Last September we were struck by
lightning and
lost all
electronics and a lot of the electrics. Our
insurance company is Commandeur in the
Netherlands.
We have completed all repairs/replacement and are now back out cruising.
Commandeur paid for everything. This included a haulout and
survey for damage, all
equipment replacement and
installation, pulling and reinstalling the
mast (more expensive than the haulout where we were), and the entire 5 month marina stay. The total cost was relatively large and we did not get any hassle from them.
Commandeur themselves are only representatives of
insurance companies and do not handle the claims directly. Upon reporting our strike, they turned our case over to a Dutch
marine engineering firm that worked with both us and the insurers to determine the extent of damage, the best avenue of
repair and the costs for such. Then the insurance company sent us a check for the up-front costs of the
equipment. We are now waiting for the remainder of the
money for the marina stay and various other small bits. We are confident that they will pay this part as they did the first part.
The
marine engineering firm was very helpful. You are assigned an
engineer who knows boats very well and speaks flawless
English, so you can quickly
work with him to determine what the damage is and what repairs/replacements are necessary. The engineering firm stays very active throughout the whole process with you and is instantly responsive to all communication. Commandeur themselves do not play much of a role and the actual insurance company stays completely behind the scenes. All of this is actually a good thing because Commandeur does not know boats like a marine
engineer and the insurance company is only interested in insurance.
When we first got Commandeur insurance, we couldn't understand what the "catch" was. The rates were fantastic, the coverage and deductable were better than all others and the
navigation limits and crew requirements very generous. The only information we could not find on them was whether they had paid out claims.
We now know they pay out claims. We are very happy with Commandeur's insurance product and happy with how they handled our damage claim.
Mark
I was half expecting another gripe against an insurance company, which is not the mission of this forum to deal with.
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