BOAT DAMAGE EXPERTS
Effective August 30, 2026 · Last updated August 30, 2026
This Policy covers boatdamageexperts.com, bde.online, the Boat Damage Experts estimator, claim-support, repair-network, dealer/marina and related services.
BDE (“BDE,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) provides technology-enabled marine damage estimation, repair coordination, repair financing/payment administration, certified repair-network services, dealer and marina programs, referral services, and administrative support related to boat repairs and insurance claims. This Privacy Policy explains how BDE collects, uses, discloses, retains, and protects personal information when you use our websites, applications, estimator, communications, repair services, network services, or other offerings that link to this Policy (collectively, the “Services”).
This Policy applies to boat owners and other consumers, website visitors, prospective customers, dealer and marina customers, referral participants, repair-shop and adjuster-network contacts, and other individuals who interact with BDE. It does not replace any additional privacy notice or consent presented at the point of collection when a specific BDE service requires additional information or authorization.
We collect information you provide directly, information generated through your use of the Services, information provided by authorized partners or service providers, and information reasonably necessary to administer a repair, estimate, payment, financing, referral, or claim-support workflow.
Categories may include:
Please do not provide Social Security numbers, account passwords, medical information, or other highly sensitive information unless BDE specifically requests it for a disclosed and legitimate purpose.
BDE may use photographs, video, vessel specifications, HIN-related vessel information, damage descriptions, historical repair information, pricing information, bids, technician findings, and repair outcomes to generate or improve damage assessments and estimates. BDE may use automated systems, artificial intelligence, machine learning, rules, and analytical models as part of this process.
AI-generated or automated outputs are intended to assist the repair and estimation process. Where required by the applicable BDE workflow, estimates are subject to review or validation by qualified marine repair personnel. BDE estimation is not a determination of insurance coverage and does not itself constitute an insurer or adjuster decision.
Where BDE asks for consent to use identifiable photos or vessel information for product or model improvement beyond what is reasonably necessary to provide the requested Service, BDE will present that choice clearly. Withdrawal of consent will apply prospectively, subject to legal, operational, deidentification, and record-retention limitations.
We use personal information to: provide, operate, authenticate, maintain, and improve the Services; create damage analyses and repair estimates; identify and coordinate appropriate BDE Certified Repair Shops and other service providers; prepare and distribute standardized work orders, bid packages, and repair documentation; administer competitive bidding or job-placement workflows; communicate with you about estimates, claims, repairs, approvals, scheduling, payments, and service status; facilitate repair funding, payment administration, deductible collection, insurance-proceeds processing, and related transaction workflows; support dealer, marina, affiliate, and employee referral programs; submit information to an insurer or other party when you have expressly authorized BDE to perform an administrative submission on your behalf; maintain CRM, case, audit, fraud-prevention, quality-control, and compliance records; analyze repair pricing, cycle time, network performance, estimate accuracy, and service outcomes; develop, test, improve, and secure BDE technology and models consistent with applicable law and our notices and consents; personalize and improve website and product experiences; send service communications and, where permitted, marketing communications; detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, misuse, security incidents, or unlawful activity; enforce agreements and protect BDE, customers, partners, and others; and comply with law, legal process, insurance and financial requirements, or valid governmental requests.
When you ask BDE to assist with an insurance-related repair, BDE may collect and transmit claim-related information, estimates, photographs, repair documentation, invoices, and payment information to your insurer, adjuster, repair facility, lienholder, or other authorized participant. If you expressly authorize BDE to initiate or submit a claim communication on your behalf, BDE may transmit the information you provide and BDE-generated repair documentation for administrative purposes.
Unless separately stated in a written agreement and permitted by applicable law, BDE does not use your information to act as your public adjuster, interpret your insurance policy, determine coverage, or negotiate the amount of an insurance claim on your behalf. Insurance coverage and claim decisions remain with you, your insurer, and appropriately licensed parties.
