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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Wakeboarding Discussion Archives > Archive through July 24, 2009

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Old     (mikebu)      Join Date: Aug 2008       07-15-2009, 1:02 PM Reply   
I have a question about Boat Insurance I would like people's opinion on:

I started a morning group of riders this year using my boat from people at my work who belong to our internal wakeboarding email group. We would go out 1-2 times a week during the weekdays before work. While my boat was getting fixed one of the guys volunteered his boat and my daughter went riding with us as well. While my daughter was riding she fell pretty hard on her back doing a power slide when she caught her heel side edge. The next day her neck and ribs were really hurting her so we went to the Emergency Room and got some x-rays and came home with some pain medicine. In about 2 weeks she was fine.

Within a week of the accident I got a letter from my insurance company asking if a accident happened and if so were you in someone else’s car/boat/house. I called my insurance company and explained that there was no negligence on the part of the boat driver and my daughter simply fell while wakeboarding of her own accord and it was her fault she hurt herself. I then asked do I really need to fill out this form because the other person was not at fault in any way. They said no but then called me back 2 days later and said yes we do need that letter. I called my insurance company Progressive and asked a claims guy about this and whether or not my policy would be liable for any medical claim if I was the one driving. He said my insurance would only come into play if I was negligent and in this case there was no negligence and I shouldn’t withhold the name of my friend who was driving the boat. After talking further with my health insurance they said they wouldn’t process the claim without talking to the boat driver to see if any extra medical insurance was in play besides there I gave them my friends name thinking his insurance was like mine and my health insurance would be on the hook for everything and they would pay the $1800 bill. I couldn’t contact my friend because he was out of town on vacation.

Here is where things blow up. Turns out his boat insurance policy has a no-fault medical payment up to $1000 that kicks in whether he is at fault or not and now my health insurance policy wants his insurance to pay $1000. Now my friend is going ballistic and pissed at me for even giving my health insurance policy his name even though his boat insurance company assures him that this will not raise his rates in any way because it isn’t an at-fault claim. I even tell my friend if they do raise his rates I will pay the difference so he won’t be out any money because of this. He still is extremely mad at me. I start feeling bad about the whole situation and tell my health insurance policy not to pursue a claim against my friend and I will pay the $1000 out of my pocket. A couple days later I am starting to feel pissed that he would let me pay $1000 instead of going ahead with a claim on his insurance which won’t cost him anything. Needless to say what was turning into a good friendship is now broken.

Thoughts?
Old     (nsolis220)      Join Date: May 2007       07-15-2009, 1:18 PM Reply   
man thats a really bad deal. Thats whats this country is turning into. Just like that new commercial "lets have a blamestorm"

sorry man
Old     (stephan)      Join Date: Nov 2002       07-15-2009, 2:20 PM Reply   
Technically your daughter was not in the car/boat/house of another person. I would have told them that she was outside on a public waterway and had an accident with no one else involved. It sounds like your insurance is trying to make it sound like the incident happened while she was in the boat. See if you can draw a difference or if that matters or not.

Definitely should have stalled and talked to your buddy before hand...
Old     (ttrigo)      Join Date: Dec 2004       07-15-2009, 2:29 PM Reply   
how did your insurance even find out about "the accident"? I am sure people show up in the ER pretty regularly with wakeboarding related injuries. this is the first time I have ever heard of someones insurance digging further to see if someone was at fault.

either way, I hope it works out for you guys.
Old     (nauty)      Join Date: Feb 2004       07-15-2009, 2:47 PM Reply   
That sucks man! It's crap like this that makes people lie about their injuries when they go to the doctor.

I've gone to the doctor or hospital so many times with wakeboarding related injuries (blown knee, concussion, ear infection, tendonitus, etc., that I no longer mention wakeboarding in any shape or form to the doctor. All of my injuries come from the trampoline or the swimming pool.

I guess you could say that I'm a little paranoid that my insurance company will ammend my policy to not include wakeboarding injuries.
Old     (blastmaster)      Join Date: Aug 2001       07-15-2009, 4:02 PM Reply   
Mikebu:
Unfortunatley what has happened is quite common. In fact your health insurance has an assignment clause that requires it and that is why they would not process your claim without the information. Again your friend is screwed because the medical portion of a boat policy does NOT have to establish fault. Meaning if your blind drunk and simply fall on your a-- getting out of someones elses boat at the ramp and are hurt it will pay for stitches, ambulance, etc... up to medical limit contained in the policy. This is for anyone who is NOT a family member. Your friends carrier will likely not surcharge him on subsequent renewals.

That is why people conceal actual source of injuries when they go to hosiptal,doctors etc... What they write down haunts you later.
Old     (mobv)      Join Date: Jun 2002       07-15-2009, 5:09 PM Reply   
My son fell on a skateboard in our driveway and broke his arm a few years back. Blue Cross medical insurance forced us to file a medical claim against homeowners insurance. This is becoming very common.

I read recently where Wal-Mart sued an employee to recover funds their medical coverage had paid from an auto accident after the employee recieved a settlement from another drivers insurance for personal injury.

Any time you allow someone on your property, in your car or boat you are taking on the liability for anything that happens to them. Sad world that we are evolving into.
Old     (srh00z)      Join Date: Jun 2003       07-15-2009, 7:21 PM Reply   
I maxed out the medical part on my boat insurance policy. I am also pretty choosy about who comes out and rides behind my boat. Not that that has anything to do with insurance claims, but people are pretty trigger happy with lawsuits nowadays. I blame it on the judge that ruled for the lady in the McDonald's coffee suit.
Old     (saceone)      Join Date: Jan 2009       07-15-2009, 7:35 PM Reply   
america...F.CUK YEAH!
dealing with friends, money and insurance claim = bad bad bad.

good luck with everything....at the end of the day, all that matters is your daughter's wellbeing. money is just money :-)
Old     (bmartin)      Join Date: Jan 2007       07-16-2009, 9:13 AM Reply   
I went to ER for stitches a couple of weeks ago and haven't seen the bill yet. If I do get a call, I guess I was behind my boat. Sad how twisted liability is here in the good old U.S.
Old     (natemah)      Join Date: Feb 2007       07-16-2009, 9:27 AM Reply   
Progressive sucks balls! I used to have them and now have allied insurance. Progressive Insurance is not a good Insurance Company at all. Progressive is only the minimum insurance you need to have insurance. I always had problems with them even if it wasn't my fault! I would say to switch Insurance. Progressive hates to pay.
Old     (mikebu)      Join Date: Aug 2008       07-16-2009, 1:37 PM Reply   
My experience with Progressive has been quite the opposite. They also insure my travel trailer and I had a wind gust blow the awning onto the roof of the travel trailer and what I thought was a $500 - $600 claim turned out to be over $3000 and they fixed it up no problem and didn't raise my rates come renewal time.

I also like the fact that Progressive doesn't have this no-fault health pay benefit on my boat insurance. But your experience may vary...

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