i recently hit a submerged stump at about 40mph. My boat started taking on water immediately. throughout the day i would pump about 3-4 gallons an hour til the tournament was over. I've owned the boat since september and have had it covered from day one. i called and got a claim and so far everything is great service. Well i got a call from the guy doing the appraisal and asked me if i had some work done on the boat before, and i told him no. Well he told me someone did a shoddy patch job on the bottom and it has come apart due to me striking the stump. He advised me that the insurance co will most likely deny my claim because of the previous work done. Is he right and do i have a leg to stand on?????

If you have Progressive I can beleave that. They deny claim often now..... Change after fighting it. Contact Tx. Ins. group

They agreed to insure the boat in that condition, now they should pay for the repairs that were caused by a covered loss. Pretty simple. If they did not want to cover the boat for shoddy prior repairs, they should have inspected it first and let you know prior to You paying the premium.

Thanks guys im waiting for the estimate and to see what they decide. I will let you know what they say.

I agree, might be time to get some input from a lawyer..

They didn't agree to put the boat into a better condition than it was before the mishap. Unless there is some language in the policy to the contrary (speaking as a layman here), they owe only the "before and after" difference in value.

Appraisers usually don't know beans about what the adjuster is going to do.

You need to carefully read your policy and find out as much as you can about the previous repairs, with a view to being able to state your case on the cold, hard facts. Lawyers usually charge 50% for a straight property damage recovery, if you can even get them to assist you on a contingency basis.

Get a lawyer to write you letter on your behalf. It wont cost that much. I bet they pay the claim. Thats what I do.

who is your insurance co

did the adjuster tell you that or the shop

The cheapest insurance rates are always "the best" until it comes time for them to pay a claim! Hate to say it, but you need a lawyer!

Write the letter yourself and save some money. A certified letter to an adjuster and / or their supervisor will usually go a long way. In your case, they have no proof that that the previous repair was inadequate and the damage you incurred was not entirely caused by the impact.

Don't take their bull and after the claim is processed get a new insurer.

I'm dealing with almost the exact same situation. Progressive says the outer damage is covered but the crack (almost directly above) on the inside if the hull isn't. Some bull about it being previous damage and that I will have to pay to investigate further. Seems pretty straight forward to me.
Good luck with your claim Tidwell. I'm still trying to decide if it's worth it to lawyer up or just pay out of pocket for the inside hull work.

The only opinion that matters here is expert opinion, and the insurer of the original poster has an opinion from an appraiser that "shoddy" repair work affected the seaworthiness of the boat, and hence its value. There was "hidden damage." If you aspire to become a source of merriment to the claims staff, you are here getting some excellent advice.

If the insurer is wrong in its assessment of its legal liability, your hole card, in this situation, is a letter of complaint to the State Board of Insurance alleging a violation of the Unfair Claims Practices Act. Your complaint will have far more effect if you come across as having been reasonable.

well its been almost 6 weeks and ive been patiently waiting. They did an investigation and had a previous claim pulled from progressive. After they looked at the previous claim they have agreed to pay for the damages. They want to send another appraiser out after they start grinding away to mke sure there is no structural damage done to the boat. The quote i got to fix the boat was to repair the outside only, so i took it to another repair shop and they said it would have to be fixed from the inside and that the other shop was just gonna cover up the old problem. And it was gonna cost more than the original estimate. My question is since the co. agreed to fix the problem, but want to come out and make sure that no more addages are they gonna cover the extra to have the hull fixed right?

Wow Danny, I didn't realize it was hurt that bad. I hope you get it all taken care of man.