Claim 77359628

Re: Claim # 77359628

To Whom It May Concern,
                                         regarding the claim above which is still in progress I have managed to recover a number of items that I found advertised on Trade Me.  Henderson Police returned them to me yesterday and so I now wish to withdraw this claim.
 
   This claim which was originally filed on August 6th.  I completed the forms online as I was told over the phone that this was the quickest way to proceed - so much faster than the old-fashioned paper forms -  and faxed the relevant receipts etc.  I was contacted very smartly by a caller who, having cast an eye over my submission, suggested that my tools with a total replacement value of over $3000 might not be worth claiming at all.  When asked if replacement value was not what my policy entitled me to, he waffled something about having not checked my policy yet, and would look into it once a privacy release document was signed.

   This was duly posted out to me along with a claim form to fill in, identical to the one I had completed online over two weeks prior, apparently in the interest of immediacy!  To these I attached copies of receipts for most of my items, photos of owners manuals and packaging left behind, plus written quotes for replacement items from two major hardware stores. This was bundled off to Tower in late August.  Following this up with a phone call I mentioned that my policy had "New for old option: Selected" on it.  This I took to mean that if someone stole, for example, my TV, then it could be replaced with a new model of equivalent size and brand. The helpful operator pointed out, however, that this "new for old option" only applied only to a specific list of items.  He read me the list of items covered, tools were not on it. Therefore I was only entitled to a present day value to be determined by Tower. I can find no wording on my policy detailing any inclusions or exclusions relating to the "new for old option" I had "selected".

Having not heard anything for some weeks I phoned on approximately September 17th and was told someone would call me within 24hrs to discuss the status of my claim.  This they did, and they acknowledged that my bundle had been received, and that what they were waiting for was a copy of the police report, which could take up to five weeks!  So I waited...

  When several items were recovered and finally returned to me on October 11th (nearly ten weeks after my online claim was submitted) I mentioned to the detective in charge of my case that Tower Insurance were waiting for the police report.  Imagine my disappointment when he told me one had not yet been requested.

Regards, Kerrin Worsfold

The Naked Boat

Finished stripping the hull - port side only, but still a milestone.  JD painted her in 2-pack in the nineties, so it all had to come off.  Also happy to find the original waterline as scribed in the planking during the original build.  It had been painted nearly an inch lower at the stern, but was more or less right by the time it arrived at the stem.  Will probably batten this off and re-scribe it just to make sure it doesn't vanish again under coats of primer.

Back from the Dead.

Not dead, just a bit sore!  My ongoing episode of renal colic which began before Xmas has discouraged me from doing...anything, including working on Jado this year.  Towards the end of a four week spell of working 7 day weeks I found that thieves had broken into our basement and stolen all my tools, power and otherwise, that I've acquired over the last couple of years, which was devastating.  Devastating too was the insurance company pleb who recommended I not claim the loss - a work in progress as I write!

On a happier note, having earned two days off (in a row!) I re-clad the carport in fresh tarps to replace the ones shredded by the winter winds, repaired the basement door, and bought a few tools to begin again.  Have done some scraping of the port bilges this year but need to tackle this in earnest next.  Was also happy to find a nice vintage bilge pump of the type described to me by Jim Donald.  It mounts on the port stringer, just ahead of the for'ard thwart.  It is pictured as it arrived today, but will get stripped, dipped and renovated shortly.

Also bought another bronze bollard a few weeks ago, to replace the "original" one Bill Carter dug out for me.  I'm positive it wasn't from Jado, aside from the material evidence of marks left on the damaged deck king plank, it looks more rounded than earlier photos indicate.  The latest one is definitely not original either, but does look a better match for what was put there by P Vos Ltd in 1958.