Handling insurance claim

[laserfish]

I know some of you have been through this, so I will ask you. I hit the corner of the roof of the house with the tower and broke one of the welds and one of the lap joints on my Metcraft tower (very narrow drive and I forgot to put the tower down). Welder said he could fix it but it wouldnt hold because of the stress it would be under. State Farm said it was a covered claim. Spoke with the adjuster and he wants me to see if I can find new or used parts, or a fabricator to make a new piece or tower. Gave me several places to call and said maybe I could find a "boat junkyard" to find a replacement part. I told him that I was not comfortable with using used parts for such a high stress part, even if they could be found.
Any of you have any thoughts of how I should handle this. I know there are no new parts around and I won't put on used. Give me your ideas please.

[talltigeguy]

With the old metcraft tower, you are lucky it hasn't broken by now anyway.

I would just point out the liability of having a weld break...it would then fall on someone's head and could be a legitimate concern. I also don't think it is your job to search the internet for a junkyard replacement, that is their job.

To be 100% honest, I would replace it with a monster tower or such as that is similar to what you have had...but I have no idea how they would handle if you wanted a designer tower like the Samson.

[chpthril]

Ask the adjuster if welding broken tie-rods his how they pay claims on car wrecks. Insurance is about putting it back to where it was, no more, no less.

Give them a price 3 replacement towers and have them cut you a check for an amount somewhere in the middle. Dont forget to include labor to swap it.

[Ewok]

Ask the adjuster if welding broken tie-rods his how they pay claims on car wrecks. Insurance is about putting it back to where it was, no more, no less.

Give them a price 3 replacement towers and have them cut you a check for an amount somewhere in the middle. Dont forget to include labor to swap it.

X2, I had to find a fiberglass guy for some side damage caused by a bad storm. The insurance guy cut me a check for the very conservative estimate which covered it all and fixed it to my liking. For example, the fiberglass guy said I could fix it with gelcoat or some other new type of paint that I never heard of. The paint option was much cheaper but I told the shop and insurance adjuster I wanted gelcoat and it fixed the way it was before the storm. Ok they said, company cut me a check which covered the 4500 repair.

[raythompson]

Stand your ground and demand a new tower. Insurance companies try to pay out as little as possible. When my car was wrecked (totaled) the insurance company offered $23,000.00. I refused. I documented the value of the car. The insurance company came back with $27,000.00. I again refused and provided more documentation. I finally settled for 29,500. We were down to arguing over $4.00 for a license plate. Also somewhere along the way the insurance company "forgot" they had to include sales tax.

Insurance is to make it whole. Welding scrap metal together does not make it whole. Price a new tower, with installation, and submit the documentation to the insurance company. It really is about substantiating the claim.

[Paublo]

Since when is it your responsibility to find parts or materials. The only call that I would make is for a new tower. Then I would hold that number in my back pocket to compare with what they come up with after they do their job and research replacement costs.

[laserfish]

Thanks for the input. Not looking to get to them, but won't settle for a cheap china knockoff either. Mike, like the three quote idea. Have done that before on a car and it worked out well. I'll keep you posted. Ideas and comments are still welcome.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

[Ewok]

BTW, how did your house handle the impact? Is homeowners covering that?

[laserfish]

That was an easy fix I could do on my own. Cost about 10.00. Tower, not so easy. I am just glad there was no gel coat damage.

[yllw20]

laser,


very shocking that they told you to find.....must be an auto guy who doesnt know boats.
I would find a replacement comparable to the metcraft...as it is no longer available due to out of business. the next thing you need to consider is the replacement tower probably will not line up with the old tower mount points. So you will need to add for fiber repair to close old holes and then labor for complete new mounting? do you have speakers/lights on your tower? did you include time to r&i those things also? Rewire new tower?

Make sure you check the mount points of the tower for spider cracks in the fiber.

[pdhj1990]

Laser,

I recommend you do the following:

• Contact a repair shop in your area and obtain a quote to replace the tower and fix any fiberglass issues - request new and/or like quality parts
• Read the section of your policy that addresses this type of loss - this claim should be covered
• Call you agent and ask him to navigate the claim process - this is his/her job
• Let the adjuster and your agent know that if you can't achieve a satisfactory resolution, you intend to contact your states insurance commissioners office and seek their assistance

Let me know how this works out. This type of claim should not be this difficult to resolve.

Paul

[laserfish]

Looks like MoneyPity had the same experience and State Farm replaced his with a Samson Razor. Should I use that precident with my claims agent as an example of what State Farm has already done for the same boat and accident type? I would love a Razor on my Tige.

[Ewok]

Looks like MoneyPity had the same experience and State Farm replaced his with a Samson Razor. Should I use that precident with my claims agent as an example of what State Farm has already done for the same boat and accident type? I would love a Razor on my Tige.

Yeah, i would definitely push for that, remember to include cost of installation and fiberglass repair

[chpthril]

Looks like MoneyPity had the same experience and State Farm replaced his with a Samson Razor. Should I use that precident with my claims agent as an example of what State Farm has already done for the same boat and accident type? I would love a Razor on my Tige.

Only down side is that his boat was only a year or, and the Razor was actually cheaper then an new E series through his dealer. But I dont see how they could decline to cover the cost of say a Monster or Aerial and the labor to swap.

[laserfish]

Update

Hooray for State Farm. I went out and got estimates and told the adjuster that the Razor worked best for my situation as it folded easily to clear the house. Next day, called and said they would be sending a check in the mail for the full amount minus the deductible. Samson Razor is now on order, and all is well. I have had nothing but very positive experiences with State Farm (with 2 kids, we had some car experience with them). Worth a little more to have the peace of mind to know that they step up and take care of you when you need them.
Thanks for all the input.
While we were at it, went ahead and ordered the S7 speakers and harpoon amp. Scott at Samson is great to work with, excellent and personal customer service. Also gave me some off season discounts, too. Can't wait for summer to get here! Merry Christmas to all.
Brent