Salvage diving question

[Herb-alaska]

Agreed.

I am or have been on both sides of this issue. I did insurance investigations for 20 years and am doing commercial diving now.


steps that the insurance claim must follow is
1. verify that coverage exist for the item lost. Policy in force for that item and the value of the coverage
2. verify the loss of the item - Police report - formal claim in writing submitted via postal
3. Verify the value of the item lost after all deductibles are satisfied.
4. Determine salvage potential - Cost of the pay out minus the cost of the recovery factor in the potential for recovery and then the insurance company makes a decision on what to do if anything.
5. Insurance company makes a payment and then they own the item. They may sell you back the salvage rights but that has to be in writing otherwise you give the money back if you find the ring. Same way if your stereo is stolen and then paid by the insurance company when it is recovered by the police it goes to the insurance company, not back into your car.

Insurance companies are very specific about how claims are filed and the documentation provided. A person that drives up with the claim form and walks all documents into the office are much more suspect than those that mail it in because if you mail in a false claim in you not only conducted insurance fraud "that is bad" but you also completed mail fraud and the postal system has a lot of money and laws to make you wish you never even thought about it. Insurance companies love it when things become criminal because it takes the pressure off them.

Insurance companies never contract work with out a written estimate of charges unless they are sure that the work will not exceed reasonable and customary and that expedience is necessary. I did a hull survey on a multi million dollar cruise ship that hit a rock without an estimate or even a question of how much will this cost because i was in the air in 30 minutes from the first call. The reason was they needed verification that the ship was not in immediate peril and the Coastguard would not let them move until it was completed. They had 25 customers who had paid 7,000 each for an Alaskan cruise and they were facing potential refunds if they did not keep the schedule. If I had submitted a bill for 100,000 on that days work I never would have been paid because I could not defend that charge, I did get paid 1,200 and I was home before lunch and the check was in the bank for dinner. The key was the insurance company said go or the shipping company said go and we will pay if they don't . But it was all decided before I flew.


Long story short Like everyone said you circumvented the claim process, you agreed to the salvage contract, and so no money paid and if you want the ring you better start negotiating a rate that they will accept. I bet they would work for less now that they know that the insurance company isn't paying.

Say hey I can't pay you 2,100 but here is 1,500 which is 75 per hour which is not a bad wage. Because you do not have the contract in writing. But then they have the ring so you both have strengths.



Good luck

 

[Peter_C]

"Maybe" this will make you feel better.

Was the insurance company willing to pay actual value? Not sentimental value, but actual replacement value? Without a current appraisal they might not know what it's current value was. IE someone's wedding ring purchased in 1965 for $5,000 is now worth over $50,000 due to diamonds and gold going up in value, along with the dollar changes.

So the insurance company might have been willing to pay say $20,000 for a ring worth over $30,000 leaving your mom with a $10,000 loss. Instead of losing $10,000 you pay a couple of divers $2,000 and have a ring valued at $30,000. Sure makes better financial sense to me to recover the ring.

I would explain the situation to the divers and try to negotiate a lesser price they are comfortable with, get the ring back and move on with life

 

[VanHalen5150]

"Maybe" this will make you feel better.

Was the insurance company willing to pay actual value? Not sentimental value, but actual replacement value? Without a current appraisal they might not know what it's current value was. IE someone's wedding ring purchased in 1965 for $5,000 is now worth over $50,000 due to diamonds and gold going up in value, along with the dollar changes.

So the insurance company might have been willing to pay say $20,000 for a ring worth over $30,000 leaving your mom with a $10,000 loss. Instead of losing $10,000 you pay a couple of divers $2,000 and have a ring valued at $30,000. Sure makes better financial sense to me to recover the ring.

I would explain the situation to the divers and try to negotiate a lesser price they are comfortable with, get the ring back and move on with life

Not counting anything sentemental or whatever. The ring is insured for the appraised amount of either $4,200 or $4,600, recent appraisal was done less than 36 months ago. I think the insurance company requires it be done or updated every 5-10 years?

As for the mention of someone losing their phone, the ins co cutting them a $700 check and then finding it the next day? You should return the money, You can't come out better than you started. Theres no expense in recovering the phone.

At this point I think she should have left it at the bottom of the lake. Wonder how the insurance company would have liked paying off the whole thing instead?

As for negotiating a better price with the divers? No, We won't negotiate after the fact unlike the insurance company. i think the point everyone here is missing is they never offered to send divers, nothing. They just said forget it we'll cut you a check. And the sad thing is my mom would have done right by the insurance company and returned them every cent over the cost of the divers, but yet they short her.

 

[Herb-alaska]

Wonder how the insurance company would have liked paying off the whole thing instead? And the sad thing is my mom would have done right by the insurance company and returned them every cent over the cost of the divers, but yet they short her.

remember the deductible they would not have paid for it all. and your Mom is a rarity in the insurance world a lot of people have gray conciseness when it comes to the insurance company. Like for the car. Well hey Mr. Body man my can you bump up the cost for this damage 500.00 because my deductible is $500 and that way you get what you want and I won't owe anything after all we know I paid a lot in premiums and it is just the insurance company that we are screwing. (btw that is still insurance fraud) Or hey can you cover this old dent at the same time as the other one that was done in this accident. Again your only screwing an insurance company so who should care.

Van you missed the boat you ran off 1/2 cocked promising pay for work with out talking to and having a agreement with the insurance company. Why should they pay? thanks to your quick work you did not have a loss for them to pay on. When you have a loss you are only to do what is necessary to prevent further injury or damage until the insurance company says do this. An example would be - you break a window then you put up a board or plastic to stop the rain and then you wait for the insurance company to call the glass man.

Again I am sorry for your $$ loss but the system is in place because not everyone is as honest as your mom is.

 

[VanHalen5150]

Well, I have good news. My mother spoke with a lawyer a few days ago and the lawyer contacted the insurance company. After some conversation it was determined that they did agree to pay off on the loss, Never suggested sending divers or anything, Then backed out. The adjuster called me and we talked a bit as well. Now they have agreed that paying the divers is the right thing to do. The adjuster also wants to use the divers in the future in the event something like this comes up again. He said he'd never really thought about it. Anyway all this took place late last week and since then everything is good. The check to pay the divers was picked up and paid today and mom has her ring back. The ins co is happy they didn't have to pay off a huge loss, the divers are happ they are paid and most of all my mom is happy and her ring is basck where it belongs.

Now the insurance company guy wants to hire the divers to go look for stuff they have already paid off on hes going back and looking at stuff thats been lost and says he should be able to recover some losses. One thing that came up off the top was a ring valued at $12,000 they paid off on. This sound like it could work out well for everyone.

I can't imagine what losing $12,0000 feels like, I would be beyond sick.

 

[gcarter]

Happy to hear it worked out in the end!

 

[VanHalen5150]

Thank you sir,

I think it all worked out good. I do think we jumped the gun a bit getting the divers before we got the check but alls well that ends well. I don't think the insurance company wanted to go to court and get raked over the coals about how they agreed to pay off, and how they've been taking thousands in payments for years and such, All bad PR for them. In the end they decided to do the right thing and I am very happy about that.