HURRICANE BOAT DAMAGE ATTORNEY

Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton ran up the West Coast of Florida and cost billions of dollars of damage. Some of that damage was to homes and businesses and some of it was damage to vessels—or damage caused by breakaway vessels. Insurance companies like to say when a vessel breaks loose in a storm like Hurricane Helene or Hurricane Milton that these were “acts of God”, and they try to pretend that they as the vessel’s insurer are not responsible for payment of damage caused by a breakaway vessel. You need a maritime attorney to represent you on such claims. If you rely upon a dog-bite attorney or car accident attorney they are unlikely to know the law and rules that apply to maritime claims, like when a breakaway vessel damages your property. We have been practicing in maritime law for more than 25 years and know the laws that apply to your claim. This is not a sideline, it is the type of law we practice every day of the week.

BOAT INSURANCE COMPANIES CAN FILE A LIMITATION ACTION AGAINST YOU IF YOU MAKE A CLAIM FOR DAMAGE DONE OR INJURY BY A BREAKAWAY VESSEL.

This is something boating insurance companies do in property damage cases and in personal injury cases involving a vessel: they file a Limitation of Liability case against you. What is that?  A Limitation of Liability action (a/k/a “LOLA”) is filed by an insurance company for the boat owner. This is done in federal court. Federal court is a place where most auto accident attorneys do not go, if ever. This is because most auto accident cases are handled in state court if suit is filed at all. You need to know two things about a Limitation of Liability action: 1. The intention of the insurance company in filing a Limitation action is to limit your recovery to worth of the offending vessel—after the casualty. So if the neighbor’s boat breaks loose and damages your property (i.e., your house, your dock, your vessel, your yard, etc.) the insurance company wants to limit your recovery to the worth of that damaged vessel—which is sometimes not much value at all. Yes, the worth of the offending “damaged” vessel. 2. The second thing to know about a Limitation action is that a federal judge sets a response deadline to file a claim, and your claim can be barred if a response is not made timely for you and in the correct manner. Again, not many attorneys at all practice in maritime law, and of those who do, not many of them know the legal process to fight a Limitation action. To be clear, if a claim is not made on time for you–and it has to be done correctly– any property damage case or even a personal injury claim that you had can be permanently lost.  After that claim is filed for you the case is further litigated. That is why it is important not to trust your maritime case to someone who has never done one.

You can trust our 25 years’ experience handling boating damage and boating injury cases. We have successfully represented clients fighting insurance companies and that includes successfully against Limitation cases. In boating damage cases don’t let the boating insurance company tell you: this was an act of God. Contact us to talk about your boating property damage or injury case.

There is never a charge to you unless we win your case.

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