Finding an Honest Surveyor

[meridian28]

I will also recommend Bill Gladding. He did my survey three weeks ago at Brunswick Landing Marina, a 9 hour job on a Friday. I had 125 pictures on Saturday, had discussions with him over the weekend and the final report first thing Monday morning. He followed up a few days later to be sure I had my insurance.

Terry
Meridian

[boatpoker]

I got a call today from a buyer wanting a boat surveyed in Port Dalhousie Pier Marina, St. Catharines, Ontario. I informed the gentleman that I could not survey the boat there because I had been banned by the marina owner.
The marina owner also sells boats and banned me because he thinks I caused a few of his deals to fall apart. The gentlemans response was ... "well I guess I'll have to call someone else".

I consider it a feather in my cap to have been banned by this marina but I feel sorry for the gentleman who will now use a 'surveyor' acceptable to the marina owner.

[Salty Mike]

For some reason I thought Boat Surveyors would be licensed and bonded. Is this not the case?
Meaning they can miss or omit problems that can cost many dollars or lives and not be held responsible. If this is the case and one can't really trust the survey what is the purpose of getting it in the first place? Without a bond isn't the survey just a worthless piece of paper?

[SV THIRD DAY]

Ahhh....the realization of the survey sinks in....

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by Salty Mike

For some reason I thought Boat Surveyors would be licensed and bonded. Is this not the case?
Meaning they can miss or omit problems that can cost many dollars or lives and not be held responsible. If this is the case and one can't really trust the survey what is the purpose of getting it in the first place? Without a bond isn't the survey just a worthless piece of paper?

Mike the good surveyors are, they carry Errors and Omissions insurance and they have you sign a work order stating they do so etc, the shitty up or no longer accredited surveyors do not carry E&O ins and have you sign nothing or just as bad a statement saying they can miss anything and not be responsible.
The sad reality is that hardly anyone here does their due diligence and ask the surveyor the tough questions or even proof of credentials and E&O Insurance. Some surveyors one spoke of here ,in se fl were at one time accredited , lost their accreditation for unethical practices such as copying and pasting on a survey , lost their E&O ins, but still practice surveying and if something bad happens to the boat due to a fault missed, the ins co can do their work and figure out the survey is not a legal survey and tell you your policy is null and void due to the wording on your policy. " this insurance is in effect by use of true and legal survey,,,,,,"
So it pays to ask tougher questions of your surveyor other than " how long and how many?" You should ask
What's your E&O ins carrier and policy number?
Will you sign a work order that doesn't relieve you of responsibility for missed items of great importance,
If they answer no to either of these, find a different surveyor. If they say no problem,,, then begin the interview,,,


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Taoptcanv]

Hi all, I saw the previous recommendations for Mike Hagan as a surveyor. Personally, I would avoid using him, though he is the only surveyor in the Jax area that does go up the mast to check the rigging.
My experience is that he missed many major items during a survey of my boat costing me thousands in unexpected repairs and delays in getting underway. I was almost to the point of getting rid of the boat after a month of ownership. There was no apology on his part and a refund of his fees would have not sufficed to correct the problems. I also found him to be very rude after the fact.

[JPA Cate]

Seeing as how this thread has been rejuvenated, what do you-all think of asking a potential insurer for a surveyor recommendation?

I think it must be very difficult for newbies to make the contacts that would allow one to discover a good surveyor, it's usually something one learns along the way, after becoming a boat owner. So how can my imagined newbie find a reliable one, especially when opinions differ among the people making the referrals? Corollary question: how does the newbie choose among the opinions, too?

Newbies with knowledgeable friends could ask them, but what if they're newbies that don't have them?

Good luck,

Ann

[sailingharry]

Finding a good surveyor is a real challenge. I picked mine from a list of BoatUS certified surveyors in Annapolis (Peter Hartoft). He missed a rotted chainplate knee for the forward starboard lower shroud (I already knew, and I'm glad he didn't note it or I would have had to fix it sooner than I planned). More humorous, he mistook my main halyard for a shroud. Seriously. He stated that there was no main halyard present, and there were screw shackles in the rigging (the main halyard was made down the the starboard after lower turnbuckle). Worse, he never responded to any contact from me to clarify his report -- I eventually deduced his error on my own.

Unless you get a really good surveyor (who knows YOUR boat and the things that go wrong on it -- for instance, Gene Barnes is an expert in Sabres), then the survey serves only one purpose, and that is getting insurance.

Harry

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Seeing as how this thread has been rejuvenated, what do you-all think of asking a potential insurer for a surveyor recommendation?

Ann

Take a look at these survey sample reports that were accepted by insurance companies, then rethink your question.

[kmacdonald]

I thought a lot of insurance companies were doing away with the survey requirement.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

...what do you-all think of asking a potential insurer for a surveyor recommendation?...

This will likely lead to great disappointment.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Seeing as how this thread has been rejuvenated, what do you-all think of asking a potential insurer for a surveyor recommendation?If your only goal is to get the boat insured, it's a good idea as they pretty much have to accept the results of the survey. If you are getting a survey to assess the underlying condition of the boat, it's pretty much irrelevant as your average insurance company doesn't really care beyond resale value.

I think it must be very difficult for newbies to make the contacts that would allow one to discover a good surveyor, it's usually something one learns along the way, after becoming a boat owner. So how can my imagined newbie find a reliable one, especially when opinions differ among the people making the referrals? Corollary question: how does the newbie choose among the opinions, too? I don't think it's a newbie issue.
We got our first survey 23yrs ago. We've gotten 2 more since then both in completely different areas. Unless you are turning boats over every 2-3yrs repeat business is unlikely to result in a "go to" surveyor.

Newbies with knowledgeable friends could ask them, but what if they're newbies that don't have them?

Good luck,

Ann

Contacting one of the surveyor organizations and asking for sample reports and experience is about the best you can expect the average person to do.

Edit: Of course, the insurance recommended insurer can still ask for a lot of silly things that the insurance company will then want corrected. Since the surveyor is beholden to the insurance company, they may be less likely to change gray area subjects.
(example: on one survey, they listed adding 30m of chain to the kedge as a mandatory item to fix. There were two other anchors with chain on the boat. I disagreed as you want a kedge light and convenient to row out with the dingy.)

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Taoptcanv.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

I thought a lot of insurance companies were doing away with the survey requirement.

You may be right.

My '79 Sabre 34 required a survey in order to get insurance when I bought it in 2008 (I bought it without a survey, and only had one done to meet the insurance needs). I am currently insured with BoatUS. A year ago, I contacted USAA to see about possibly changing, and they (actually Markel, through USAA) said an owner's checklist was sufficient. I didn't go with them, as a condition of coverage for a dismasting was a rigging survey every other year -- that gets expensive fast.

A buddy just bought a mid-80's Hunter 34, and BoatUS did not require a survey.

Two data points, but it is an interesting development.

Harry

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

I thought a lot of insurance companies were doing away with the survey requirement.

I think that depends on the Boat Type/Value/Intended Use/Insurance Carrier.

My daughters 1984 Newport 33 only required an owner self-survey with photos for a 20K value.

My 1977 Hudson Force 50 required a full survey and rigging survey for a 80K value policy with the same company and same area of coverage.

Self surveys on the Newport going forward and a professional survey every 5yrs for my Hudson.