To my fellow TowerTalkians: Since I follow the Reflector quite avidly,
I have a great deal of respect for the opinions and ideals, which are
really reflective cross-section of experiences and unfortunately, in
some cases, from the schools of hard knocks! One of the things I want
you all to consider is that you put up a 75 foot tower by the rules, and
follow the LXC prime directive, and a hurricane comes by and takes it
down... That is an inevitable act of Mother Nature. But by the same
course, you don't maintain it and you don't replace the cables, and
allow them to rust thru, and it comes crashing down, then don't be
surprised if your insurance company refuses to pay! I know for a fact
that it happened to a Ham in Old Bridge, NJ and his insurance company
refused to pay because they said it was lack of maintenance. So,
following the thought through, if one of the legs is cracked and this
tower comes down, then all bets are off of how the insurance company
would perceive the failure. I am not saying they won't pay, but is it
worth taking the chance, considering the expense involved and the loss
of a large tower and its antennas, and also quite possibly the liability
issues over a tower failing in service. I am neither an attorney nor an
insurance professional, but in my years of being a high voltage
electrician, I know the perception from insurance adjusters can range
from "oh well, we'll pay" to "the fight is to the last penny." And it
always seems to be from their initial perception of the problem. 73's
Be Safe. Gene K2QWD
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-admin@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-admin@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Scott W4PA
Sent: Monday, October 07, 2002 11:32 AM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [Towertalk] 45G tower and your insurance
>>Kris mentions:
>>""Yes, but for how much longer? Just because it can be done doesn't
>>mean it's safe or permanent by any means. If the tower fell, causing
>>measurable property insurance, would the insurance company be obliged
>>to pay, or would they have reason to balk at a claim?""
>Isn't it true that insurance is for *just* such issues? For example,
>car insurance pays (if you have Collision) if you as a driver, do
>something wrong, thus causing a crash.
>If insurance only paid out when things are RIGHT, there would be very
>little reason to purchase it.
>John wb5oau
This is stretching the limits of this topic, but I used to have this
exact same attitude about insurance until my house was seriously
damaged in a non-ham radio related incident in March 2002.
Your insurance company should be viewed as an adversary that will
take advantage of any opportunity to stick it to you.
Been there, done that. I have spent a huge amount of my free time
and money this year fixing my house - I am at several thousand
dollars and hundreds of hours of labor over the last 6 months and
I have a lot of work and $ still left to go.
An opinion from a third party professional in the claims industry
was that even though I had a claim denied, that I would likely
win in court if I was willing to spend thousands of dollars in
legal fees to try and snag a $15,000 settlement. Obviously, the
math doesn't work out too well there if I still have to fix the
damage (I do).
DO NOT take the attitude that insurance will help you. I did this,
and I have learned a very hard lesson. I WAS COVERED BY MY
INSURANCE - and I am paying out the nose in time and money after
my insurance company figured they could screw me. They were right.
Scott Robbins, W4PA
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