Frequently Asked Questions

No. Public Yacht Adjusters is strictly a licensed public adjusting firm. No marine surveys, investigative reports, or services governed by the ethical codes of SAMS, NAMSGlobal, or IAMI are issued under this company. Any marine survey or investigative work is performed separately through Miami Marine Survey, LLC, ensuring full role separation and compliance with all credentialing organizations. Read our full Disclaimer of Role and Ethical Separation.

No. When engaged through Public Yacht Adjusters, Scott Virgin acts exclusively as your licensed Florida Public Adjuster (License #W268711). His marine surveyor credentials are held personally and separately, and any marine survey work must be engaged directly through Miami Marine Survey, LLC.

The ethical codes of SAMS, NAMSGlobal, and IAMI require role separation to prevent conflicts of interest. We maintain two distinct entities so each service is performed under the appropriate professional standards and without any financial interest in the outcome of survey findings.

No. No marine surveys, investigative reports, or services governed by SAMS, NAMSGlobal, or IAMI ethical codes are issued under Public Yacht Adjusters. Any surveying or investigative work conducted under those credentials is performed separately through Miami Marine Survey, LLC, and never in connection with claims where Scott Virgin has a financial interest in the outcome.

A Public Adjuster is a licensed insurance professional with no affiliation with insurance companies representing insureds only. Public Adjusters (PA) were sanctioned in state legislatures so that consumers could have an outlet for becoming educated and finding representation without going straight to an attorney, allowing for more significant recovery for insureds and fewer insurance cases in the courts. In this sense, we are a cheaper option than an attorney in most cases and avoid lengthy court battles.

We become your legal representative for the insurance claim and will receive all correspondence on your behalf. We deal directly with your insurance company, handle all the research, perform all damage assessments, forensics, and reporting, and advocate on your behalf so you can claim what you deserve stress-free. We have extensive knowledge and experience with local repair and service facilities. We will not only explain and guide you through the insurance claim process but also guide you through understanding the damage to your vessel. Most insurance company adjusters need to learn the marine industry and determine your payout with little research and evidence. We will fight back with years of knowledge and hard facts.

We may also provide the necessary information on total loss documents, challenge or fight salvage or yard expenses, challenge insurance salvage/buyback quotes, and file paperwork on personal effects, boat equipment, or obtain over or above your policy limit based on clauses that may exist in the policy.

Like all Public Adjusters, we get paid a percentage of the total claim recovery we obtain over and above previous settlement offers only after successful resolution and payment of the claim. The chargeable percentage is regulated by Florida, with specific caps applying during declared states of emergency versus non-emergency claims. We assess each claim individually and charge different rates for each case. We will review the exact amounts and reasoning for the percentage as we discuss the claim with you.

You should contact us immediately after the loss, after reaching the necessary emergency services, and after you have informed your insurance company that something has happened. The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can notify you of your rights and get you in the right direction.

You can also contact us any time during the claims process or after the claim is fully resolved if you feel you were compensated unfairly.

An attorney can sue your insurance company and represent you, charging a percentage in addition to legal fees and expenses. A Public Adjuster cannot file suit but can file and pursue complaints with the state, report, and document damage usable in filed complaints, and file for/represent you in mediation or appraisal proceedings. Insurance companies are required to deal directly with a licensed public adjuster. Attorneys can later use our research, reports, and documentation of insurance company behavior if you choose to utilize one later.

Any additional fees for supplemental experts (for example, specialized laboratory testing or certain third-party evaluations) are always communicated and discussed with you in advance and handled transparently. We do not surprise you with charges.

You will pay for the estimate, and we will get the estimation costs covered by your insurance in almost all cases. When we recover the estimation costs for you, we do not charge our fee to this amount or any other expense that we recommend you incur (such as preventing further damage or moving the vessel).

It is common for anyone involved in a boat loss to advise on what to do and how to manage a claim, and their doing so is illegal. U.P.P.A. (Unauthorized Practice of Public Adjusting) means that only a licensed insurance professional can legally advise you regarding your claim. We have heard terrible advice given to our clients by repairers or marina personnel. Remember that only an attorney or licensed insurance professional can offer accurate and helpful information in navigating your claim.

If you need our help, you must sign a representation contract and letter of representation. Once you complete this, we will handle everything.

