Has this Happened to Anyone Else ?

[GUYBURGER]

Two and a half years ago my wife and I bought a new 50' power catamaran. On the fourth day of our transit from Florida to our homeport in Virginia the boat sank when an escape hatch broke loose and the boat rapidly filled with water. The insurance company denied coverage and the foreign builder ignored our plight. We have spent the last 25 months in litigation and are now trying to sell the boat hull.

[teneicm]

Guyburger-

Sorry to hear about your loss and subsequent troubles.

I've read the blog post you've linked to in your signature and was wondering if you could expand on the part where you say "On October 18, 2010, we received an unfavorable ruling from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, stating that the insurance company does not need to honor their contract."

What did the court base that ruling on?

[Intentional Drifter]

Sad, infuriating, depressing, all those things and more. What kind of boat is it? How did you determine the hatch failed?

ID

[GUYBURGER]

The policy has 16 exclusions one of which is they will not cover "A Manufacturer's Defect." Another of the exclusioons says that in the case of "Latent Defect" they will not pay for the defect but will pay for all loses resulting from the defect. No one is arguing that this was a manufacturer's defect and no one is arguing is't also a "Latent Defect" but the court found that if any exclusion protects the insurance company from paying the they don't have to pay.

[Glenn C]

i feel for you with this unconsciable behaviour fromn the insurers and the manufacturer. I could not find the name of the manufacturer on your blog so could you please let us know who they are?

[Ram]

wOW SO SORRY ,

[Bergovoy]

Originally Posted by GUYBURGER

The policy has 16 exclusions one of which is they will not cover "A Manufacturer's Defect." Another of the exclusioons says that in the case of "Latent Defect" they will not pay for the defect but will pay for all loses resulting from the defect. No one is arguing that this was a manufacturer's defect and no one is arguing is't also a "Latent Defect" but the court found that if any exclusion protects the insurance company from paying the they don't have to pay.

I have issues with this story....

You should not haveen arguing or rather agree with the manufacturers defect... Is it a defect? did the manufacturer acknowledge it was a defect? Did the insurance company PROVE it was a defect? And if the Manufacturer agreed to it being a defect how can he avoid correcting it and compensating you for your loss?

is sounds like the manufacturer is denying admitting it was a defect to avoid liability... and it sounds like admitted it was a defect and basing your case on a conflict in the clauses, but, I am fairly sure that there is clauses that are in and part of the policy that states conflicts go to them...

keep in mind in real world contracts the end user is entitled to the right of interpretation...

[Bergovoy]

just read where you are still paying premiums to them.. your lawyer sucks..

File for inop, and self insure.... the worst thing that would happen is you go b-kay, which you should have done with the boat loan..


I would hope you are incorporated or otherwise financially protected to servive a chapter 7 and to protect the debtors you will need/want/value for the future...

wow...I truly hope you do well, but, for an appeal you will need to find a fault in the manner the original decision was handed down, not just a 'retrial'....

and as far as insurance compnies go, yup. its a scam... but i would expect them to defend this claim vigoriosly as they havent had the oppertunity to make any money off you...

they might think it was intentional or a scam on your part if you were to look at it from the time line perspective...

anyways, best of wishes to you and your family this is a tough tought loss...

[bljones]

The pictures are heartbreaking. This a good cautionary tale about the importance of having patching materials on board, even a new surveyed boat. A piece of plywood, some sikaflex, a few screws and a cordless drill would have kept her afloat.

[boden36]

If I understand you correctly, the insurer claims it is a defect and therefore does not have to pay, yet the manufacturer claims it is not a defect and does not have to pay. I would have thought that only one of them could be correct.
Is the surveyor who missed the problem just days before the sinking insured?
Regards, Richard.

[Tellie]

A brand new boat? Wow that sucks. Typical insurance companies. They have the resources to just out last you and figure you'll go away before you lose everything you've ever worked for. I know I'd want to fight if I were in your shoes. But they have the deeper pockets. Perhaps you should look at the Bumfuzzles. An all out Internet blitz on every website devoted to boats may get their attention where your lawyer (another group of &%$&^*^$ bags) failed. Man good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[Palarran]

What I don't understand is why your insurance company didn't subrogate the claim directly against the manufacturers insurance company. Typically, in a case where defects are causes of loss, you automatically get your money, then the two insurers fight it out.

[Intentional Drifter]

When comparing to the pictures on the OP blog, it looks like an Aventure. http://www.aventure-powercatamaran.c...B50Lantana.jpg

Scratch another company from ever being considered by me!

I agree with Tellie -- time to start planning an all-out Internet assault. You might want to consider looking at the "other" forum that specializes in multihulls for some examples. Sometimes, it gets results where others means do not. I suggest that also go looking for the biggest, baddest, meanest shark-in-a-suit you can find.

Good Luck -- you have been seriously wronged.

ID

[Bergovoy]

manufacturing defect mean frality in construction resulting from a departure in design and engineering specification...

latent would mean not currently apparent or visible and doomed to failure at a later time.

both seem complimentary, and both seem to put fault onto the builder... but the issue here is that the burden of proof would be the insurance companies to prove that it was a deviation from design or that it just wasnt built properly...

they would have had to have credible witnesses in engineering that would testify what the original design and construction methods are supposed to be... and i am guessing that no one but the boat company has those designs criteria, unless they offered or were subpoened...

the big problem would be that the boat builder is in a different country and would need to be tried under a different legal system...

[Intentional Drifter]

Originally Posted by Bergovoy

they would have had to have credible witnesses in engineering that would testify what the original design and construction methods are supposed to be... and i am guessing that no one but the boat company has those designs criteria, unless they offered or were subpoened...

If the builder really is Aventure, they say on their website that the designer was Angelo Lavranos. Lavranos is a serious designer who has done work for some the biggest names in sailing, Steve Dashew being one of them. I really don't think he would take kindly to somebody messing up one of his boats. From his website, it sure looks like one of his boats:

Lavranos // Marine Design

Might want to contact him.

ID