I posted a while back about some of my family's losses due to Hurricane Sandy .In addition to my boat getting battered I lost all of my fishing gear when my sisters waterfront bungalow was destroyed by the storm. My question is this.....I lost about a dozen rods I had made along with reels....some were wire line trolling rigs .....some were heavy boat rods....a few spinning rigs.The insurance company is asking for an itemized list.. I can trace the cost of the components used and get accurate prices for the reels lost but how do I attach a cost for my work in making the rods? I am no pro and work slower than most but all my rods were underwrapped.....had decorative butt wraps and 3-4 coats of epoxy for durability.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Joe

Unless you sell rods and have some sort of reasonable pricing structure upon which to base a selling price for the lost rods, you may find that the insurance company will not pay you for your time in making the rods. Obviously you can report any amount of loss you want, but the insurance company may well balk at anything that you cannot absolutely prove the value of. This may be something you simply have to talk to them about.

One idea that might possibly fly, would be to ask for a quote from a couple or three other custom builders for building the same rods. An average of their quotes might be seen as a reasonable assessment of what the rods were actually worth and what it would cost to replace them.

...............

Joe, I would get a few quotes, from rodbuilders in your area, to replace the rods you lost. That would give the insurance company something to work with. Or, give them a few links to rodbuilder's websites and let them do some research.

If you have a business license to build/sell rods, you can ask for (and generally receive) the market price of a finished product. If you do not have such a license, you are only entitled to reimbursement for materials as a hobby loss. At least that is how it would be viewed by most companies.

Joe,
Pretty simple.
Take a list of the rods that you lost.
Go to a nearby fishing store and price out the price of a typical high end comparable rods that you see in the store.

The insurance company will never quarrel with that price that you give them.

Basically, you have made a product that is worth at least the value of what is sold in the high end section of the fishing rod section.

Price them out, turn in the list and go back to clean up.

p.s.
I really feel your pain. I was watching the "chopper" show on discovery last night and they were taking apart the new Bike that they had presented tot he 911 memorial. The aluminum, chrome, and steel bike was only fully underwater for a few hours, but the salt in the water essentially ruined thousands of $$ of fine work. So, the clean up after salt water is so much worse than the clean up that we do in the Midwest after a flood or tornado due to the salt in the water of your disaster.

Be safe

Roger

Thanks guys.....lots of good info here......i think I may just apply for the cost of components used and then get to work re-building my gear.

Roger.....I would clean my stuff up but the house was on pilings and was lifted up and snapped in two......you can't even got to it anymore as 200 yds of boardwalk was also washed away.


[www.rodbuilding.org]

Joe,
I went through the same in Katrina. I did as Tom says and talked to 3 other builders. Priced them out as custom rods. But I didn't go with the average I went with the top end, but that's just me. Average may be the safest way to go but, at the time, I didn't harbor too much love for the insurance companies. We worked it out. Hang in there.

From someone who lives in hurricane alley......don't underprice yourself. Insurance companies will not willingly give you fair value. You sound like you have a lot of loss. Consider hiring an adjuster and package the house and all it's contents under his report. Let someone who knows how the game is played fight for you. Just be sure you know if his service is a flat fee or a percentage of what you get. Sad to say but when you are reeling from such an event you aren't always thinking clearly. Mostly you are thinking "act of god" and " nobody's fault"....and let me just move forward and get on with my life. Be prepared for a bit of a long drawn out fight. Be prepared for everyone to be taking advantage of you. Don't go cleaning up the mess yourself. You wouldn't do the auto body work on your car yourself after an accident "before" you turned the claim into your insurance company.....but somehow we find ourself's doing just that after a hurricane.

In my area I wager I pay more for windstorm in a month than you pay in a year. Every year they raise deductibles and decrease what they will cover. Play your cards wrong and you could owe the bank for the remaining mortgage and the city for bulldozing your land. Play them right and you might get your place restored and buy your neighbors outright/free and clear. I have seen it happen more often than those in other areas could fathom.

As bad as it is we should remember it wasn't all that long ago that such event cause deaths numbered in the thousands. Some storms, like hurricane andrew still do, it is just that most of those that died were migrant/illegal aliens .....and they were actually never here picking the produce we all buy in the stores. I have to tell you it is a very erie experience to talk to someone on a phone in a storm...to hear the strom develop over the phone line.....to be cut off...and to never see/hear of that person again.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Hi Joe,
Definitely don't sell yourself short on anything. Insurance companies are in the business of making money and they won't loose in the long run. They'll get it all back from everyone they deal with. Following the floods in Queensland a couple of years back the local insurance companies have increased the prices of everyones insurance substantially. Mine has gone up a couple of hundred for the house and a bit less for the contents and if I get flooded then 3/4 of the country will be underwater. Some locals who have been "deemed" to being in a flood prone area have had their insurance go up by 800% costing them around $7,000 a year for house insurance despite the fact that no new flood investigations have been done. Everyone pays for any disaster in the long run, the insurance companies provide short term releif and then get it all back plus some in the long run. Be prepared to fight tooth and nail for every dollar you get from them.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Col,
I read and respect your words.
But, if you have a good insurance company, there really should not be any issue at all.
You are paying a company to provide a service.
In this case, pay the insurance policy owner up to the limits of the policy to be the remedy in case of a loss.

You are right about the insurance companies getting their money in the end.

But at the time of the disaster, there is no reason for an insurance company to be tight with their money or rude to the policy holder.

With the insurance companies that I have had - both auto as well as home and boat - there has never been an issue at the time of the loss with the company.

Simply call the insurance company tell them of the loss and tell them that you expect prompt and complete action on their part.
Normally, within 24 hours, the company is there to observe and estimate the loss and have a check for me a short time later.

Sure, the rates might go up later for them to recover their money, but most companies are quite gracious and helpful to the policy holder at the time of loss.

Be safe
Roger

Hi Roger,
I have a good insurer and on the couple of times they were need they were helpful and quick but they have increased the price of the insurance substantially to cover their losses from the Queensland floods.
The insurer that increased their premiums by 800% are one of the best known and respected insurers in the state and old age pensioners can't afford $7,000 a year to insure their homes.I'll be one of them in a few years and if that's the going rate then I won't be able to afford it and I've had home insurance for a lot of years.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Roger,

Thanks for your input and I agree totally......except that the scale of this storm is pretty much unprecedented. There are not enough adjusters to go around and more than 3 weeks ago they made an appointment with us for Dec 15.....things are crazy in the area.