TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Insurance Claim Payment

Hello I am looking for feedback about insurance claims. I have a large claim with Nagico. I have sent several E-Mails to the company and the adjuster they hired. Lately I am not getting any return E-Mails about the claim. I would like to get feedback from other clients of Nagico how their claim is being processed.
Thanks

Heard the same thing from friends on St Maarten with Nagico claim. They can only blame the non reply on the size of the disaster for so long. If you had ignored you insurance payment you bet they would call you back for payment. Now they owe you money and to bad. They try to squeeze people knowing they need the money to settle for less. I hear many getting only a third of the claim if that. How many years of no big losses did they have of now big losses to pay out. They said in the media they have the money to pay everyone...so lets see it. What a joke!

No, correction, they wouldn't call you back for payment, they'd just cancel your policy!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" /> Insurance is a freaking scam. With our huge hurricane deductible (here in Florida!!) and what they claimed wasn't hurricane damage, and what they depreciated, we got paid about 1/3 of what we need to fix our house. Now, it wasn't anywhere near total destruction, like many claims in the Caribbean, but it's just sad what they do to people.

Insurance is a for profit business. I am a public insurance adjuster. It amazes me still that consumers think they will get fair treatment from the obligor on the other side of their insurance contract. My clients in the US and the Caribbean are getting very fair settlements though payments are slow.

Is there a "not" missing in the third sentence?

Insurance is legalized theft. You are more or less required to have it, pay into it for years, and then when claim time comes you are treated like the thief. For profit indeed- insurance companies, backed by insane government regulations, steal from the wallets of hardworking people on the pretense of protecting them. Similar to what organized crime did to small businesses in the day. Fair settlement my [email]a@#.[/email]

+1000

No, sir!

Ok, then I'm not sure I understand your point. That consumers will only get fair treatment with the help of an insurance adjuster?

I am a public insurance adjuster. I work only for policyholders to document the damage and negotiate the claim. We are on the other side from the insurers. PM if you want more details.

Not sure if you are all talking about land property but for those with boat loss I'll through in my 2-cents. There was a long void with little info but then rapidly the adjuster reviewed the claim and the company settled last week.
They settled the contract exactly and with no questions. Yes, looking at replacement cost I had myself insured a little light but that was my over site and not by much. So at least for some in the boating side and with total loss there has been slow but fair response. Caribbean Insurers was the company.

Further, I have adjusted over one billion in claims for my clients in the past 20 years. If any members have insurance claim questions PM me. I will try to help.

A total loss boat should be straight forward if you have agreed value coverage. Total loss the insurer owes the policy limit.

Many of the complaints I hear from insureds in the Islands relate to underinsrance. Insurance is expensive and folks buy less than they need hoping the worst doesn’t happen. When the worst happens as it did this year policyholders get hit with coinsurance penalties or otherwise less than full indemnity. Buying insurance is a big financial transaction. Get gadvice from an experienced broker.

What is your experience with Nagico?

In my case, only the foundation is left. The only thing of value is the washer and the dryer. So basically a total loss. I submitted my notice of claim, then an adjuster was assigned my claim. I submitted a claim to the adjuster, then he wanted more information, then more information. I submitted the last set of information to the adjuster 3 weeks ago, Since then, no communication. Who should I be communicating with the adjuster or the insurance company? Thanks

Wmasters: Your first sentence should have read legalized “extortion”. I have always stated it that way even though we’ve been treated fairly

What's legalized about it

I agreed with wmasters when he called insurance legalize theft but I call it legalized extortion. If you want to borrow my money, you have to have insurance whether I pay out on it or not is up to me. In other words, give me money, it’s mine and if you have a claim maybe I’ll give some back.

The insurance company handling the payouts on the Moorings boats seems to be doing a reasonable job. Payouts have been a little slow but to date they have paid out over half the totaled boats and checks are arriving daily.

I think the "totaled" boats should have been paid out by now. (Determine totaled within 4-6 weeks and payment processing another 6 weeks maximum).

Yet to be determined is the fairness of pay outs for repairs. So far I have been pleased with my interaction with our fleet insurer. Just beginning the repairs.

I have spoken to one owner of a charter based in Soper's Hole who reports getting very little response from charter company and insurer will not speak to them. Unfortunate.

I have heard of the Issue on the Sopers hole boat. If they still use the same insurer it's a South African company. That makes communication difficult. It's in the charter companies best interest to resolve it quickly.

It can take a while to get a boat claimed as a constructive total loss. We were on the hard for hurricane storage. All of the boats had to be stood up and that took a long time. The insurer's (Yachtinsure/Lloyds of London) surveyor did a preliminary survey. He finished the survey after she was stood up on November 26 - 18 items of damage, with line #19 "CTL" - Constructive Total Loss. November 29 we had our Proof of Loss paper work completed. Now we are waiting on the wire transfer.

We had no problem with the insurer, adjuster or surveyor. They agreed to pay the full value of our insurance, yard bills, rigging bills and related expenses. We were insured for purchase price plus improvements. We are in the USVI, so the regulatory environment may be a bit different.

Our biggest problem was getting Independent Boat Yard to move briskly to allow a crane in the yard to stand boats up. The delay contributed to additional damage from our boat lying on her side. It was a long frustrating process of mostly waiting. I was very luck to have my co-owners, Capt. Jay and Debbie, on island during the process.

Good luck to everyone working through their claims.

