when the other guys insurance company won't respond

[Kerryf]

Its pretty easy to put a lien on a boat, especially if its US flagged. It cost me somewhere around $5. I had to wait until he sold the boat before I got paid because I wasn't willing to pay to have the boat impounded and wages for the US marshall and all that.

[captain38]

Having read all responses, AND having the same thing happen to us in 2020, I suggest that you enlist our support by posting pictures of the boat, its name and pictures of the creep responsible. Post the info far and wide to help protect us good guys!

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

He is somewhere in the Caribbean, US rules most likely do not apply. By the way, my boat was hit by a fuel supply barge in Ohio with considerable damage, the Coast Guard said it was a civil matter. Wanted no part of an investigation and said at the most, all they could do was pull the Captains license. So much for help from the CG.

Having a license revoked or even suspended is CATASTROPHIC to a professional. It really is a big deal. It won't help you directly, but it COULD harm the other guy enough that he would be interested in making good out of his own pocket to avoid it. Depends on who was at fault and by how much. If you were underway then you almost certainly have some responsibility. Even the stand-on vessel is required to maneuver to avoid collision when collision can no longer be avoided by the actions of the give-way vessel alone. You are required to operate at a speed where you can maneuver in time to avoid a collision. There are almost zero circumstances where you do not share SOME liability for the damages, unless the other guy deliberately chased you and ran you down as you tried desperately to outrun and outmaneuver him. You get a complete pass if you were docked or properly anchored or aground. Even if you are disabled and showing NUC lights or shapes, there is the question of why you did not take the precautions necessary to avoid being disabled. See where I am going with this? If he has zero wiggle room and you got him dead to rights then your position is a lot stronger than if you swapped paint meeting too close in a narrow channel.

Contacting his employer could get results, bad for him but maybe no benefit to you. If he is advised that you are willing to do that, anyway, then he might want to make good. Totally legit and responsible companies also are usually not going to refuse to pay reasonable, legitimate and substantiated claims, nor their insurance company.

[Ike]

I haven't seen such misguided advice in a long time.

First I will deal with comments a bout the Coast Guard since I am a retired Coast Guard Officer. The Coast Guard's responsibilities are laid out by law. It does not include or require investigating minor recreational boating accidents. see https://www.uscgboating.org/recreati...-reporting.php If the damage amounts to $2000 or more then no report is required unless someone is injured requiring medical treatment, dies, disappears or the boat is destroyed. That is both a USCG and State requirement. In some states the damage value is lower. The only time the USCG is required to investigate a recreational boat accident is if someone is killed or the accident investigation would have some significant public interest,

Also the Coast Guard is prohibited by law from getting involved in civil litigation. I lost count of the number of requests I got for me to testify in boating accident civil litigations. Never did. It isn't allowed. The only time I was serve a subpoena, the Judge quashed it before the trial even really got started.

State laws vary. Every state has a boating law administrator. Look it up for your state and call or e-mail for state boating laws. But most states don't get involved in minor boating accidents.

As for reporting him as leaving the scene of an accident? Unless he left immediately, without communicating with you or he didn't assist if you needed assistance (which from your description you didn't need assistance) the neither the Federal law or state laws would apply. Since you have communicated with him and his insurance company then the local LEOs will not touch it. As before it's civil matter.

How do I know from first hand experience? Some ass hit my boat. He had no insurance, and he was a retired vet like me with damn little money and an old boat not worth slapping a lien on. Frankly my boat was worth a lot more than his, but old enough that my insurance would only cover liability. My greatest satisfaction was his wife was reading him the riot act, and if she would do that in front of me and the MPs who responded, imagine what she did to him at home?

Stealing an outboard? are you mad? That is a crime, depending on the value it could be grand theft, and now the bad guy can report you as the thief. That will get the police involved and not in your favor. Really bad advice. Tit for tat doesn't work and it puts the onus on you, not him.

If the insurance companies won't work it out, then really the only recourse is small claims court, which is cheap, and you don't need a lawyer to file, and if they don't pay up you can get the court to slap a lien on his boat. That will definitely get his attention. That's what most states do if you don't pay your taxes on your boat. They put a lien on your boat and if you refuse to pay they seize the boat.

[Lcdr47]

Your legal recourse is to sue him for the damage. If you can find a friendly lawyer that isn’t going to rip you off, there are a number of outcomes that will be unpleasant for the other side if he remains recalcitrant.

[letsgetsailing3]

I hate to say it, but "below your deductible" should tell you about all you need to know here.


Either the guy is honorable enough to pay your damages, or he isn't. You can sue him in small claims court, but is it worth the hassle?


It's absolutely not worth becoming a criminal over.

[Ringmaster]

Your insurance company should pay you and then go after the other insurance company. That's how it works when the other party and insurance co. are uncooperative. The girl you spoke with at your insurance company needs more training. You pay premiums to your insurance company to represent you in situations like this.

[boatman61]

If you were on a French island I would suggest contacting the Harbour Master.. its amazing what they can achieve if they're on side.

[Ike]

Originally Posted by Ike

I haven't seen such misguided advice in a long time.

