Rock Hit and Insurance questions.

[pbarwick]

1995 Sport Nautique. Direct Drive
Story - Drought and low water this summer bit me hard on a lake I grew up skiing on. Trying to be nice and return a beach ball at Random lake beach turned into an insurance learning experience and hopefully not a nightmare so far. Traveling only about 5 miles an hour, I approached a boat dock nearest the beach to return ball. I recall being about twenty feet away from dock when I hit a rock underwater and through reflex, shoved it into reverse then something shears and engine rpms fly up with no movement. At first, I thought I lost prop due to rpms spin up. Turns out it must have been coupler and.... $4500 later with complete new underwater gear (rebuild of prop, new shaft, gel work for new strut, new coupler, multiple engine pulls to reassemble) @ Lauderdale Lakes which has been great. The boat is put back together and has been water tested but I have some fallout. Transmission issues. How could the transmission have been affected by this rock hit? The transmission now is sensitive going into reverse and the prop spins when in Neutral. This was not the case prior to the rock hit. Any help would be appreciated with this analysis.

Progressive Insurance has been great up until transmission issue. They are saying this could not be from rock hit and is asking that I fill out form that if shop pulls the transmission and shows that this was not from hit and looks to be from normal wear and tear, I have to pay and they do not. What are my options?


Thanks up front for any help. I appreciate your time.
Patrick

[HS]

I am looking forward to seeing the responses to your question, as well as to my post.

first, I ain't no attorney, nor am I offering legal advice. Before I would sign, I would ask "in whose opinion are we agreeing to rely upon to answer the question regarding the transmission problem?" ( their adjuster?) Second, read your policy. Does it says that the damage from the rock strike is a covered loss? What about damage resulting from operation during the covered event? Third, and this is obvious, once you sign, you might be waiving some of your rights related to your claim. Fourth, any insights from your mechanic as to whether the issue pre-existed or could be the result of the rock strike? Assuming for argument's sake that it is the result of operation during the covered loss, how could that operation be considered normal wear or even negligence?