Cheers, RickG

It's been a long process just due to the number of boats involved. Add in the fact that Paraquita Bay could not be accessed due to silting by equipment capable of untangling the mess and things are slow. Overall however on the boat insurance side things seem to be moving along. It's takes one to two days for a adjuster to process a boat. On the Moorings side there are 5 adjusters working to process 400 boats. I am sure the same issues of scale apply across the charter industry. At this point I am cautiously optimistic that the boat insurance side is turning out well.
G

My wife and I had a very good insurance claims experience. We lost our Lagoon 42, Ocean Song, to Irma. She had arrived in Tortola on 8/24 and we were scheduled to go to Tortola on 9/30 to see, and sail her for the first time. As everyone recalls, Irma hit Tortola on 9/6. Ocean Song was located in Road Reef Marina as part of the TMM charter fleet. She was declared a CTL within one month. We had a 100% pay out of the agreed upon value about three weeks before Thanksgiving - no deductible. On 12/6 we re-ordered another Lagoon 42 with virtually the exact same options. The "new", new Ocean Song has an ex-factory date of June 2018 and will be TMM's featured boat at the Annapolis Boat Show in October 2018.

Things moved quickly for us for several reasons: 1) Ocean Song was accessible. 2) TMM's owner, Barney Crook, had made arrangements for surveys and salvaging BEFORE Irma hit. 3) TMM worked diligently to keep the survey and salvage process moving. 4) TMM facilitated all communications with the insurance company. 5) TMM did a very good job of keeping us updated throughout the process. 6) Also, TMM helped us "trade up" on build slots. Built slots on the Lagoon 42 are now about two years out for factory exit.

We feel very fortunate how well things have worked out, so there are some positive stories to be told.

Great. Enjoy your new yacht

Sounds like they never got a chance to enjoy the 'old' one! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

Please keep us posted on your home insurance claims tpcook. I find all of these insurance issues very informative

We have several friends with boats in Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour who have Pantaenius as their insurance company (total of 8 boats that we know of). Pantaenius has decided not to pay any of the 8 boats for any boat damage. Zero. The 8 boats that we know of are seeking advice for filing a class-action lawsuit against Pantaenius.

I was surprised by this since Pantaenius was one of the larger insurance companies insuring boats in the Caribbean. Not nice at all!

What is their reason for not paying?
G

Pantaenius said none of the boats had an adequate hurricane plan, since they were all damaged or destroyed by the hurricane. Yet each boat's hurricane plan, filed with Pantaenius before the hurricane season, was accepted by Pantaenius.

I believe we need a Thread listing companies who handled claims appropriately with IRMA. Some of the good ones may no longer be writing in Caribbean, but definitely do not want to pay the bad ones for poor coverage/ service.

I did get a response from the adjuster telling me that they are looking at my claim.

I am hearing from several folks that some companies appear to be playing games with determining a "total loss". I wonder if there is a legal definition. One particular house above CGB was reduced to a slab and cistern. The insurance company claimed it a partial loss and hit him with a co-insurance penalty. If that is true it would be very hard for any house in the BVI to ever be determined a total loss.

Frustrating indeed. We have submitted our claim and have heard from the adjustor once to get contact number.....since then................crickets............

I really hate this co-insurance clause. I believe the insurance company should decline coverage and not write the policy. It is VERY unfair to a policy owner (who does not have the information to understand how the value of a home should be determined) to write a policy they know is under-insured. They will NEVER declare a home a total loss as they know the cistern and other parts of the home will survive almost anything.. In my case I questioned the insurer how the under-insurance clause worked and was told by E-Mail that usually if the "value" of the home was within 80% of the sum insured , the under-insurance clause would not apply. I have that in writing and the adjuster is still questioning if this is in effect.

Assuming an 80% co-insurance clause there should not be a penalty unless the slab and cistern were more than 20% of the pre-storm value of the home. I doubt that would be the case. Many insurance adjusters don't understand co-insurance and apply it incorrectly.

Are you in the insurance business? My understanding of the 80% clause is that if you insure your home for 500K , your replacement value (as determined by the insurance company) can be as much as 500k/0.8= 625k and your under-insurance clause will not be in effect. So if you have a 250k loss they will pay the entire 250k and not be reduced. max amount they will pay is 500k.

Yes, I am in the insurance business. Your illustration is correct. Another way to look at is that if the remaining value of the building is less than 20% of the full replacement cost then you will not get hit with a co-insurance penalty even if you are underinsured. It is important that the replacement value of the building (not the amount of damage) be calculated with pre-storm costs. Repair costs after Irma are up 30-40%. Don't let the adjuster use those values in calculating the replacement cost value for the co-insurance formula.

I was under the impression that the "co-insurance clause" doesn't care what "survived"
I was always led to believe that the co-insurance clause "cared" whether you carried sufficient coverage based on the value of the insured property "as a whole"

So.. given tpcook's example of a $625 home carrying $500 coverage
Let's assume the cistern and slab is worth $150 of the $625... damage (and let's just assume rebuilding) costs are $625-150=$475
.... I felt... say, under 80% coinsurance... you were good and covered (minus deductibles)

Your concept of "what survived" versus the "co-insurance clause" has me confused - as it seems to be separate issues
... but, I am not in the insurance business

Assume the following:

Value of the dwelling: $1,000,000
Coinsurance: 80%
Required Insurance: $800,000
Insurance limit carried: $500,000
Damage: $800,000

Divide the limit of insurance $500,000 by the Required Insurance $800,000 = 62.50% Recovery Percentage

Multiply the amount of damage $800,000 by the Recovery Percentage 62.50% = $500,000. The insured is paid the policy limit.

If the amount of damage is changed $700,000 the insured only recovers $437,5000.

So you don't need to have a total loss to recover the policy limit you need to have an 80% loss or 20% value remaining.