Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

[babbot]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

You pay for insurance, yet don't want to use it. I never can understand that mentaility. That is what the insurance is for.

Because you can pay more in the long run if they jack up your premium....

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Because you can pay more in the long run if they jack up your premium....

I've never had insurance go up from a claim where the other person was at fault. Might as well just jack your deductable to 5K if you never intend to use it and save yourself some money.

 

[babbot]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Had it happen to me. I guess you have a better company than me.

It also depends on the repair bill. If it is only a $500 bill and your deductible it $500 what sense does it make to get insurance involved.

 

[h2odick]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Liability insurance is required for automobiles in California, not on boats though however..

Judge Judy would be great, I would love to watch her rip this guy a new one!

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Question, doesn't your state require ALL vehicles to at least have liability coverage? Mine sure does and if you are in an accident without it you can kiss your drivers license good bye.

In MN you are not required to carry any coverage at all on a boat.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Had it happen to me. I guess you have a better company than me.

It also depends on the repair bill. If it is only a $500 bill and your deductible it $500 what sense does it make to get insurance involved.

He doesn't have under $500 worth of damage. That is going to be costly

 

[coastalrichard]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

I do have insurance, but again would prefer not to go that route (if at all possible)
If the guy is unwilling to pay for repairs, I will most certainly be filing a small claims case. I'm sure I will get a judgement, but I've heard collecting on those judgements is the hard part.

H20...actually quite easy but not necessarily without costs you will have to pay in order to gather information and get into the best position to collect:

1) File your lawsuit in Small Claims court and obtain your judgement;
2) Record a "certified copy" of the judgement in every county your judgement debtor owns any "real property" (this will cost you the expense of the title searches). This will apply a lien on any real estate he may own (if he's married and the boat is titled in both names...all the better...your judgement will be against both of them. The debtor will have no choice but to pay the lien in order to sell any real estate assets.
3) File a certified copy of your judgement with your Secretary of State (or equivilent). This will apply your judgement lien to all personal property owned by the judgement debtor. The debtor will have no choice but to pay the lien in order to sell any personal property (cars, trucks, work equipment, boats, trailers, campers, etc...All his TOYS!).
4) Conduct a DMV search for all vehicles, equipment, etc owned by the debtor;
5) If (when) you determine he has an asset (real or personal) that will pay all or a part of your judgement, it's time to "levy and execute" on your judgement against the asset. You can keep doing it until the entire amount of your judgement and collection expenses have been satisfied.

NOTE: Yes, this information is based upon Florida law and MAY be different in other states...your attorney will sort out the details.

Good Luck!

 

[jkust]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Because you can pay more in the long run if they jack up your premium....

I used to think along these lines. They drive you away with a large rate increase. That is until my wife rolled her $46,000 suv on the highway over and over multiple times and completely destroyed it. It was a one car accident and her fault on when she hit black ice. We got a check for the full value in about a week. There couldn't have been less hassels other than my having to drop the title off at the insurance office. I held my breath until renewal and they increased the premium 10%. I was floored.
If you've go insurance...use it.

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Use your insurance to help with the cost. Looks like a bit over $1,000 damage. Your deductible will be about $500 I suspect. You pay 1/2 Insurance pays 1/2. Done.

Around here, the other guy would not have gotten away without paying for it, one way or another. and neither would involve small claims court. That is a waste of time.
IF your insurance goes up, just shop for a new carrier once the claim is settled and boat is fixed.

 

[Malibu Rudder]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

I am so sorry to hear about your misfortune. I bought a brand new boat 3 years ago and the third time I had it on the water another boater t-boned me causing 6,800 worth of damage. It was completely her fault and she admitted fault at the time. There were many witnesses and she was ticketed. I still had to sue her, it took 2 years and cost me 2,800 in court fees. It should have been an easy case and it was not. Eventually, "I won" but what does winning mean when you do not recover a penny??? I am in the hole 2,800 plus 6,800 and still a dented boat. The lawyer said it would not cost more than 500.00 to settle this case so I decided to sue vs. use my own insurance. BIG MISTAKE!!!! The person who hit me sold her boat and filed bankruptcy. She earned 160,000 a year. So much for being a nice person and believing she would pay for the damages. The story continues with I have to take her back to court to collect the money. I lost 10 years off my life worrying about this and I could have ended it all by simply claiming it on my insurance. In Illinois a car must be insured but there are no rules for boats regarding insurance. I was sick over this for a long time. I have lived and learned and moving on BUT.....I can still try to help others vicariously. I previously believed the same way as you regarding rates going up but now I wish I had turned it in. :-( I feel your pain.

 

[jkust]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Use your insurance to help with the cost. Looks like a bit over $1,000 damage. Your deductible will be about $500 I suspect. You pay 1/2 Insurance pays 1/2. Done.

Around here, the other guy would not have gotten away without paying for it, one way or another. and neither would involve small claims court. That is a waste of time.
IF your insurance goes up, just shop for a new carrier once the claim is settled and boat is fixed.

Crap, I forgot about the deductible. If it's only a grand, that is a lot of cash...obviously in my story the $500 deductible was negligible. I somehow suspect it will be more than a thousand dollars to fix that damage.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

I somehow suspect it will be more than a thousand dollars to fix that damage.

Me too. I'd be curious to see the backside of the damage - fiberglass tends to "explode" on the backside of an impact like plywood does, so I would expect an area at least twice the size of what is visible on the outside to be messed up.