No. Even though insurance companies know this, they may (and regularly do) try to contract or deal with our insureds directly. Take notes of the name of the individual, the exact time of the call, and the phone number they called from. We utilize this to file a complaint with the Florida Department of Financial Services, as this is bad faith.

Bad faith is when insurance companies act illegally or prioritize their profits over their responsibility to find coverage owed to their insureds reasonably quickly and respectfully. Suppose an insurance company offers you a lowball figure for damage to your vessel without sending anyone to inspect or create a detailed estimate. In that case, this may be considered bad faith. We specialize in dealing with bad faith. If you have thought, "My insurance company is screwing me over," this is likely what is happening.

We will never suggest that this is the correct course of action. Still, you may determine that an insurance company's refusal to accept or acknowledge our joint efforts is grounds to do so. If this happens, all of our work product and continued expert efforts may continue to assist you.

We receive our percentage out of your payment. The insurance company will sometimes do this automatically with a "Direction to Pay" form. In most cases, they will not assist with this. In these cases, we have contracts and special accounts to accept the full payment and issue all subsequent payments to you or all parties shown on the policy. Our representation contract clearly outlines what this entails, and we can discuss all the possible means to handle this with you.

While other public adjusters split their focus between residential water, storm, mold, and fire damage, we dedicate our entire focus to the marine industry. We will help you with new claims, ongoing claims with an unfair payout, supplemental claims for closed cases, and denied claims. We can handle any form of damage.

We are a local small business, so you can be confident you have direct access to your marine expert and public adjuster. While other public adjusting firms may have experts on their disconnected outsourced team, we have the experts themselves communicate with you. We are P.A.s, past insurance company adjusters/surveyors, and marine experts in one tight-knit squad. We work closely with you and will never pass your claim to other firms or adjusters.

It requires knowledge of insurance, Florida Insurance Law as licensed and educated insurance professionals, vessel construction, and intensive marine systems to properly analyze a maritime damage claim. We possess the niche licenses, certifications, and experience to do so on an expert level. Browse our marine adjuster qualifications, read client reviews, or reach out for a free consultation.

Before contacting anyone else, call 911 or whatever emergency services/law enforcement you may need. Obtain all police or fire report numbers and contact information, and notify your insurance company of the loss. The next focus should be on documenting everything connected to the damage. Take photos and videos, collect witness information, and record the registration or documentation numbers of other involved vessels. Any information you collect will help build a strong claim. Contact us to schedule a free claim consultation in which we will take a preliminary look at the vessel and your insurance policy.

Salvage is incredibly complicated. If all you need to arrive safely back to port is a tow, then do not sign a salvage contract. Suppose your vessel or the environment is in immediate peril, preventable only by a salvor. In that case, you should do whatever is necessary to save the boat and protect the environment and private property.

Do not start any repairs! You may have damage extensive enough to total the vessel, and some insurance policies will not declare a constructive total loss if a repairer begins work. It would be best if you had a full assessment and estimate first.

These are two different valuation methods a marine policy can use. An ACV policy sets the coverage limit at the Actual Cash Value, a calculated valuation rate. An Agreed Value policy states a valuation you and the insurance company agreed to at the contract's inception. This information is on your insurance policy's Declarations Page (DEC). How either method actually applies to a loss varies by policy, vessel, and circumstances - the best way to understand how yours responds is to have a professional representative like Public Yacht Adjusters review it with you at no cost.

Insurance company ACV calculations often come in on the low end. Rebutting those offers effectively requires a reputable valuation study conducted by a marine professional (see below). Send us any documentation you have - Public Yacht Adjusters provides a free review and our marine background brings insight an individual without professional marine experience cannot match.

A vessel valuation study is a USPAP-compliant valuation utilizing paid periodical services known in the marine industry and vessel sale reporting services only available to accredited marine surveyors. In addition to for-sale listings, we use these figures to calculate a highly accurate valuation study for your vessel. These are highly specialized and are known and commonly referred to in insurance, finance, and legal proceedings and are difficult to impossible to refute.

A total loss means that the boat is destroyed or is not recoverable. A constructive total loss means that the repair costs to restore your boat exceed the boat's value or the full policy limit with the vessel's salvage value amount subtracted (see below).

