Todd & Associates

BEWARE! BEWARE! BEWARE! If you are looking up Todd & Associates or Bill T, you most likely have a marine claim and Todd & Associates/Bill T has been assigned by your insurance company to "survey" the damage. CALL YOUR ADJUSTER AND REQUEST A DIFFERENT ADJUSTING/SURVEY FRIM AND SURVEYOR! End of August 2021, we experienced a catastrophic event at sea. Todd & Associates/Bill T was assigned to evaluate claim.

When discovered they were assigned, I looked them up (at that time) found nothing but negative reviews. Brought this to the attention of Insurance company, they offered to reassign, but they assured me Todd & Associates would be fair, so I agreed to proceed, which was a mistake. The surveyor (Bill T) claims to have significant knowledge pertaining to boating world, however he lacks knowledge when it comes to electric driven diesel motors & interiors.

He will compare old Detroit Diesel engine to a modern Cummings QSM-11 driven by electronics. Problem with this, when a vessel is partially submerged & the electronics get wet, there is not a "simple fix". Every expert in the field, explained: Cummings QSM-11 engines are not recoverable once wet. 2.5 months later, after 3 inspections, and partial disassembly of the engines, Bill T finally agrees that the engines are compromised, again 2.5 months, all while the vessel is sitting in a boat yard at $400+ per day.

Same story for the electrical elements. Moving into the interior, the day of our 5th inspection, it appeared Bill T was having a bad day. From the moment of arrival, the interpretation of his tone and mannerisms was, pugnacious, quarrelsome, condescending, disrespectful, combative, aggressive, and just rude in general. During this inspection, Bill T's agenda, to be as disrespectful as possible to everyone present.

I have been respectful at every meeting, email sent, and all communication dispatched. The display of disrespect on this inspection day was unacceptable. Disrespecting an interior professional because he is in disagreement and telling him he did not understand the work he is doing is uncalled for. Bill T might be a Marine Engineer, but that does not make him a carpenter or a mechanic, nor does it qualify him in the area of expertise.

I would not ask a gasoline automobile engine mechanic to work on an airplane engine, nor would I ask a tile installer to build custom kitchen cabinets. Every engine professional had stated electronic engines as the QSM-11 can NOT be rebuilt and placed back in service reliably. Keep in mind, 2.5 months worth of time, energy, effort, expense, & inconvenience have gone into 'proving' the engines are compromised, this after Bill T stated time and time again that "the engines are fine". Looking at the the electrical element, we have the same profile of behavior.

With the most recent inspection leading to Bill T stating that "saltwater swollen interior wood can be just leveled out, sanded, and painted over". This is suggestion is ludicrous! Saltwater swelling wood separates layers, covering separated layers is not pre-loss condition, which insured is entitled to under their policy. It is clear Todd & Associates/Bill T is/has been hired to save the insurance company money by any means, without concern to the end result.

Under each policy it is written, that the insurance company must act in fair practice, if Todd & Associates and Bill T is assigned, that statement is open for interpretation. Lastly, at the time of assignment (September 2021) the only reviews listed for Bill T and Todd & Associates was negative, posted on Yelp and G. Since bringing the negative element of Bill T and Todd & Associates to light, it appears there have been a total of 5 positive reviews posted within the last 4 weeks. Are these posting from actual clients or just simple attempts to increase online image?

In addition, one of the Yelp reviews is Bill T himself (Bill T/see picture) posting a 5 star review for him/his company. Why is the above stated relevant? It speaks to summarize the integrity of Bill T and Todd & Associates. Ask me any question you have.

My experience with Todd & Associates couldn't have been better. Thanks Max! They handled my claim swiftly and like true pros. I have had boats all my life and dealt with my share of marine surveyors, and this was by far my best experience. I highly recommend them!

After doing research and seeking industry referrals, we contracted Todd & Associates for an accredited marine survey of our commercial passenger vessel. This survey was required for liability insurance policy, as well as the financing company, so we really needed a surveyor with the right level of experience and industry knowledge to perform a complete and thorough survey of our USCG inspected vessel and provide an accredited market valuation report.

Our surveyor was Max Schwede, and the entire process from initial contact with their office to the actual marine survey and final report were outstanding at a very reasonable cost. I highly recommend the company to anyone looking for a marine survey (recreational or commercial) and would certainly hire them again for future needs.

Great surveyors, who helped us get through our insurance claim. Very professional and helpful in helping us figure out what happened to our boat, and what to do next. Would definitely recommend them, as we are grateful for the help and guidance received.

They were hired by my claims adjuster and failed to mention that the boat lock to the cabin was tampered. This was the deciding factor that caused the claim to rejected. How do you leave that out?

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! It is well know within the surveying industry that Todd & Ass are in bed with insurance companies. That's all they do, insurance surveys, so they won't bite the hand that feeds them, if you know what I mean! Think about that! When we filed a claim with our insurance company we were told to contact this surveyor. After researching their reputation we asked for more choices, and our insurance company said NO you MUST use Todd & Ass only! Period!

Pretty obvious what's going on here! OK so I called them. Also, as a side note, the next day their surveyor appeared on deck without being invited aboard! Our claim was denied, of course! Good luck!

Jon S's review is off base. We did a thorough inspection and reported the facts and only the facts to the insurance company. Bill Trenkle certainly did not lie. The fact that the insurance company for the owner you were working for did not pay her claim to the extent she wanted is a matter of coverage under her policy. We have been in business 27 years and yours is the only bad review, which is not bad considering we handle about 300 claims a year. Marine insurance is not like car insurance and many people get confused when everything they claim is not covered, then they wrongfully blame the Marine Surveyor.

As the newly elected President of the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors(SAMS), I can attest that at least SAMS surveyors operate under a strict code of ethics. If there is a question with a surveyor a full investigation is done to determine if there was an ethics violation and then the surveyors membership may be suspended or terminated.

Beware! this scandalous company that mostly works for insurance companies to deny valid claims. They are nothing short of paid off hitmen and liars. I have facts to back up my statements if you have had a bad experience or have conflicting reports with them please post on it. I would be willing to help expose these crooks.

WARNING.DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. Todd and associates was contracted by foremost insurance to do a vessel inspection of our boat. Bill Trenkle inspected the vessel and released his certified report after carefully reading we found many inconsistencies in his report and also caught him in a lie of his careful and complete inspection.

This company is a hired gun for insurance companies DO NOT use this company for anything they make false Statements and lie to get claims denied anyone that has had similar problems with them feel free to contact me for documentation I would love to assist someone in a law suit or help putting them out of business

Not yet satisfied but they are working with the situation. update coming