I was rear-ended pulling my last RIB. Sitting at a red-light, on a straight, dry roadway, a woman skidded 160' and ploughed into the back of my boat. The good news is that by the time she hit me, she wasn't moving too fast.
When she hit, the boat was jammed forward and the bow tube was torn open on the trailer winch. The lower unit of the prop opened up the hood of her van like a can opener, but other than the prop, it was OK. The trailer itself got bent up a bit, but was repairable...
The good news in all of this: The insurance company knew nothing about RIBS. The adjuster asked me who could asses the boat, so I directed him to the Hurricane dealer in Toronto, who just happeneed to be a friend of mine. He promptly declared the boat a write-off due to the 3' tear in the tube. (It was Strongon, and therefore couldn't be repaired properly...) The dealer then offered to buy the boat for salvage, which he was able to do for $500 (including engine and trailer!) He promptly repaired the tube and sold the boat back to me for $1000. In the mean time, I picked up a cheque for a $13,000 claim (on a boat I paid $9000 for!), then sold that boat for $8000 to another friend. I used the proceeds to buy my current boat for about 1/2 it's regular price, since that was also an insurance claim. (It had been owned by a local Police Marine unit, which flipped it in Lake Ontario, then abandoned it!)
So, the next time you complain about your insurance premiums, just think of me!
Incidently, 10 years later, my "written-off" boat is still running strong, 10 years later!
That's going to be a nice insurance claim for someone!
White Noise
