Insurance company: modifications made to Carman's boat needed to be reported

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — More information came out on the third day of the Nathan Carman boat insurance claim case in federal court.

The insurance company that sold Carman the $85,000 policy was on the stand for most of the day.

The way it is supposed to work, according to the insurance company, is the boat is surveyed before they insure it. Then, when you make any changes to the boat, you have to report that to the insurance company. The company says that did not happen before it mysteriously went down.

A video entered into evidence shows Nathan Carman barreling through the Cape Cod Canal on his new boat the Chicken Pox the day he bought it in December 2015. The following year, the boat sank after leaving Point Judith, Rhode Island, when he and his mother left to go fishing around midnight. The boat sank.

Nathan told investigators he became separated from his mother and never saw her again. She is presumed dead. The insurance company is now asking a federal judge to rule the policy is void because Carman drilled four holes below the water line, sealed them improperly, removed air pocket compartments and installed inadequate bilge pumps that help remove water when it gets into the boat.

A top official from the insurance company testified Carman failed to do report those changes.

"It's up to the insured to let us know what material changes they make on vessels," Michael Pellerin said in court.

This civil trial is also expected to get into some of the conflicting reports of where Carman says he was when the boat started sinking. The boat has never been recovered. The insurance companies say they have witnesses who will talk about the drift patterns based on where Carman was located in the life raft.

Cox Media Group