Suing an Insurance Company

[taxwizz]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Suggesting the OP attempt to commit fraud is not good advice to give on a public forum. For either of you.

I am NOT an attorney.
I have an honest job...I am a Tax Consultant. LOL
However, I saw nothing fraudulent in the above suggestions.
The boater prepared his boat, and he took photos and notes.
I fail to see how notifying the company could have changed the outcome.
I would hope that a court would agree.
And...Who knows what got lost in the mail?

[Shunpiker]

In my limited experience contracting for marine insurance (most recently in June 2017) I have been requested/required to furnish the insurer a "hurricane plan" as a precondition to the issuance of the policy. In other words, the prospective insurer required me to furnish it my hurricane plan before they would issue a policy.

Hence, I am curious whether this was your experience with this company?

The point is that if the company told you they required you to provide them with a hurricane plan in order for them to insure your vessel; you did not do so; and the company issued you a policy nonetheless, it may well have waived that condition in your case.

I empathize with you in the loss of your boat.

A few (hundred) dollars for a consultation with a competent, experienced local trial lawyer may be a nominal sum in comparison with the certain loss you will suffer if you acquiesce in the insurer's rejection of your claim.

[taxwizz]

In the immortal words of Julius Caesar when approached by Brutus with a knife....
"Nil illigitimus contra veni."
(Don't let the bastards get to you)

[Cadence]

I think you are SOL. If you can find an attorney to take it on a percentage have at it.

[Sailorbob8599]

So you're considering Suing your Insurance Company ... Good luck with that. I'm sure some folk have done it, but at what expense? As others have said here, "Insurance Companies usually have a battery of Lawyers on hand" ... and you have how many to support your claim?
The devil is always in the details. In this case, it is in the fine print ... you know, the stuff most people never read because we don't think we'll ever need it ... Isn't this what insurance is all about?

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by slowpoker

There are some " Insurance Claims Advocates" ... vultures that know how to haunt the insurers and know the laws and codes and will work on your behalf for 20% of the proceeds, instead of the 30% that Attorneys get if they win any money from the case.
You could find them online or the phone book? . Call and speak with them, explain your case and get some ideas. .

Watched a friend have to go this route in the UK. The claims consultant wanted an upfront fee of 12% or so with no guarantee of success. Friend rolled the dice and after a huge battle of paperwork lasting some months finally accepted an offer of 80%. The reduction 20% was due to the boat being stolen from a different temporary location to the one she was normally moored at which the insurance company hadn't been advised of.

Certainly worth a few enquiries.

Pete

[contrail]

Originally Posted by Suijin

You submit a hurricane plan for specific hurricanes, not a general all purpose one when you first secure a policy. He was covered until he violated the contract by not submitting for approval a hurricane plan for the actual storm that destroyed his boat.

Besides, the cost of suing them would be substantially more than the sum total of his premiums to date, I have little doubt about that.

I live in the hurricane zone and get hurricane insurance, each year. I pay an extra premium, and I am required to file a hurricane plan, each year, even if it has not changed. If they don't approve, then I am not approved for hurricane coverage. I write a very detailed an accurate plan of what I will do if I am in my normal marina, what I will do if I am not, etc. etc.

My plans have never been rejected, but they have always been very complete and made sense. My agent always bugs me to make sure I fill it out, just like I fill out a form for racing, another for chartering, etc, and I understand that it's a necessary step. Personally, I think they are happy when they see that you have put some thought into it, as it's impossible to predict exactly what the circumstances of a particular hurricane will be.

It most definitely is NOT a plan for a specific hurricane. Can you imagine the logistics of that? It's for the whole season.

I think the only thing you might recover, and I doubt that even that will happen, is the premiums you paid whilst you were not actually covered. But, you signed a contract for insurance, and part of the price you were to pay was that plan, and unfortunately, you didn't do that. Best of luck, but I am sorry that I don't think you will get anywhere.....but let us know the outcome.

[Dave22q]

Before thinking suite I would pursue the Company's internal review process. If you can demonstrate that you really had a plan AND followed it you have a fair chance. Unless you had a mega yacht, no legit lawyer would touch this on a contingency basis.

[Dave22q]

Submitting a plan for each storm is absurd. Sane folks do not hang to the last minute for the latest storm track. They protect as best they can from all directions and run for safety. Your insurance company should understand that.
IRMA was headed well south of me when I bailed out. Instead it ran over me but I was not there to see it.

[2020]

get a lawyer and start communicating / action through them immediately.
My wife is a lawyer, specialising in suing insurance companies who fail / delay / inadequately respond to a claim. She makes a s**tload these companies try it on all the time. anyone without a lawyer gets s**t on. They do "reconsider" and offer a 'revised' settlement - often.
get the bastards.

[buzzstar]

The posts are examples of a good reason for a lawyer visit. What is the purpose of a plan and how does reporting it to the carrier (in what time frame, if any) affect their risk? Perhaps the more important thing is what you actually did, and what would their reaction have been?There is more, but that is a start. In the word of someone more (in)famous than I am, "What difference does it make anyway?

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

What is the purpose of a plan and how does reporting it to the carrier (in what time frame, if any) affect their risk?

My guess would be that they want to be sure that you at least have SOME plan. That is, it's not about the specifics of your plan, it's about forcing you to think about what you might do.

Dwight Eisenhower once said, "The plan is nothing. Planning is everything."

Studies have borne this out. I read about a test where they had one group prepare a plan for an event, and another group simply wing it. Then they tossed an event at both groups that was nothing at all like what Group 1 had actually planned for. Despite the fact that their plan was immediately discarded, Group 1 consistently dealt with the event better and faster than Group 2. The simple fact that they had thought through SOMETHING allowed them to react better than the group that had not.

[svHyLyte]

I agree with Don.

Our insurer required us to present a fairly detailed Hurricane storm plan--including diagrams and photos--as a condition of our coverage. We went through the exercise and thought through the steps we needed to take to insure the boat was as secure as possible during an event. Our plan was approved by our carrier and has not changed over the succeeding years and we do follow the procedure, with changes as necessary or advisable, as conditions evolve. So far we've been lucky and have suffered no damages although boats around us have. (Frankly, my greatest fear is that we'll be damaged by someone else's a poorly prepared boat tho', thus far, we've been lucky on that count as well.)

If the filing of a storm plan was a condition of your coverage and you failed to do that for whatever reason, I don't think you have much of a case. While I am sympathetic for your misfortune, you did not fulfill your obligations under the conditions of your contract for coverage which is not a fault of the insurer. While you might recover some of your premium (at best), I suspect the entire amount of the premium would not be returned as I doubt the absence of a storm plan would have negated coverage's for other risks had one or another occurred.

FWIW...

[buzzstar]

Now we are getting closer to my point. It is not a guess. Please see posts #41 and 42. The OP had a plan, which he executed prehurricane, and says he can prove it but he had not sent it to the insurance carrier. My bet is that any attorney worth is or her salt, could convince the insurance carrier, or if needed, a court, with or without a jury, that the sending of the plan wold have made no difference under these particular facts, and the insurance coverage should be paid. All of you naysayers are helping the rotters at the insurance companies, not a fellow boater.

[Dave22q]

Your error is not their problem. The contract was clear and you violated it. I doubt that any lawyer would take this looser on contingency. You only recourse is probably to claim you sent in a plan and then followed it. It's a lousy plan but about the best you got. Threats will get you exactly nowhere.