Salvage diving question

[VanHalen5150]

Ok, This is complicated. Hopefully someone has some advice to offer.

heres the situation, My mother lost her wedding band in a lake, The ring was insured. So I called up a couple of diving buddies and hired them to come find the ring. The were in the water for right at 20 total diver hours over the course of 2 days. (2 divers, 5 hours diving each day, 2 days) From what we could find salvage diving rates are $100 an hour per diver, 4 hour minimum, plus trip milage of $.50 per mile. Anyway the bill came out to just over $2,100.

Now the insurance company is saying the won't pay ANYTHING for recovery, And the divers (With my blessing) are refusing to release the ring until they are paid, Which by the way I am in total agreement with.

My feeling is this, If she paid a jewlery store to remake the ring or paid divers to go get it is no matter to the insurance company. I agree she can't claim it lost, then get in and find it her self and keep the money and the ring, but its a legitimate invoiced charge.

I believe that if we have to go to court we will be upheld but I really hate to see it drug out that long. I would very much like for her to get her ring back and see this issue put to bed. Three nights of seeing her cry her self to sleep was enough torture.

Anybody have any advice to offer?

Also if you have any homeowners or property insurance with Cincinatti insurance I highly advise you to seek another company, When it comes to collecting premiums theyre fine, but by god when it comes to paying they are stingy as hell,

 

[gcarter]

If it were my mom, I would pay for the recovery myself - reality is that it was YOU who contracted the recovery anyway, not the insurance company - and worry about collecting later.

It is not unreasonable for the insurance company to challenge a cost you incurred without prior approval especially given it was a party related to the insured hiring friends. Insurance companies almost always require quotes for service that they can approve prior to work being commenced.

Something else to be careful of before going to court: what are the laws and regulations governing commercial diving in your area? Are your buddies commercial divers (sounds like not, if you had to research salvage rates)? You could be opening them and yourselfup for some unintended consequences if you insist on chasing this.

You may have inadvertantly created a situation from which there is no graceful exit except through your own wallet. Maybe you can convince your buddies to take a lower rate instead of the expectation you helped create - it will probably be in their best interest as well.

Sorry to harsh your mellow.

 

[fisheater]

Here's how the insurance company will look at this.

Your mom lost the ring. Your mom, with help, found the ring. No loss. No payment. It's your mom's ring, not the insurance company's.

If your mom submitted a claim and was paid for the ring, then the ring was the insurance company's and neither her, nor you on her behalf, had any right to bind the insurance company to hire anyone or pay any sort of reward for recovery.

We're it me, I'd cough up some cash, food and booze for the ring recovery team.


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[antattack]

Congratulations on a successful recovery!

Time for Pizza and beer

 

[fisheater]

One more thing. Your friends don't have any legal claim to the ring. They do, however, have a claim against you for whatever you promised them for the recovery.


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[VanHalen5150]

I'd be happy to pay for it if I had the funds. They're friends, but not close enough to be "Work for free/pizza/beer" friends.

As far as them having a claim to the ring until paid? Try picking your car up from the tow yard or mechanics until its paid for. I believe they do. And I don't blame them. My understanding of salvage and its rates were to educate myself, not them, I was just seeing if they were quoting me a fair price for the work. From what I can tell salvage pays $100 per diver/ per hour/ 4 hr min or 20% of the value of the items recovered, whichever is greater.

Seems like the insurance company is trying to squirm out.

look at it like this, if your cars stuck and its the middle of the night ands your agent is closed and you call a towing company and they come haul you out and you have towing coverage so you pay the guy and he gives you a receipt for "industry standard towing rates" the insurance company should repay you. They don't get to say "Sorry your car isnt stuck anymore, not our problem" ..

When she called and told them what happened they never offered to send anybody, never offered or suggested divers, just said ok we'll cut you a check. her mistake was telling them to make the check out to the divers. Yeah, dumbass on her part. I could choke her.

 

[fisheater]

That's because you specifically PAY for tow coverage. Your mom didn't pay for "looking for lost property" coverage. It's not covered. It's not the insurance company's problem.

It's your problem.


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[VanHalen5150]

Sounds like we should have left it at the bottom of the lake until it was paid for.

 

[AussiePro]

I think you messed up on this one. As soon as the ring went missing you should have contacted the insurance agency and reported it missing and asked them to hire the divers to look for it. That is the way insurance companies work. You don't just go and get work done and then send them a bill because they haven't had the chance to seek alternate quotes or simply right it off and just pay out on the insurance. I can understand that you wanted to get divers in there quickly to recover it before it was lost forever, but I think you will have to wear this one. If you can't persuade the insurance company to show some compassion, you will have to fork out the cash yourself.

 

[graham_s]

I agree with the opinions here.
The bill is your problem, not the insurance company.
You hired the divers.
As far as the insurance company is concerned, the ring was misplaced, not lost.