 

[BRICH1260]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Notify your insurance carrier of the incident. Provide them the information so that they can obtain the incident report to identify this individual.Based on your policy deductible and the amount of damage, get an idea of the amount, file a claim. Let the insurance company repair the damage if damage exceeds the deductible.You will only be out your deductible then and if they are successful in collecting from the dirtbag, they should give it back to you later.This type of claim should not affect your rating as you were not at fault.

This guy should not be allowed to walk away. He needs to be taught an expensive lesson. To do this and not to even appologise or accept responsibility is just not acceptable to me. Stick it to him, hard!

 

[HellRaZoR004]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

I am so sorry to hear about your misfortune. I bought a brand new boat 3 years ago and the third time I had it on the water another boater t-boned me causing 6,800 worth of damage. It was completely her fault and she admitted fault at the time. There were many witnesses and she was ticketed. I still had to sue her, it took 2 years and cost me 2,800 in court fees. It should have been an easy case and it was not. Eventually, "I won" but what does winning mean when you do not recover a penny??? I am in the hole 2,800 plus 6,800 and still a dented boat. The lawyer said it would not cost more than 500.00 to settle this case so I decided to sue vs. use my own insurance. BIG MISTAKE!!!! The person who hit me sold her boat and filed bankruptcy. She earned 160,000 a year. So much for being a nice person and believing she would pay for the damages. The story continues with I have to take her back to court to collect the money. I lost 10 years off my life worrying about this and I could have ended it all by simply claiming it on my insurance. In Illinois a car must be insured but there are no rules for boats regarding insurance. I was sick over this for a long time. I have lived and learned and moving on BUT.....I can still try to help others vicariously. I previously believed the same way as you regarding rates going up but now I wish I had turned it in. :-( I feel your pain.

Thanks for sharing your experience. So because you decided to sue, you couldn't go back and claim it on your insurance? How does that work?

Are you still in the process of trying to collect the money?

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

First, don't take legal advice over the internet, especially as far as procedures for suing, winning and collecting.

Second, if you do go to small claims court unrepresented, you'd better know youw law of evidence. For example, in Virginia, you can't use an estimate (hearsay) unless you get a specific affidavit from the repair shop (easy to do). You have to know those things in your own court.

Third, getting judgments is easy; collecting them is not. And procedures in one state (like Richard's description of Florida) are not necessarily the same in another (his are mostly all wrong for Virginia).

Fourth, file your insurance claim unless the deductible is high. Some of us self-insure with a high deductible.

Fifth, consider the criminal charge--what did he get cited for? when's court? are you going as a witness? because here's the deal: if he has done the right thing and paid your damages before court, the judge will likely let him off, but you don't care; you're paid. But on the other hand if he hasn't paid, he's likely to get a higher fine. So he has incentive to pay you first, and the courts like seeing things settle. Use it. (I can't give you specifics on how to do it; that would violate #1!)

Sixth, along the lines of #5: find out if the judge in the criminal case has the authority to order restitution. If so, what a win for you! You get a judgment and the state to pressure the collection! (I can't give you specifics on how to do it; that would violate #1!)

Seventh, Keep in mind that your time to do all this is (or should be) worth something. If court is 2 hours away, you miss at least one day of work, maybe 2 if he gets it continued the first time or the officer bumps it. Same with civil court. You'll eat up your $1000 repair bill right quick.

If you decide it's not worth chasing, just remind yourself that accidents happen to boats--I am NOT excusing this idiot--and you could have made some bone-headed move yourself and banged your boat against a piling or something. we all have.

 

[Malibu Rudder]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

I am still in the process of recovering the money but at this point I have been told I will only collect a percentage and I am merely one of many standing in line for money from her. Liens have been placed on her "toys"...what we can legally put liens on but she does not have enough toys to go around to all her debtors. :-( But...her son goes to a private school and she lives in a very nice home. I cannot go back to my insurance company because it already went to court. I have decided I should justy cut my losses where they stand and not accrue additional loss. I originally told my insurance company the day it occurred but let them know the defendant was planning to pay me out of her pocket. They said if I changed my mind in the next few days to call them. I asked if my rates would increase if I claimed it and they said hard to tell but most likely. At that time I had just purchased the insurance so I was afraid to lose it. Now...looking back I should have just claimed it. I am sure the insurance company is trained to put a little fear factor in there vs. easing your concern. I wish I could go back in time and trust me, I would have turned it into insurance. It is solo worth the peace of mind. Good luck to you! Plus...you will be back on the water enjoying your boat vs. staring at the pain.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

I'm amazed that liability insurance isn't required for California boaters.:faint2: Okay, I'm over it. Why not take your rig to a glass shop and get an estimate then decide how to proceed? You may be pleasantly surprised by the cost, or you may be shocked by it and decide it makes sense to use your insurance after all. Good luck. That's a real bummer.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

That guy is so lucky you are a very nice guy. He could have hit someone who is not nice.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Question, doesn't your state require ALL vehicles to at least have liability coverage? Mine sure does and if you are in an accident without it you can kiss your drivers license good bye.

Whoa. Is boat liability coverage not required in Cali? Hard to imagine.

Not required in TN either. I have a liability policy by choice, but it's not required.

 

[QC]

Re: Guy hit my boat on the water yesterday..

Seems to me that you should proceed first, and worry about his reaction second. Gotta get it fixed. Insurance or otherwise. Have you called the guy? That's where I'd start. Have him meet you at the dealer/shop. If he won't and the estimate is more than your deductible, then this is simple. File a claim.

What lake? Just curious.