ARTICLE TOPIC
ARTICLE TOPIC
We can all agree that cranes and other high-value pieces of heavy equipment are complicated. Understanding how to appraise the damage to a passenger vehicle or a motorcycle is quite a bit different than appraising the damage to a 300-ton crawler crane. Yet many insurance companies still hire generalist appraisers, thinking they can do the job. And that can be problematic.
With that in mind, here are three reasons to hire a qualified heavy equipment appraiser.
Hiring a qualified crane appraiser ensures the appraiser is knowledgeable, experienced, and a true authority on heavy equipment. A general insurance adjuster might be able to take an educated guess on a piece of equipment’s value, but they probably can’t tell you how much a counterweight costs or whether a not a boom can be repaired.
A qualified crane appraiser understands the specifics of a particular make and model of a crane, which means you’re going to get a precise value rather than an educated guess. A qualified crane appraiser is also going to bring an entire network of contacts with them—from cause and origin specialists to hard-to-obtain parts suppliers.
The number one goal in a claim from everyone’s standpoint—meaning the policyholder and the insurance company—is to limit the total amount of the loss. A qualified crane appraiser can help mitigate the loss in a variety of ways, one of which is by reducing the total number of hours the crane is inoperable. The qualified appraiser does this by quickly locating parts, identifying the quickest and most cost-effective repair facility, and bringing in any additional experts that might help speed up the overall process.
Truly understanding the mechanics and specifics of a particular make and model of a crane means subrogation—the act of retrieving your claims dollars from the responsible party—is considered right from the start. Qualified crane appraisers are often the best resource for identifying potential avenues of subrogation. A qualified appraiser is going to be able to tell whether a failure was due to a manufacturer’s defect, or simply from run-of-the-mill wear and tear. Having a qualified crane appraiser evaluating your crane is paramount to ensuring the most beneficial claims outcome.