[TowerTalk] Bent Mast
Stan or Patricia Griffiths
w7ni@easystreet.com
Mon, 23 Apr 2001 15:51:54 -0700
K7LXC@aol.com wrote:
> It's unfortunate that the guy didn't submit a claim to his insurance
> because it would have been covered but he's probably missed the 30-day window
> for submitting a claim. Then he could've had professionals come out and take
> care of it (they would've used a crane). The insurance company *expects* you
> to use professionals.
>
> In any case, I would recommend taking the whole array off the tower with
> a crane or boomtruck and then re-installing everything including a proper
> mast.
>
> Cheers, Steve K7LXC
> Tower Tech
Wow! I could NEVER submit a claim for a situation like this to an insurance
company. True, you will probably get away with it . . . but you shouldn't.
Insurance, in my opinion, is to cover legitimate accidents, vandalisim, and "acts
of God", like super-high winds, tornados, earthquakes, etc . . . not for acts of
stupidity, like using water pipe for a mast. Using water pipe for an extended
mast is simply rigging your tower for a predictable failure. If insurance
companies see many claims like this, we can all expect to either see ham towers
and antennas totally exempt from coverage at all or the costs to cover them will
be prohibitive. Putting in a claim for this type of failure is a disservice to
all of us who bother to use reasonable and safe construction materials and
techniques. I have often thought of hiring myself out as an expert to help
insurance adjusters figure out situations like this . . . If they ever hire me
to do it, I won't be easy on you if you submit a claim for your own stupidity . .
.
Stan
w7ni@easystreet.com
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