent that I deal with. I ended up going with this company after telling state farm to go shove it after rates went up for no reason. I ended up getting more coverage for less cost. Also switched my house, car, truck, utility trailer, moms car all over to him and all the rates went down! i have given him about 20 referrals and every one of them their rates all were cheaper then previous companies

Walleye 100% Club · **Posted:** Mon Apr 14, 2014 1:01 am

Well to be honest what I paid for the boat for insurance wasn't bad it was just the way they went about screwing me out of any insurance at all. It wasn't the broker I was dealing with once I made the claim it was Aviva(sp?).
The whole thing was crooked and I had only had insurance on it for like a couple of months. I guess I should of only paid monthly and then I would of made a stop payment on it once they denied my claim.
Live and learn I guess and deal with the headaches as they come.
Like I said if this helps just one person then what I have done and said I'll be happy!

Paul

Walleye 9 · **Joined:** Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:05 pm **Posts:** 1985

It's funny you mention Aviva....I used to have my vehicles insured through them, and when I bought my boat, they said they didn't deal with boat insurance, and my broker had to find me a separate company for the boat coverage....

Dog Lake · **Posted:** Mon Apr 14, 2014 5:30 pm

Fight them on this one. If the policy was in force for a few months before the claim then the insurance company had ample opportunity to inspect the boat, ask you to provide pictures, or a marine survey. They have to prove the hull was cracked before the policy was taken out. As Hutchy said the adjuster is paid by the insurance company, and his "opinion" is just that, not the final say on the issue. Any letters from the previous owner, or people you have had out on the boat can bolster your case, as can pics you may have taken between the time you bought it when it cracked.

I'd put the pressure on the insurance company and forget about Tracker/Nitro. Let the insurance go after the manufacturer for negligence if they want, but that's not for you to have to fight. Since you have already started legal proceedings just stick with it and I'm sure you will prevail. My guess is they start offering to settle before it gets that far. The burden of proof is on the insurance co. and it was their responsibility to determine the condition of the boat when they insured it if they had concerns.

steve-hamilton · **Joined:** Fri Apr 25, 2003 7:40 am **Posts:** 1776

can i ask why an insurance company should pay for a poorly built cracked hull?

last time I cracked my engine block in my car I wasn't able to make an insurance claim for that....in fact, no auto work i've ever had done was I able to claim insurance for....

you didn't hit a rock, just rough water....

why should the insurance company pay for that?

edit: (and no, i don't work for aviva, lol)

Tamarax · **Joined:** Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:23 pm **Posts:** 32

stripey85 wrote:

i have a GREAT insurance agent that I deal with. I ended up going with this company after telling state farm to go shove it after rates went up for no reason. I ended up getting more coverage for less cost. Also switched my house, car, truck, utility trailer, moms car all over to him and all the rates went down! i have given him about 20 referrals and every one of them their rates all were cheaper then previous companies

Are you willing to name your agent here and give him/her some free publicity?

If not, can you PM me the name please?

Thanks

yankee clipper · **Joined:** Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:21 am **Posts:** 33

steve-hamilton wrote:

can i ask why an insurance company should pay for a poorly built cracked hull?

last time I cracked my engine block in my car I wasn't able to make an insurance claim for that....in fact, no auto work i've ever had done was I able to claim insurance for....

you didn't hit a rock, just rough water....

why should the insurance company pay for that?

edit: (and no, i don't work for aviva, lol)

because if the insurance policy has a damage clause than you should be able to file a claim , just as if you hit a tree with your car , you would file a claim. the example of a cracked engine block would be filed with the warranty company, if the warranty period ended you would be out of luck. the insurance should cover the structure of the boat and damage caused by the boat if you were to hit someone's boat.

Walleye 100% Club · **Posted:** Tue Apr 15, 2014 1:28 am

Because I am the third owner of the boat tracker says they won't transfer the warranty to anyone after the second owner.
As for what did I hit don't u think I would know if I hit a rock?? Have u ever been on lake O o a rough day in a fibreglass boat. Even though we were going quite slow it was still rougher then hell.
The adjuster told me straight up to get another marine surveyor to come in and give me a letter stating in his opinion the crack wasn't there before the claim was made and then the insurance company and I would send our findings to an ombudsman and have him make the call.
Once I brought in a marine surveyor he told me I was wasting my time going after the insurance company and that I should reach tracker marine a lesson about how poorly their boats r built and how they are illegally built as well!
Again in the opinion of the marine surveyor I had to bring into this the only reason the insurance company isn't paying for this is because of what the Orilia surveyor put in his findings!
The proper way to have solved this whole thing would have been to have the boat inspected either by the insurance company or myself paying a surveyor to look over the boat upon getting insurance but because this would cost the insurance company $$ they don't do it.
I use belair direct for home and auto insurance and they have inspected both vehicles once we put them on our policy and this way there are no what ifs but it costs someone $$$

Paul

Kinetic · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:36 am

Had somewhat similar issues with Aviva, truck was stolen. It took 4 months to settle for about half of the best price of a replacement. Try being late with the premiums & see how fast reaction is.

Walleye 100% Club · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:29 pm

My whole problem with the insurance company and broker was this they took the slimmy way out of paying for the damages, and forced me to have to go after the boat manufacturer knowing very well that there was no warranty on the boat for me from the get go. If I or they had of had the boat inspected upon getting insurance they wouldn't of had to spend $1,000( what they told me it costed them) to send a marine surveyor down in the first place even though it is a manufacturer problem. They should of possibly told me they wouldn't insure my boat or at least inspected it them selves but no took the low road out of the deal and so MD marine and Aviva insurance company's both screwed me!

Paul

stripey85 · **Joined:** Wed May 09, 2012 11:32 am **Posts:** 152

Insurance agent is rob Laurin. His cell is +1 (613) 453-6939. Give him a call. Worth the free phone call and quote ya. Great guy. Always returns calls and just an all around great guy.

Tamarax · **Joined:** Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:23 pm **Posts:** 32

stripey85 wrote:

Insurance agent is rob Laurin. His cell is +1 (613) 453-6939. Give him a call. Worth the free phone call and quote ya. Great guy. Always returns calls and just an all around great guy.

Thank you!!!

stripey85 · **Joined:** Wed May 09, 2012 11:32 am **Posts:** 152

No problems. Let me know how ya make out! Let him know I mentioned him

Walleye 100% Club · **Posted:** Mon Apr 28, 2014 3:39 pm

For all who have no warranty and are going to get insurance on ur rig, if it's worth anything to u do urself a favour and hire a marine surveyor to look over ur rig and give u something to send a copy of to ur insurance. It's worth a million dollars when u have to deal with insurance company's we all know don't like to cover what u think ur covered for!
For a piece of mind it's worth every penny!

Paul

HOME	Bait&Tackle	Bed&Breakfast	Boat Rentals	Campgrounds	Contact Us
Cottage Rentals	Guides/Fishing Charters	Hotels/Motels	Hunting Supplies	Ice Huts/Ice Guides	Marinas
Outfitters	QUINTE FISHING SERIES	Resorts	Tourism	Trailer Parks	Launches

Quinte Fishing

Be careful about who u choose for marine insurance!!

Who is online