A survey question

[WindLove]

I had someone offer to buy my boat in August and they did not proceed with the purchase. Now someone is wanting to buy my boat and I want to get the surveyor to provide a new survey in this buyer's name for insurance purposes.

How much should I expect to pay for the resurvey? I assume they would want to go back on my boat. Can a surveyor do that or are they prohibited from surveying the boat twice?

[S/V Illusion]

Most people don't trust a seller's survey as objective. Consequently, it isn't of much value to most potential buyers so why you would engage that surveyor yourself is questionable.


As to the original surveyor, there is no reason he/she can't update the report but again, most buyers would want their own surveyor to perform that inspection. Personally, I wouldn't even open the cover on a seller initiated survey.

[WindLove]

Well, it wasn't "seller initiated," and they know that. The survey is not the issue at this point - the buyer just wants to know if she can use the same person for the insurance survey.

[LittleWing77]

Buyer should arrange - and pay for - their own survey, after providing you a deposit to hold the boat, "pending sea trial and survey confirming reasonable seaworthiness of boat".

Standard mutual agreement that either Buyer or Seller can walk away and deposit be returned, if Buyer's survey does not meet Buyer's seaworthiness expectation/standard.

Good luck!
LittleWing77

[Tayana42]

An insurance survey usually cost less than a pre purchase survey. It’s purpose is to verify the value of the vessel. I see no reason that the same surveyor couldn’t be used. There may be some negotiating room with the surveyor since he/she is already familiar with the boat and has recently researched its value.

[PamlicoTraveler]

Well, I know a buyer holds the cards, but as a seller you can have a non refundable deposit to compensate you for the time and effort of the survey if they don't proceed. I did that once and only allowed for a refund if their were material safety defects that made operation unsafe.

[BillKny]

You certainly got a lot of answers to the questions people WANTED to answer instead of the one you asked…

There is absolutely no reason a surveyor can’t do the same boat again, and again, and… For an insurance value survey that should come at a discount, but that’s up the the person signing the report.

[goboatingnow]

No reason at all , it’s a buyers decision , normally however a surveyor of reputation will not allow a survey paid for by a buyer to be used formally elsewhere.

If i pay the surveyor I own the report. It would be up to the failed buyer to release the report.(assuming he paid for it )

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by WindLove

Well, it wasn't "seller initiated," and they know that. The survey is not the issue at this point - the buyer just wants to know if she can use the same person for the insurance survey.

The buyer can just hand the pre-purchase survey to the insurance company and they will accept it if it includes an estimated “fair market value “. If there are any safety or structural issues called out in the findings, the insurance company may also require those items to be fixed within a specific reasonable timeframe to provide or continue coverage.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by BillKny

You certainly got a lot of answers to the questions people WANTED to answer instead of the one you asked…

There is absolutely no reason a surveyor can’t do the same boat again, and again, and… For an insurance value survey that should come at a discount, but that’s up the the person signing the report.

There is no need for two surveys. The insurance company wants to know their financial risk, the buyer wants to know the same. They overlap, and the insurance company will take any recent survey that also includes an estimated FMV.

[Auklet]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

the insurance company will take any recent survey that also includes an estimated FMV.

I question that. Surveys are done for the exclusive use of the person commissioning it, and so state. Generally, one cannot be given to a third party to give to someone else for some business purpose. It would not bind the surveyor to veracity of content or recommendation, etc.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by Auklet

I question that. Surveys are done for the exclusive use of the person commissioning it, and so state. Generally, one cannot be given to a third party to give to someone else for some business purpose. It would not bind the surveyor to veracity of content or recommendation, etc.

Your claim that "It would not bind the surveyor to veracity of content or recommendation" sounds absurd to me. You mean to say that their statement of findings would somehow be invalid if the document changes hands?

I think you misunderstood what I meant to convey above. If I hire a surveyor for a pre-purchase survey then buy the boat, there is no reason I can't hand that same survey to an insurer for their use - underwriting my policy on the same boat. It's always worked for me.

Also, I've never seen a contract from a surveyor that restricted me from sending a copy to anyone else I choose. (The document is a work for hire, it's not a licensed work.) In each case, the pre-purchase survey satisfied the interests of my insurer.

[Auklet]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

Your claim that "It would not bind the surveyor to veracity of content or recommendation" sounds absurd to me. You mean to say that their statement of findings would somehow be invalid if the document changes hands?

I think you misunderstood what I meant to convey above. If I hire a surveyor for a pre-purchase survey then buy the boat, there is no reason I can't hand that same survey to an insurer for their use - underwriting my policy on the same boat. It's always worked for me.

Also, I've never seen a contract from a surveyor that restricted me from sending a copy to anyone else I choose. (The document is a work for hire, it's not a licensed work.) In each case, the pre-purchase survey satisfied the interests of my insurer.

Maybe I did misconstrue your point. You might give it to someone else, but if that person acts on the information contained in the survey it may be “invalid” (disclaimed) as far as the surveyor would be concerned. However, that would not apply to YOUR pre-purchase survey for a bank or insurance company. The surveyor would probably know that it would be for that purpose.

But say a survey done for person #1 reports “no blisters”. Person #2 gets a copy, reads the survey and puts an offer on the boat a few months later, then buys it; has it hauled for bottom painting to find blistering. That second person could not then make a claim against the surveyor, etc., even though that survey was relatively recent. It’s as if the boat had not been surveyed for that transaction (which it would not have been). I believe a disclaimer to that effect appears in the document.

I have as a third party read owner-commissioned surveys to determine my interest in the boat or not, but I would have to get my own separate survey to get a bank loan and probably insurance even if the one I read was only one day old. It seems that is what the OP was wishing to do—resurvey in the name of the new prospective buyer. You advised no need for another survey but I disagreed.

[HiAndDri]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

Your claim that "It would not bind the surveyor to veracity of content or recommendation" sounds absurd to me. You mean to say that their statement of findings would somehow be invalid if the document changes hands?

In the UK that is certainly the case and I have first hand experience of my insurer refusing to accept a recent survey commissioned by the previous owner on that basis. The surveyor owes a duty of care to the person who pays for their service, and to no one else. Every survey I've ever had contains a clause to this effect in the pre-amble. Maybe it's different in other jurisdictions.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by HiAndDri

In the UK that is certainly the case and I have first hand experience of my insurer refusing to accept a recent survey commissioned by the previous owner on that basis. The surveyor owes a duty of care to the person who pays for their service, and to no one else. Every survey I've ever had contains a clause to this effect in the pre-amble. Maybe it's different in other jurisdictions.

What if the survey wasn't done for the previous owner, but was done for you? In that case would your insurer use it?