Rick Wilson
Assistant Vice President, Claims (CAT) Catastrophe Team

What do you do at BoatUS Marine Insurance?
I am the Assistant Vice President of Claims for Liability and Specialty programs. I am also the director of the Catastrophe Field Team.

How many years have you been with BoatUS?
I started with BoatUS as a Claims Trainee in July of 1991. I have been here over 17 years.

Do you own a boat? If so, what kind and where do you use it?
No, although my parents have had boats since I was 2 and I grew up all around them. I still try to go sailing with my parents a couple of times a year on the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay. Until my children were born I also did a lot of sailboat racing out of Annapolis, MD, although these days my time is spent following my children from athletic fields to swimming pools and back again.

Most unusual phone call, claim or assignment while at BoatUS?
The Catastrophe Field Team always provides new and different adventures after each and every storm.

One of my favorite and most unusual claims, happened very early in my career. The claim was what appeared initially to be a mechanical breakdown of an outdrive unit. As the surveyor and the mechanic began to teardown the outdrive in order to identify the cause, nature and extent of the damage it became evident that something was jammed in the internal gears. The insured and his young son were there at the time and after quite a bit of wrangling the repairer was able to remove the item from amongst the gears and it turned out to be a small plastic “Garfield”. It appears that the insured’s young son (I believe he was 4 or 5) must have dropped this into the outdrive unit while the insured had been servicing it in the days prior. When the engine was put in gear, the outdrive tried to ingest “Garfield”.

This heavily chewed up “Garfield” doll still hangs on the bulletin board at my desk.

Your favorite vacation spot?
Cape Hatteras, NC