We may disclose personal information to the following categories of recipients when reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy: BDE Certified Repair Shops and technicians; insurers, claims personnel, independent adjusters, and other claim participants authorized or reasonably necessary for the requested workflow; dealers, marinas, and referral partners when needed to administer a referral or service relationship; lienholders and other parties with a legitimate interest in repair or payment administration; payment processors, financial institutions, financing or funding providers, and transaction-service providers; cloud hosting, CRM, communications, analytics, security, identity, document, AI/model, and other technology vendors acting for BDE; professional advisers such as attorneys, accountants, auditors, insurers, and consultants; governmental authorities or other parties when required by law or reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety, property, or prevent fraud; and parties to an actual or proposed financing, merger, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, or similar corporate transaction, subject to appropriate protections.
BDE does not sell your name or direct contact information for money. BDE does not sell consumer claim files or damage photographs as a standalone data product. If BDE engages in activity that constitutes a “sale,” “sharing,” or targeted advertising under an applicable state privacy law, BDE will provide the notices and opt-out mechanisms required by that law.
If you are referred to BDE by a dealer, marina, employee/agent, or other affiliate, BDE may record the source of the referral and disclose limited status information reasonably necessary to validate the referral and administer referral compensation. BDE will not provide a referral partner unrestricted access to your claim file, insurance documents, payment information, or repair records solely because the partner referred you. Additional information may be shared when the partner is also providing repair, dealer, marina, transportation, storage, or other services you requested or authorized.
When a repair opportunity is made available to eligible BDE Certified Repair Shops, BDE may disclose the vessel, damage, scope, location, timing, photographs, estimate and work-order details, and other information reasonably necessary for a shop to evaluate and bid on the work. BDE seeks to limit personally identifying information in pre-award bidding to what is reasonably necessary. The selected shop may receive additional customer, vessel, insurance, scheduling, and payment information necessary to perform and administer the repair.
Where you owe BDE an amount directly — for example an insurance deductible, repair costs your carrier did not cover, or a repair invoice — we may send you a secure payment link. Payments are processed by third-party payment providers, not by BDE.
If you choose to pay from a bank account, you connect that account through Plaid Inc., which provides the bank connection interface. You enter your online banking credentials directly with Plaid; BDE never receives, sees, or stores your banking username, password, account number, or routing number. Plaid verifies the account and, at your authorization, initiates the transfer. Plaid’s handling of your information is governed by Plaid’s own privacy policy, available at plaid.com/legal, and by the authorization you give within its interface. We share with Plaid only what is needed to present and complete the payment, such as your name, email address, and the amount due.
If you choose to pay by card, the card details are entered on the payment processor’s own secure page. BDE does not receive or store your full card number, expiry date, or security code.
What BDE retains about a payment is limited to the amount, the date, the status, provider-issued reference identifiers, and — for card payments — the card brand and last four digits supplied by the processor. We use this information to apply your payment to the correct repair, to provide receipts and support, to meet tax and accounting obligations, and to detect and prevent fraud. Retention periods are described in our Data Retention and Deletion Policy and in section 12 below.
BDE and its service providers may use cookies, pixels, local storage, SDKs, server logs, and similar technologies to operate the Services, remember preferences, maintain security, understand usage, measure performance, diagnose errors, and improve the user experience. BDE may also use analytics or advertising technologies where permitted by law. You may be able to control non-essential technologies through a cookie preference tool, browser settings, or legally recognized opt-out preference signals where applicable.
If BDE uses technologies that constitute cross-context behavioral advertising, targeted advertising, sale, or sharing under applicable law, BDE will provide the legally required choice mechanism, including recognition of applicable universal opt-out mechanisms such as Global Privacy Control where required.
If you provide a mobile number or email address, BDE may send transactional communications concerning your estimate, repair, claim-support request, appointment, bid, payment, financing, or account. Marketing texts or emails will be sent only as permitted by law and applicable consent. Consent to marketing is not a condition of purchasing BDE services. You may opt out of marketing texts by replying STOP and may use the unsubscribe mechanism in marketing emails. Service-related communications may continue when necessary to administer an active transaction or relationship.
