Comprehensive or collision?

[awarrick]

Greetings hulkers- I am sad. My husband and I tied up our skis to a dock over the weekend and I came out several hours later and found this damage on top, back of my ‘12 fxsho. I assume someone waked the dock and my ski hit the dock. I had fenders out and everything. In 20+ years (knock on wood) I’ve never had to file a claim for damage. I have no clue what it would cost to repair but a friend who does boat hull repairs said, the stress cracks could make this 2-3 inch boo-boo, bigger as far as repairs. (I only showed him a picture) I assume, I’ll have to file a claim as if it’s more than $500-$750, I’m not going to be able to swing that repair in cash as I just had my truck in the shop.
My question is, would this be considered, comprehensive since it wasn’t moving and I wasn’t riding it when it happened? Or would it still be considered collision?
Any ideas?

thanks!

[WaterDR]

I am not sure....but you would likely be better off just saying you crashed into the dock. That would be collision.

[awarrick]

I am not sure....but you would likely be better off just saying you crashed into the dock. That would be collision.

I am not convinced of telling an insurance company “I” crashed into the dock. Because then, that’s when you are at fault. Most insurance companies view that as a negative. I’m thinking it could be considered comprehensive, as in, “no fault”, sort of like when you break your car windshield with a rock. I just am not certain an insurance company would see this as a “no fault” because I am not that familiar with boating insurance.

[SlowStang305]

Looks like a $350-400 repair to me. Had a 4 in crack fixed in the same location for $400 and it came out spotless.

[nmpeter]

I'd consult with your broker before doing a thing

get a game camera on your dock to keep tabs on coming and going. could have been the wake from a passing boat.

ask your broker what your discount might be for using a floating dock. you've been paying for this policy for a while

[K447]

If you want to avoid insurance all together, I suggest taking it to a repair shop that knows how to properly repair (and has experience with) the Yamaha NanoXcel hull material. You will get a quote/estimate/price.

Also have them tell you whether the damage extends much beyond what is visible.

If not structural, you may have the option of delaying repair until a later time. Perhaps apply something over the area just to keep water out. Then you can ride it until such time as repair is more convenient.

[WaterDR]

I am not convinced of telling an insurance company “I” crashed into the dock. Because then, that’s when you are at fault. Most insurance companies view that as a negative. I’m thinking it could be considered comprehensive, as in, “no fault”, sort of like when you break your car windshield with a rock. I just am not certain an insurance company would see this as a “no fault” because I am not that familiar with boating insurance.

I think you might be over thinking this. You pay for insurance. This is why you have it. It really isn’t a big deal.

just call them...tell them what happened. They will advise and you can decide if you want to submit a claim or not. Fact of the matter is this...you parked it. Came back and it was damaged. I suppose they could say you were negligent either way. But who cares? Insurance still covers negligent behavior.

Just ask then. They should be able to tell you if this is comp or not.

Since the damage is not terrible they probably won’t even count it against you anyway.

[Supertoyz]

It would be a collision claim. Comprehensive covers things other than "collision" such as fire, theft, vandalism, wind, sinking etc. Your Waverunner clearly collided with the dock, liability is irrelevant when determining the line of coverage that would apply. If somebody crashed into it you wouldn't be at fault but would still be a collision claim if you claimed it on your policy. You park your motorcycle and come back to find it fell over onto it's side....collision. Based on your picture the damage doesn't look very bad and might be not much more than your deductible. I'd get an estimate from a shop you trust and then make a decision on whether to report it or not.

It's true, you pay for the insurance so don't hesitate to use it, just consider the cost vs. benefit. If you have a disappearing deductible it's going to reset with the next policy renewal. If you have accident forgiveness you're going to use it on a minor claim. Assuming it's just surface damage I'd estimate the cost to be $500-$900 but so much depends on your local market and If the glass is actually damaged.

[WaterDR]

What he said!

BTW, a claim is a claim. While we tend to think a comp claim impacts our premiums less, it’s still a claim.

[TimeBandit]

Yup, insurance works by the path of "who else can we possibly pin the bill on". Usually that'd be the "other" party's insurance would cover property damage "if" you knew who it was and had proof AND they had liability coverage. Given those hypotheticals, a police report would also have been highly desired by both insurance companies. But since none of that applies in this situation, you will be taking out a claim against your own policy and that therein is where the "rub" is - there are two of them :

Deductible - the obvious one. Makes no sense to go this route, if you can fix it for less out-of-pocket (OoP). So I'd consider doing this assessment first.
Higher Rates - They are in business to be in business. Complex formulas and shared-cost dynamics of the sector - they won't allow claims to out-pace premiums. There's a long famous saying .... "you'll be paying for it 3-times over in future-rates if you claim it -vs- OoP". However, things like 1st accident-forgiveness can help mitigate this. Check your policy.

Finally, one last (often over-looked) issue to consider - going though insurance will usually mean the repair/defect will be logged on that craft's VIN - which could impact future resale value - which translates into "over paying" for the repair via total life of ownership. A very recent law here in FL (not sure about GA) require this reporting now regardless of professional repair or individual (off-line) repair - the owner now must come clean.