An Old Dufus Hit My Docked Boat

[senormechanico]

Thanks everyone.
Our neighbor is as PO'ed as I am.

Particularly offensive was the paragraph at the end of their denial of damages letters to both my neighbor and me was (and I quote):

"Any person who knowingly and with intent to defraud and insurance company or other person, files a statement of claim containing any materially false information ocr conceals for the purpose of misleading, information concerning any fact material to the claim may be subject to a civil suit seeking the return of any payments and other costs and may be subject to criminal prosecution."

Lela Swarts (with an s) at Safeco is not anyone's friend but the company she works for.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

In a small claims court you would want to bring;
Signed and notarized statements from the witnesses and or have them show at court.
Any and all documents including pictures and video w/player.

And check out these links>>> Island County Small Claims Court | Reviews, Hiring and Free Quotes for Island County, Washington agencies!

Small Claims Forms - Small Claims Court - Washington - State Specific

Any court, small claims or not, would be interested in seeing the police incident report about what happened. That would be the first document I would get a hold of to see just how strong a case you have.

Sometimes there is a big difference between what happened and being able to prove what happened in court. My experience has been that often times LEOs are quick to figure out what happened and are often willing to produce a very strong incident report, especially if you make it known what you want.

[tomfl]

Not sure where you are located, but most states have some sort of department of professional regulation and an insurance commission. Lucky for me I live in the state capitol and was able to go to the insurance commission office and place a phone call there using a speaker phone. The insurance commission employee sat and listened while the insurance company gave me the run around. When she finally spoke up the insurance agent hung up. At that point the insurance company employee called the insurance company's main office and suggested a fine was an option the next time she someone hung the phone up on her.

It would be a big blow to an agent to lose their license and if the company would certainly not want to suffer a court case involving an agent who had their license revoked.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Not sure where you are located, but most states have some sort of department of professional regulation and an insurance commission. Lucky for me I live in the state capitol and was able to go to the insurance commission office and place a phone call there using a speaker phone. The insurance commission employee sat and listened while the insurance company gave me the run around. When she finally spoke up the insurance agent hung up. At that point the insurance company employee called the insurance company's main office and suggested a fine was an option the next time she someone hung the phone up on her.

It would be a big blow to an agent to lose their license and if the company would certainly not want to suffer a court case involving an agent who had their license revoked.

+1, excellent advice. If you end up having to fix this on your dime PM me and I'll help you make it happen for cheap. SAFECO is awful, my brother worked for them for awhile until he just couldn't bear it anymore. Bunch of crooks.

[Dulcesuenos]

Looks like serious damage id be pissed, id be filing a suit. Were there witnesses? Some insurance companies will give in and pay if you do file. They look really bad not defending their client. !

[senormechanico]

There were a total of FOUR witnesses including me and my wife.
The insurance company didn't contact anyone.
As far as they were concerned, it didn't even happen !

[Pelagic]

Remember this?

The Rainmaker - YouTube

[Astral Blue]

I kid you not. My first experience with SAFECO was when I called to obtain a quote for my first boat, a 24 foot Sea Ray cabin cruiser. I was only asked for the hull number, not asked for a survey, not asked for any details about my boating experience or whether I have taken a boating safety course or received any formal training. The quote for a full year of $300,000 liability coverage (as required by my marina): $58. When I received that quote, I ran as fast as I could. You get what you pay for. If I needed a claim paid, my $58 would not go a long way toward ensuring I was protected against litigation.

I realize this is speaking in hindsight, but this is what I would have done. The first call to make would not be the insurer, but a licensed boat yard. Take (or have the boat transported, because you theoretically are not qualified to determine whether the vessel is safe to operate) the boat to a licensed boat yard and have them begin the repairs. Boat yards are generally very thorough in documenting the damage and often do so much better than any insurance surveyor has the ability to do. File a claim with your insurance company. They are more likely to move forward with it than if you allowed a surveyor to come to you at his convenience and on his employers terms. If the tables are turned, the ball will be in your court.

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Start threatening the offender that you'll take him to small claims court and you could even make it a class action suit with your neighbor. Maybe then he'll start calling notso SAFECO himself forcing their hand.

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Agree with Del... also put a lean on his boat and house

You cannot file a lien arbitrarily. Doing so will not only invalidate the lien, but will possibly subject you to criminal charges. You can file a lien in the presence of a judgement, not on the basis of an accusation alone.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

There were a total of FOUR witnesses including me and my wife.
The insurance company didn't contact anyone.
As far as they were concerned, it didn't even happen !

Presumably, you and the others are insured yourselves. If so, contact your own insurers and let them proceed against Safeco and the offender. I assume you have a copy--or can obtain one-of the Police report as well as documentation of the damages. Proceed from there.

FWIW...

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

Presumably, you and the others are insured yourselves. If so, contact your own insurers and let them proceed against Safeco and the offender. I assume you have a copy--or can obtain one-of the Police report as well as documentation of the damages. Proceed from there.

FWIW...

Yes! I would agree with this as a first step. The suggestion of a small claims is to get a reaction and maybe, maybe get the ball rolling in the right direction.

Insurance companies agents have a lot more push power when it comes to dealing with other agents.

[Intentional Drifter]

Safeco is no longer the company it was years ago and is no longer a "local" company, either. I also suggest getting your own insurance company involved. I also suggest that you proceed with getting a thorough, competent damage survey. Sometimes, particularly with multihulls, the energy from a collision can be transferred in directions and to structures that are distant from the point of impact. Best to know everything, now, rather than find out more, later.

When we sold our boat early this year, we used this fellow in Bellingham. I was quite impressed with him and his knowledge of multihulls:

Matthew L. Harris NAMS-CMS, SAMS-AMS
Reisner, McEwen & Harris
Division of Marine Consultants, Inc.

When dealing with insurance companies, I always try to keep in mind their primary mission for existing: To get as much of our money as they can, while giving back as little as possible.

Good luck. I winced when I read your description of what happened. Made me wonder if the fellow who hit you even had the state safe boater's card.

ID

[senormechanico]

Minaret,
Your PM box is full.
Steve

[minaret]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Minaret,
Your PM box is full.
Steve

Sorry, on it. Sure wish I could have more than 50 PM's...

[carstenb]

Mineret

Cost 15 bucks a year and you can have 25000 pm. Cheap. Just do it, as a commercial member it is tax deductable

[minaret]

Originally Posted by carstenb

Mineret

Cost 15 bucks a year and you can have 25000 pm. Cheap. Just do it, as a commercial member it is tax deductable

Yes, yes, I know. But you have to use Paypal and I refuse to. There are several threads about it. It's my own fault. And I don't know why I'm a commercial member, I don't sell anything. Back to the issue at hand...