car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

Lowe170

Seaman
Joined
Apr 9, 2011
Messages
60
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

yes the cops was there but they did not do any reports cuz it was in my driveway not on the street..

Seems to me that police would cite the wrecker driver for not securing his load,presuming that occurred in the street. I'd complain to that agency's chief or anyone who'd listen. When a car/truck runs off the street into someone's house or something, they wouldn't do a report!?
Any way, good luck with the insurance claim and glad to hear no one was hurt.
 

lynnboy021

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
553
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

Seems to me that police would cite the wrecker driver for not securing his load,presuming that occurred in the street.


i am thinking that tow truck and cops might work together cuz be4 the cops left the cops and driver was f'ing around and all. after i leave work i am going there to see if there was a report made and i will let you guys know...
 

nlain

Commander
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
2,445
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

Get the police report, they should have made one, you need that record to back up your claim. The tow company have to have insurance to cover their vehicle, the vehicle they are towing and any damage that may occur like what happened here. File a report with your insurance company, get the police report and get a copy of that to your insurance company, they will fight for you to get proper repairs and or replacement for your damage. That is what you pay them for. I would contact all of my insurance companies, car, boat, home, at least one of them will fight the fight for you.
 

lynnboy021

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
553
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

soi just got off the phone with insurance and they said that they found someone and within 48 hrs they coming to my home and look at the boat and trailer...
 

MH Hawker

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
5,516
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

I would of kept the car that hit your boat till its settled. had one run off the road and take out my fences stopping in the yard once. and the drive ran off I sold the car for parts after the car owner refused to pay fo the fence.
 

lckstckn2smknbrls

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 18, 2008
Messages
1,114
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

i am thinking that tow truck and cops might work together cuz be4 the cops left the cops and driver was f'ing around and all. after i leave work i am going there to see if there was a report made and i will let you guys know...
Do a FOI request on all radio traffic, police in-car videos, officer notes and the 911 call. This will let the police know your serious.
 

H20Rat

Vice Admiral
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
5,204
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

I would of kept the car that hit your boat till its settled. had one run off the road and take out my fences stopping in the yard once. and the drive ran off I sold the car for parts after the car owner refused to pay fo the fence.

except that isn't legal in any sense. If the tow company &/or owner pushed the issue and you didn't give in, the damage to the boat would be the least of your problems. At the very least you would be charged with vehicle theft, not a light charge by any means...
 

JDA1975

Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
1,385
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

Do a FOI request on all radio traffic, police in-car videos, officer notes and the 911 call. This will let the police know your serious.

In case he doesn't know FOI = Freedom of Information...if you do this be ready for a whole lot of red tape, and even more black marker...they love to black stuff out!
 

I Fish

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
100
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

i am thinking that tow truck and cops might work together cuz be4 the cops left the cops and driver was f'ing around and all....

You're probably right, it's fairly common. The Tow drivers get involved in a lot of late night DUI tows, and just wrecks in general, so, they usually get to know the cops pretty well. Did you ever wonder why you never see a tow truck pulled over?
 

giericd

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 1, 2011
Messages
102
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

Contact the Mass State Police your town cops in Billerica are useless. State police will act as the DOT does here in Fl. I was a cop for years and can tell there were a lot of things wrong with what happened as long as you stated the facts correctly. As mentioned above the driver is responsable for properly securing his load (violation #1), too fast for conditions(violation #2) speed/curve/hill...... If you dont get any where with the State Police then there is the old stand by from what i learned when i lived in Wakefield Ma, SUE them Mass is the sue em' state. but depending on the commonwelth laws in Ma you might have to go after the owner of the vehicle that hit your boat even though they were not there their property hit your property, you collect from them and they will have to go after the tow company for their losses such as the damage to their vehicle + what they had to pay out to you. Contact Nigro,Petipett, and Lucas in wakefield Great lawyers and not a bad price when i used them years back. (we won)
 

southkogs

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Staff member
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Messages
15,000
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

I'm not sure what the law is like in your area, however here in TN I'm pretty sure I would leave my insurance company out of things momentarily. My first stop would be to the police dept. for a report, and my second would be to the tow company's insurance. They damaged someone else's property - should be covered by their liability insurance. There are some similar situations here in TN where my homeowner's would take over, but in most cases it would be their liability insurance.