BDE retains personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, including to complete estimates and repairs, administer payments and claims-related support, maintain business and tax records, support warranties or disputes, detect fraud, comply with legal and insurance requirements, enforce agreements, and improve BDE services where permitted. Retention periods vary by data type and relationship. When information is no longer reasonably necessary, BDE will delete, deidentify, or otherwise dispose of it consistent with applicable law and operational requirements.
BDE may create aggregated or deidentified information from repair, estimate, pricing, claim, vessel, network, and service data. BDE may use such information for analytics, benchmarking, product development, model improvement, forecasting, network management, research, and business planning. Where applicable law treats data as deidentified only if specific safeguards are maintained, BDE will take reasonable measures designed to maintain it in deidentified form and will not attempt to reidentify it except as permitted by law.
BDE uses reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, destruction, loss, alteration, or disclosure. No system is completely secure, and BDE cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for protecting account credentials and for using reasonable care when transmitting information electronically.
Depending on where you live and whether an applicable law covers BDE, you may have rights to confirm whether BDE processes your personal information; access or obtain a copy of certain information; correct inaccuracies; delete certain information; obtain portable data; opt out of certain targeted advertising, sale or sharing, or qualifying profiling; limit certain uses of sensitive personal information; withdraw consent for consent-based processing; appeal certain decisions regarding a privacy request; and receive equal service without unlawful discrimination for exercising privacy rights.
To exercise a privacy right, email info@bde.online with the subject line “Privacy Request,” or call (855) 684-0045. We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity and authority before completing a request. Authorized agents may submit requests where permitted by law, subject to verification. If BDE denies a request and applicable law provides an appeal right, you may appeal by replying to the decision or by emailing info@bde.online with the subject line “Privacy Appeal.”
Florida. To the extent the Florida Digital Bill of Rights applies to BDE and to a particular processing activity, Florida consumers may have rights provided by applicable Florida law, and BDE will provide required request and appeal mechanisms. BDE intends this Policy to identify the categories of personal data processed, purposes of processing, categories of data shared, and categories of third parties receiving data.
California. To the extent the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended, applies to BDE, California residents may have rights to know and access, delete, correct, opt out of sale or sharing, limit certain uses and disclosures of sensitive personal information, and be free from unlawful discrimination for exercising those rights. BDE will provide a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” mechanism if and when required by BDE’s actual data practices and applicable law. BDE will honor Global Privacy Control where legally required.
Other U.S. states. Residents of other states may have additional rights under applicable comprehensive privacy laws. BDE will honor such rights to the extent required and will apply applicable exemptions and verification requirements.
The Services are intended for adults and are not directed to children under 13. BDE does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through the Services. If we learn that we have collected such information without appropriate authorization, we will take reasonable steps to delete it. BDE does not knowingly sell or share personal information of consumers under 16 in a manner requiring opt-in authorization under applicable law.
The Services may link to or integrate with websites, payment providers, insurers, dealers, marinas, repair shops, financing providers, or other third parties. Their privacy practices are governed by their own notices and agreements. BDE is not responsible for third-party privacy practices except to the extent BDE has legal obligations regarding a provider processing information on BDE’s behalf.
BDE may disclose or transfer information in connection with an actual or proposed financing, investment, merger, acquisition, reorganization, bankruptcy, sale of assets, or similar transaction. Any successor may continue to process information subject to applicable law and the privacy commitments governing the information, unless a legally sufficient new notice and consent are provided where required.
We may update this Privacy Policy as our Services, technologies, legal obligations, or business practices evolve. We will post the updated Policy with a revised “Last updated” date and provide additional notice or obtain consent when required by law. We will not materially expand the use of previously collected personal information in a manner inconsistent with prior privacy commitments without providing the notice or consent required by applicable law.
Questions about this Privacy Policy or BDE privacy practices may be directed to the BDE Privacy Team:
Boat Damage Experts, Inc.
Email: info@bde.online
Telephone: (855) 684-0045