Ford Tarus Attacks Parker and Loadmaster

[Outta Here]

While I was parked in the subdivision street, waiting for the Admiral to get in, someone in a Tarus mis-guaged room and lightly sideswiped me. The Loadmaster upright boat guide-on flattened 2 doors and back fender (no damage to upright). His o/s mirror cut a 4' x 1/2" x maybe 1/16" deep gouge in the boat.

First off, there's no personal injuries, so no atty will touch this.

My boat is now 4 hrs. away from me (at its' normal dry storage). The repair man is 2 1/2 hrs. away from boat. The repair man says the repair will always show to some degree.

Questions,

Who pays to get boat to repairman, and back to storage?
How is depreciation (permanant "wound" repair on side of hull) figured?
His ins. (Nationwide) called and wanted a statement from me...I declined,
Do I have to talk to them? I suppose I'll have to sue the driver in small
claims.

Anyone else been thru this?

 

[DaleH]

First off, yes, I have been through with my big girl and I feel your pain and am sorry this happened. Your attitude of 'no injury or life loss' will help, so keep the chin up .

His o/s mirror cut a 4' x 1/2" x maybe 1/16" deep gouge in the boat. The repair man says the repair will always show to some degree ...

I don't necessarily agree with that ... year of the boat? I know a few glass guys in NE that could fix that and I'd dare anyone to find the repair.

My boat is now 4 hrs. away from me (at its' normal dry storage). The repair man is 2 1/2 hrs. away from boat. Who pays to get boat to repairman, and back to storage?

Call and place a claim with your insurance agent, now. If a 9'6" beam boat, let a Pro move it unless you have the correct oversize permits et al. I would ask these questions (boat 4 hours away, repair guy 2 ...) to your agent.

Also get a disposable AND digital camera and get to the boat to take pictures (with date showing in a few (local paper) ASAP! Do now, this protects YOU, even to your ins company. Take picture from many angles that highlight how different it may look from different angles, this helps you go for a repair no one can detect.

Taking your own pictures NOW prevents the other guy from falsely claiming the damage 'now' is more than when it happended in early Feb 2007. I know someone this happended to and the legal hassle went on for years ...

How is depreciation (permanant "wound" repair on side of hull) figured?

This claim could be quite different from mine. I was hit during a storm by a 32' boat. Due to the storm, believe it or not, it was ruled an 'Act of God' and I could not collect from the other guy's insurance company. Or, more correctly, it wasn't worth the legal hassle by my ins company to go after his. I got this in writing and used this to my benefit ... i.e., I got paid ~85% of the repair estimate, with the rest being taken for 'depreciation'.

Note, this was done WITHOUT my policy increasing as they knew I was in the right, but my ins company decided it wasn't worth it to pursue his ins. I had Boat/US and they were AWESOME! Perhaps they wouldn't have raised my policy as a result, but having 'in writing' their own words of '... not worthy to pursue a legal battle' sure didn't hurt.

His ins. company called ... do I talk to them?

NOT a word! Get a claim # from your company and have only your company contact them. That is what you have been paying darn good $$ for YOUR company to do ... to represent YOUR interest and property.

Good luck and again, sorry to hear about this! PM me/reply as needed ...