I hit a stump 6 months ago and bent my prop shaft. I went ahead and fished the rest of the year with the prop shaft slightly bent. The guys at Travis-Lewisville talked me into bringing it in to re-do the lower unit and claim it on my insurance. I said fine, $400 dollar deductable, no big deal. After the claims adjuster came out to look at it he said that they would cover the cost minus the deductable AND HE WOULD DEPRECIATE THE PARTS AT $552. That is crazy!! The boat is a 2004 Ranger 250HPDI. I had to pay $952 of the $2802 repair. I think that is the biggest bunch of BS ever. My insurance company is Travelers and they have been extremely good to this point. Have any of you had to pay depreciation on you boat repair before? Please let me know if this is a standard practice!! Thanks.

Chris that doesn't sound right. I have no experiance with travelers but would look for new company. I use boat u.s. they seem to have the best coverage but I haven't filed a claim so who knows.

By the way give me a call 817-946-8760. I need to service my transmission.

Mike

Type of policy same thing on all vehicles. Daughter had wreck last year guy ran a red light totaling her 1998 Grand Am insurance paid 1800.00 for her car because she and fault drivers insurance was depreciating value not replacement value type of coverage. Talked to lawyers and other insurance co. to no avail. Cheaper premiums that people select. Checked all of my insurance to see if I had same, I did so had to change all coverage, higher premium. Really stinks

I'll do you one better. I took mine in last year to get the impeller and lower unit oil changed. Mechanic said he noticed a chipped tooth off one of the lower unit gears. He said insurance claim, not a problem. $1200 later, the claims adjuster came out, looked at the gear, and declared it normal wear and tear.
Result: I'm out $1200. I gotta be honest, though, and I'm no expert, but I saw no damage at all on the gear.
Lesson learned - Be careful when choosing your mechanic.

I do a lot of insurance claims and have dealt with several companies. Not all policies have the DEPRECIATION clause in it. I won't mention who does but you need to check with your agent or read you policie. I.E. A little over one year ago, a 225EFI merc pulled the bolts thru the transum of a 5 year old Champion. (no transom stiffners) $3400 to the motor $7800 to the boat. After his deductables , motor $500, Boat $500 minus 50% depreciation (10% per year) He ended up with less than 1/2 of the repair bill. Lesson learned.

Homer,Like Mike said, there are different kinds of insurance policies out there. You need to discuss your policy with your selling agent. Most of the time we all buy insurance at the lowest cost possible without really understanding the legal verbage. A lot of agents also don't understand the marine ins. policies either and they just want to make a sale. Be specific when you negotiate your ins. needs, ask all the questions you can and if he/she can't answer them then go elsewhere.

We also do a lot of ins. related service repairs and it seems that a lot of our customers don't know what kind of coverage they have bought. It is not a buyer beware industry, but just know what you are getting. Don't be surprised when you go to use your ins.

As for covering deductibles, it is not our policy to do that. Typically a dealer that does that is hiding the deductible in the price of the repair creating a fraudulant repair to the insurance company. This is a big no no.

Tommy Yetts
Rockwall Marine

I had a bent prop shaft many years ago and my insurance company paid the whole bill, less the deductible, with no questions asked.

About 4 years ago, my lower unit locked up and cracked the housing. After taking it apart, the mechanic deemed it was due to a bent prop shaft. Once again, the only way for the prop shaft to get bent was from hitting an object in the water so insurance paid for a complete, new lower unit (housing and all, ready to bolt on) less my deductible. Both of these were paid through Allstate insurance but it is important to make sure you get replacement cost insurance and verify with your agent that no depreciation calculations will be used when determining payout. This hold true for the boat, motor and all your accessories (rods, reels, tackle). It might cost a few bucks more up front with your payments but definitely worth it in the long run when you need "help" with repairs..

Tommy,

I wasn't saying I expected them to work the deductable into the cost of the repair. I knew I had to pay that. Just the depreciation that caught me off guard on a 2004 boat!!

scott01,

That makes sense to ask for replacement cost insurance. My best friend is my agent and I guess he was just trying to save me some money and it back-fired!!

I think too many times shops find something wrong with the boat and say you can claim it on your insurance knowing we'd be more willing to get the repairs done and they can make a few extra bucks by charging for a big repair. Like trying to stretch a chipped gear into an insurance covered repair. $2,800 sounds like a helluva lot money for fixing a bent prop shaft and all that entails. Personally, I'm surprised insurance companys even cover boats here in Texas with all the **** we encounter in these resevoirs.

I'm not taking sides or calling anyone in particular out (seems like you have to clarify that nowadays on here) nor an advocate one way or the other. And I've been the recipient of insurance help on a complete bottom hull redo. I'm just not a big fan of puffing claims raising everyone else's rates. I've seen it and heard it too many times.

I commend Rockwall Marine for not hiding the deductible into the cost of the repair. And I would hope the repair cost is no different for any shop regardless of who pays.

I'm with scott01
this is the ins I have... I got stuck once but not a sec.. time

Anglers Advantage - Clearly, the better way to protect your boat and fishing equipment.
www.anglersadvantageins.com

Official Sponsor of American Bass Anglers - The Worlds Largest Tournament Trail for the Weekend Angler.

Anthony Kaylor
ABA District 74 Director
www.dfwaba.com