Posted by Scott Forgey (jsforgey@…>)
Steve,
As an attorney (I am in recovery now) and someone who dealt with
insurance companies after we had $50K in damage to our house from Hurricane
Wilma, I have one bit of advice:Â Â Submit an additional claim.
The adjustor’s findings are not conclusive. You can (and
should) dispute them. The adjustor’s job is to pay out as little as they can
get away with, to put it mildly. Most people just accept the mere pittance
they give and shake their heads. They count on this.
Review the terms of the insurance agreement and contact someone
higher than customer service, let them know your experience and find out where
to dispute the claim.  Print out the items damaged and web pages for the
replacement costs. Include time and effort and make it easy for them to amend
it.
It took a call to the president of the insurance company (a
bankrupt Poe insurance) to get my roof fully paid for after an adjuster made “mistakesâ€
in his calculations. Calculating…a good adjective for insurance companies. It
is all part of the game.
Scott
Freedom 32 Girlfriend
Scott Forgey
21362 Summertrace Circle
Boca Raton, FL 33428
561.445.5179
skype: sforgey1
“Nothing is ever wrong in the universe, there is only what’s
missing!”
W. Erhard
From:
FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com [mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of William A Cormack
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 7:06 AM
To: sgaber@…; FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: Ligthning Protection
\
Steve:
It sure sounds like they screwed you. I thought that the policy would replace
with new materials/parts. Have you spoken to the claims people at Boat/US about
this? I may have included professional contract prices in my claim and then
done the work myself to try to work off the deductible.
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: sgaber@…
[mailto:sgaber@…]
Sent: Saturday, June 28, 2008 2:16 AM
To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
Cc: William A Cormack
Subject: RE: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: Ligthning Protection
I would not have minded paying the deductible if they assessed the damage at a
reasonable amount. There was a Humminbird waterproof VHF, a Signet 272
knotmeter and 267 depth sounder, a Forespar steaming/foredeck light, a Foreapar
anchor lght, an Aqua Signal Series 40 combination runnig light, an Aqua Signal
Series 25 stern light, six Guest interior lights and a JVC am-fm stereo. You
think that only cost $824? The VHF was almost $200, KM and DS alone were $600.
The Guest interior lights were $30 each. The running light was about $80, the
stern light as about $40. The Forespar combo light was $65. I forget what the
anchor light cost. If course, I had to replace all the wiring, including the
mast wiring and the breaker panel as well. And I did it all myself. If I had to
pay somebody to do it, the bill would have been in the thousands. That guy was
a Bozo.
On the other hand, they did pay my measly claim quickly. It paid for replacing
the VHF and one Guest interior light.
What pissed me off was the miniscule amount they gave me in return for the
$12,000 I paid them in premiums over the past 18 years without a claim and
their refusal to budge on the amount.
Steve Gaber
Sanderling, 1967 C-31 #77
Oldsmar, FL
---- William A Cormack <wacormack@…>
wrote:
My experience, WITH BOTA/US, was also very different. It was not lightning
it was a grounding but they were very fast and cooperative. They did deduct the
deductible you have to expect that.Bill
From: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Al Lorman
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2008 11:00 AM
To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: Ligthning Protection
My experience could not have been more different. My insurer, Markel, told
me to have an marine electrician look at the boat and write up a repair
estimate (including installation), which they paid in full minus my deductible
(of course, all of the destroyed electronics were new). They also paid to have
a rigger examine the mast.Since I have switched to BoatUS for my current boat, your tale makes me
very nervous.Al Lorman
From: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of sgaber@…
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 11:17 PM
To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Al Lorman
Subject: RE: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: Ligthning ProtectionMy Columbia (with aluminum mast and SS rigging) was st ruck by lightning
in her slip on Cleareater Beach, FL. When I arived at the boat the guy in the
slip next door asked if the anchor light he found on his deck was mine. I
looked upo and saw that now only was the anchor light gone, but so was the VHF
antenna, the steaming light and Windex. Down beli\ow I found that the VHF, DS,
KM and all 6 of the new interior lights I had just installed werre fried.
Toast, crispy critters.No other damage was apparent. My insurance is with BoatUS. The deductible
is $600. They sent an adjuster ofver, he looked at the boat and said the damage
was $824. They sent me qa check for $224, which didn’t pay for any of the
instruments. Maybe it paid for the interipr lights.Up till that time I had been paying BoatUS $680 per year for 15 years,
amounting to more than $10,000. I had not had a claim against them before (or
since). You think they would cut me a break give me a little more to help pay
the damage? Certainly not.
Unfortunately, BoatUS is the only company I could find that would insure
my 42-year-old boat.
Insurance conmpanies are among the most hated institutions in the world.
Wonder why?Steve Gaber
Sanderling, 1967 C-31 #77
Oldsmar, FL---- Al Lorman <ajl@…
mailto:ajl%40lormanlawdc.com > wrote:I had side flash (or electromagnetic pulse) damage to my former F30
(yes, I
told Doug in advance). Luckily, it caused no damage to the mast. It
did
arbitrarily wipe out a fair amount of electronic gear. I did some
research
thereafter and concluded that the best defense against lightning
damage is a
really good insurance policy. There is no expert consensus on any
system.Al Lorman
From: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup%40yahoogroups.com
[mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup%40yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of Herman and
Gail
Schiller
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 4:55 PM
To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup%40yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: Ligthning ProtectionAll lightning protection appears to be aimed at preventing a
lightning strike by continuously “leaking” the static
charge in an
effort keep the charge below the voltage required to ionize the air
between the cloud and the ground. The land version of this is a
series of very pointed copper rods affixed to the peak of a roof
connected by a very heavy braided conductor eventually leading to a
ground rod or two next to the house. These conductors are formed so
that all radii are gradual (lightning tends to be unable to make
sharp turns). Likewise, there are the gadgets, with multiple fine
wires projecting, that are intended to discharge voltages to prevent
them from building up by mounting them at the mast-head and running a
wire (no sharp bends) to an immersed ground plate. These do the same
thing as the land-based systems. They are NOT guaranteed, but they
sure improve the odds. HermAt 12:45 PM 6/26/2008, you wrote:
— In
mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup%40yahoogroups.comFreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups
.com mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup%40yahoogroups.com ,
“lance_ryley”
<lance_ryley@…> wrote:Alex,
I think that the trick is to not be the tallest mast in
townUh oh. I am in trouble…
Thanks for the responses guys.
The US standards call for at “least” 4 AWG, and 1 sqr.
ft copper
plate. The plate is OK in salt water but insufficient for fresh.
I
think the wire would be probably OK for “most” strikes.
Ani joints
or bends are of more concern there. It would heat up substatially
so
it probably needs to be held a short distance away from the mast
(not
practical with whisbones, but I have booms). Still the tought of
all
that weight aloft and the chance of attracting a hit bothers me.
On the other hand I see no restrictions for the mast in my
insurance
policy and I added an option to repair or replace damaged
equipment
(with Allstate, the price wasn’t bad at all either. Being landlocked
in a fresh water lake has some advantages ;))
Anybody with first hadn knowledge of a strike on carbon fiber?
Cheers,
Alex
–
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