Damage from lightning strike.

R

Reel Antsy

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Last week, lightning hit a metal support for the covered slips on our dock. A lot of my neighbors lost electrical components, as did I. (The strike blew my radar, chart plotter, fishfinder, forward tv and lower helm's tachs and gauges are inoperative)

I won't be able to get back down to the boat for a couple of weeks to completely go over all the damage and inventory components that don't work or are inoperative. So my question is, should I notify my insurance company now to start a claim and explain that I don't have all the info or wait until I have better knowledge of all the damage that occurred? Haven't been through this before and I appreciated advise from those who have.

Thanks.
 
Yes, call your insurance company now. This is what you pay them for.

Last year a friend of mine got struck while underway (40' Sea Ray Sedan Bridge). He lost his hearing for a couple of hours as the strike was the VHF antenna near his head, but was able to bring the boat back to his slip (he was about 1/2 mile away when struck). He knew everything was fried but was a bit surprised when he couldn't get the engines to shut down. The ignitions were gone too. Thankfully, the fuel shut-offs as well as his steering and throttles were all manual/old-school and still worked. The boat was in the shop for 6 months. All covered by insurance. The good news is that he's had the boat back most of this season and I do not think he's had any major issues with the repairs.
 
Have you checked you bilge pumps?
Call you insurance now you can add as you discover additional problems but get the claim started ASAP.
 
Open the claim NOW. Make sure that none of your thru-hull fittings got damaged/destroyed.
 
A policyholder typically is under a duty to notify his/her insurance carrier of a loss within a certain time frame, usually stated in the policy (may be stated in terms of x days after the loss or "within a reasonable time;" it's been a while since I looked at a casualty policy). I would contact your carrier and tell them just what you stated in your post. They may have advice for you and may be able to help you prepare to file your claim, thus saving you time. Your timely notification also signals your carrier that you are on the ball and care for your gear, at least that's my opinion.

V/R
 
Let them figure out what's damaged. You can always add anything they missed. They will have to inspect the damage anyway so why wait.
 
Okay, thanks guys. That's what I needed to hear.
And, the bilge pumps are working at this time.
 
---- and you might have an obligation to your insurance company to protect the property from any add'l. damage. Therefore, I would ask your dockmates to take a peek in the bilge every few days. I took a hit some time back and the Travelers said to get it up on the hard ASAP for fear of hull and other below waterline damage. They paid for the haul out,survey, etc.
 
Just got done with my insurance company (B/U). They instructed me to get it hauled out to be on the safe side. Then they will have an adjuster get in touch with me. The boat is getting hauled out in the next 24 hrs and will be blocked.
So far, quick and painless start. Hope all follows through as well!

Thank again.
 
They want it hauled because lightning strikes have been known to blow thru-hull fitting right out of the boat.
 
To be clear, the strike itself was not directly to my boat. It traveled down a metal support to a dock pedestal. From there, via cable coax and power lines, it went to the other boats along the dock which were plugged in. Most damage has been reported by others as blown tvs, plotters, battery chargers, ac control panels and one so far, his electronic ECM's for his Mercruiser engines.
I had the boat out Saturday for a cruise for several hours with no anomalies noted other than the bridge electronics and lower helm gauges. But as mentioned, a haul out should reveal any current or potential issues with under the water line components.
 
Check the fridge AC & DC too if applicable, and watch for bilge pump activity even though it wasn't a direct hit..

I'd want to notify my insurance provider right away.

Very sorry to hear of your and dockmates' troubles.
 
I just took a strike nearby. My battery charger would not work. I checked the internal fuse and it was blown. I thought, "oooh that is good", I'll just replace the fuse. Did that, then started it up, got a reverse polarity warning. So I threw a probe in the water to check for a "hot dock", holy crap! 45 volts!. Shut it all down, ordered a new Charles 5000 from Defender. Just put it in today all is well. The installation went so well I am now a fully certified circus contortionist.
 
GeeBee- Did you recheck with the water probe to confirm others had repaired as needed as well to keep everyone's thru-hulls (and perhaps divers) from cooking?

Best wishes in your new career!
 
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