First I will deal with comments a bout the Coast Guard since I am a retired Coast Guard Officer. The Coast Guard's responsibilities are laid out by law. It does not include or require investigating minor recreational boating accidents. see https://www.uscgboating.org/recreati...-reporting.php If the damage amounts to $2000 or more then no report is required unless someone is injured requiring medical treatment, dies, disappears or the boat is destroyed. That is both a USCG and State requirement. In some states the damage value is lower. The only time the USCG is required to investigate a recreational boat accident is if someone is killed or the accident investigation would have some significant public interest,

Also the Coast Guard is prohibited by law from getting involved in civil litigation. I lost count of the number of requests I got for me to testify in boating accident civil litigations. Never did. It isn't allowed. The only time I was serve a subpoena, the Judge quashed it before the trial even really got started.

State laws vary. Every state has a boating law administrator. Look it up for your state and call or e-mail for state boating laws. But most states don't get involved in minor boating accidents.

As for reporting him as leaving the scene of an accident? Unless he left immediately, without communicating with you or he didn't assist if you needed assistance (which from your description you didn't need assistance) the neither the Federal law or state laws would apply. Since you have communicated with him and his insurance company then the local LEOs will not touch it. As before it's civil matter.

How do I know from first hand experience? Some ass hit my boat. He had no insurance, and he was a retired vet like me with damn little money and an old boat not worth slapping a lien on. Frankly my boat was worth a lot more than his, but old enough that my insurance would only cover liability. My greatest satisfaction was his wife was reading him the riot act, and if she would do that in front of me and the MPs who responded, imagine what she did to him at home?

Stealing an outboard? are you mad? That is a crime, depending on the value it could be grand theft, and now the bad guy can report you as the thief. That will get the police involved and not in your favor. Really bad advice. Tit for tat doesn't work and it puts the onus on you, not him.

If the insurance companies won't work it out, then really the only recourse is small claims court, which is cheap, and you don't need a lawyer to file, and if they don't pay up you can get the court to slap a lien on his boat. That will definitely get his attention. That's what most states do if you don't pay your taxes on your boat. They put a lien on your boat and if you refuse to pay they seize the boat.

I made a typo. This should read If the damage does not amount to $2000 or more then no report is required unless someone is injured requiring medical treatment, dies, disappears or the boat is destroyed.

However if your damage amounts to $2000 or more then both you and the other guy are required to submit a boating accident report within 48 hrs. BTW that is cumulative damage, that is if yours is $1000 AND his is $1000 then that's 2K and meets the requirement so file a report with the state and let them harass him for his report, or threatening to fine him for not reporting. Sounds to me like his missing stay would probably exceed the limits anyway. Tell me what state or territory and I can give a link to file a report.

[AlanT]

Originally Posted by Kerryf

Its pretty easy to put a lien on a boat, especially if its US flagged. It cost me somewhere around $5. I had to wait until he sold the boat before I got paid because I wasn't willing to pay to have the boat impounded and wages for the US marshall and all that.

Great advice in this quoted post. File a lien (if you can) then just sit back and forget about it. Have a Dark & Stormy or a glass of Merlot. At some time in the future he will come begging to you because he will not be able to sell his boat without clearing that lien.

~A

[BlueH2Obound]

Seapig, you've been asked several times, not sure why you won't answer a simple question, as to where the accident actually occurred . . . Since you reference the USCG, I assume it occurred in the US, but where? His boat may say Caribbean, but where did the incident actually occur? Without that info, any responses here are pointless, since different jurisdictions/states have very different laws, and require different approaches.

Best of luck in resolving your issue, but barring more info, the best advice so far is fix the boat yourself and move on with your life!

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by John Williams

I am a retired lawyer. Forget it and get on with life. Not worth the effort for $1k.

Most likely the best answer.

Too many questions to see if there might be some exception.

Thoughts:
- Never accept that the guy will take care of it to avoid bringing the insurance in...9 out of 10 times, they talk a good game until the bill arrives and then time has passed and it's too late to get the police involved.
- People suspect it happened in the caribean but that hasn't been confirmed. The jurisdiction could make a big difference.

If it happened in the USA and you want to do something just to feel like you are doing something file a lien against his boat and maybe in small claims court. It's unlikely to result in any money but it might mess with him a bit when he crosses borders or sells the boat.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Ike

I made a typo. This should read If the damage does not amount to $2000 or more then no report is required unless someone is injured requiring medical treatment, dies, disappears or the boat is destroyed.

However if your damage amounts to $2000 or more then both you and the other guy are required to submit a boating accident report within 48 hrs. BTW that is cumulative damage, that is if yours is $1000 AND his is $1000 then that's 2K and meets the requirement so file a report with the state and let them harass him for his report, or threatening to fine him for not reporting. Sounds to me like his missing stay would probably exceed the limits anyway. Tell me what state or territory and I can give a link to file a report.

Claiming the CG isn't responsible for policing a crash is a bit disingenuous...

Just about anything you would ever consider posting on this forum can be $2k in damage (it doesn't get a formal cost assessment, so easy to inflate it a bit), so certainly you can report it and the CG should respond...problem is if this happened weeks ago, the OP is partly at fault for not reporting it promptly making his case weaker because memories are hazy and the guy who hit him has had time to come up with his version of the story.

Not acting promptly is the biggest sin here.

[Larryo]

Don't waste much time on this. Call your insurance co., that's what you pay them for. They'll subrogate against the other guys insurance even though it's below your deductible. Let them do the work.

[Carl-T705]

Originally Posted by John Williams

I am a retired lawyer. Forget it and get on with life. Not worth the effort for $1k.

Take this gentlemans advice, it's a thousand bucks .. big deal, think of it like a whale strike and just let it go. Or fork out about $10,000 and hire an attorney to BEGIN the lawsuit. Your vessel didn't sink, no life was lost , it's good to be you!!!