My car was recently hit (collateral damage from someone else's auto wreck). The other driver's insurance company contacted me before I could even get a copy of the police report. They had an adjuster out within a few days and paid me for damages fast. Not all situations will go that easily, but from time to time they work out.
 

Outsider

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
1,022
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

if you have a policy on the boat and trailer is to let your insurance company settle with you

Someone finally has a clue. I've made four claims against boat insurance over the years, and not one had a police report and not once did my rates go up. Leave it up to their insurance and you might get satisfaction, and you might not (they're not employed by you). Ya pays your money and takes your chances if you don't follow protocol ... :eek:
 

Alwhite00

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Messages
885
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

All I can say is that truck driver is damn lucky somebodys kid or wife was not standing out there. sucks man, Good luck.

LK
 

lynnboy021

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
553
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

so the guy is coming tomorrow at 10:30 and i will let u guys know what happend...
 

lncoop

Vice Admiral
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Messages
5,147
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

if you have a policy on the boat and trailer is to let your insurance company settle with you

Someone finally has a clue. I've made four claims against boat insurance over the years, and not one had a police report and not once did my rates go up. Leave it up to their insurance and you might get satisfaction, and you might not (they're not employed by you). Ya pays your money and takes your chances if you don't follow protocol ... :eek:

So someone finally has a clue because he said what you thought was correct? Last summer I had my rig hauled home on a rollback. The driver did an excellent job of loading and hauling her right up until he was within twenty feet of my driveway, at which point he took her under a low hanging tree and destroyed the windshield. At the scene I calmly told him his company would be responsible for replacing it and he agreed, as did the supervisor who had been following us. I gave them a couple of days to contact me, and when they didn't I began contacting them. After a few days of their giving me the runaround I contacted my state's towing and recovery board. A gentleman there gave me another contact at the wrecker company, but he also advised me to instruct my insurance company to go after theirs if I didn't ultimately receive satisaction. They finally made it right, but my point is this. This is something entirely different from filing a claim for something that was another party's fault, especially if the other party is a commercial entity. Filing a claim should be the absolute last resort in a case like this. Even if there are no ramifications later with regard to coverage or premiums you're still out whatever deductible you might have to pay and there's a claim recorded on your policy, which is a factor whether you think it is or not.
 

lynnboy021

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
553
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

sorry guys for the delay just been really busy..... so my update is that i called my insurance and they said they got the all the paper work and stuff from the adjuster and they going to send me a check for 5000 for trailer and boat.... but i was thinking i love my boat but i am going to need to fill a crap load of cracks and all so my ? is with the money i get can i just buy a new/used boat or do i have to really spend all the 5000 on my boat???
 

chriscraft254

Commander
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
2,445
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

sorry guys for the delay just been really busy..... so my update is that i called my insurance and they said they got the all the paper work and stuff from the adjuster and they going to send me a check for 5000 for trailer and boat.... but i was thinking i love my boat but i am going to need to fill a crap load of cracks and all so my ? is with the money i get can i just buy a new/used boat or do i have to really spend all the 5000 on my boat???

You can do as you wish with the money. Its a settlement for damages, nothing else.
 

lynnboy021

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
553
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

um they said that they totaled my trailer so do i have to give them the trailer or can i just junk it???
 

impatico

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 24, 2010
Messages
184
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

I had a postal truck back into my pickup and I have never had anyone do anything vehicle wise for me, I do it ALL myself so I wanted a payout. The guy told me that I would have to fix the truck out of my pocket then bring in the receipts. I talked to a different lady and she got me my money and said I could do what ever I wanted with it?

Sometimes it's just who you talk to I guess, but if they give you a payout, it's yours, do as you wish!
 

impatico

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 24, 2010
Messages
184
Re: car fell off tow truck and hit my parked boat & trailer

um they said that they totaled my trailer so do i have to give them the trailer or can i just junk it???

that means it can't be insured again unless inspected, atleast thats the way up here.

it's yours to keep/junk
 
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