The salvage value of a vessel is the value it retains in damaged condition. For example, a salvage company may offer to purchase a fire-damaged vessel for a portion of its pre-loss value; that offer represents the salvage value.

A constructive total loss (CTL) is typically triggered when the cost to repair the vessel exceeds the insured value minus salvage value. The exact thresholds and salvage considerations depend on the adjuster, carrier, and policy language. Public Yacht Adjusters reviews CTL situations in detail as part of representing your claim - call us for a free review of any available documentation.

Most policies state that the insurance company has all rights to the insured property if a CTL is declared. However, in our experience, insurers typically refuse their rights to the property - allowing the insured to keep it - or offer a right of first refusal once they obtain a salvage value, letting the insured retain the vessel in exchange for the salvage amount being deducted from the payout. There may also be provisions allowing retention without a buyback if the vessel is underinsured, depending on the company or policy. We walk clients through the specifics during representation.

The biggest problem here is that no marine professionals have inspected your boat. Creating an estimate without physically seeing a boat first is a waste of time. Still, the unfortunate reality is that this practice is effective at getting people to accept a lower repair amount without fully determining the damage's extent or the relevant repairs' actual costs. Additionally, repair facilities are not surveyors who can adequately assess all systems and damaged components -- such as a mechanic may not know how to identify damage to your hull or electrical systems, and vice versa. Technicians or repair facilities can also not advise you regarding your insurance policy.

The best way (or only way, in our opinion) to proceed is to have an expert surveyor comprehensively inspect the vessel for all loss-related damage BEFORE any repairs begin. We can only find the appropriate repair facilities and obtain the best coverage using this method.

A surveyor is considered an independent expert to assess the cause, nature, and extent (cost) of damages to your vessel. Your insurance company hires this surveyor to represent their interests and for their benefit. The insurance company may share or withhold the surveyor's report based on what is best for them. While the assignment of a surveyor is, in our opinion, the best way for an insurance company to handle a claim (dependent on the surveyor), it is best to have your representative present for that surveyor's inspections and be directly involved in their dealings with repair facilities.

Do not sign the waiver. Call us immediately.

You must file a supplemental claim. Please call us if you have any questions about filing a supplemental claim.

No. Most of the marine policies we have comprehensively reviewed (and we have reviewed many) exclude reimbursing the insured's time if they conduct repairs themselves. You must not consider or put forward that you will perform the repairs or try to negotiate what you will charge the insurance company for this. A professional must estimate the repairs.

No. Most of the marine policies we have comprehensively reviewed (and we have reviewed many) all exclude loss in value. However, how repairers execute repair DOES affect the boat's value, and that directly relates to how you/we handle the claim and repair process is dealt with. Having all repairs done to A.B.Y.C. standards is crucial, and the repairs must be inspected by an accredited surveyor once complete. We directly involve ourselves in this process for our clients to get the necessary components paid for and to protect their assets with the appropriate advice and guidance.

The rights afforded to us by the State of Florida are for the relationship between the insured and their contracted insurance company. While we can help in an expert capacity, only an attorney can pursue a 3rd party insurance company and represent you. We can, however, help you file a claim with your insurance company and recover what you are owed there, as well as push for rights and reimbursement if subrogation exists if afforded by the policy.

Most of the marine policies we have comprehensively reviewed (and we have reviewed many) all exclude damage related to bad repairs. However, the repair facility may have inadequately estimated or charged for the repairs. You may be owed the difference between a bad estimate and one from a reputable repairer. We suggest calling us immediately. Review the loss-of-value question above for additional context.

No. After any repairs, an independent surveyor unaffiliated with the damage inspection or claims process must inspect your boat and issue an unbiased report. We can provide a list of local surveyors we respect to perform this service for you.

They are two separate legal entities. Scott Virgin is the principal at both, but the services are kept strictly separate to comply with the ethical codes of SAMS, NAMSGlobal, and IAMI. Public Yacht Adjusters provides public adjusting only - Miami Marine Survey, LLC handles any formal marine survey or investigative work. Read the full Disclaimer of Role and Ethical Separation for details.

Do not give up on a possible insurance claim. There may be some form of coverage in your policy. Give us a call, and let us help you.