Insurance

[Pau Hana]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Stay away from BoatUS:

They changed their policies and will no longer insure to an agreed value, or a surveyed value: They will only insure the boat for what you paid for it.

Say you got a real bargain and paid $1000 for a $20,000 boat, they don't care.
Or you bought a project boat, fixed it up to Bristol, had it surveyed with a market value and an replacement value, they don't care.
Been there done that recently, argued with BoatUS, then cancelled my policy and when somewhere else, end of problem.

My guess is they will loose a bunch of customers.

Interesting- especially what you say about the survey valuation being ignored. There is something wrong with that, as the yacht form policy has provisions for exactly that.

I don't represent Boat US, but would like to know more about this situation. I'll be meeting with Seaworthy Insurance later this week (sister company of Boat US- if you can provide any facts about this via PM, I'll bring it to the table and let you know what I find out.

[Snore]

My boat and I are in South Florida all through hurricane season. We use Seaworthy Insurance, PM me for the brokers info.

[CSY Man]

you can provide any facts about this via PM

PM sent, feel free to post it on the thread, it may be of interest to
Everybody.

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Stay away from BoatUS:

They changed their policies and will no longer insure to an agreed value, or a surveyed value: They will only insure the boat for what you paid for it.

Say you got a real bargain and paid $1000 for a $20,000 boat, they don't care.
Or you bought a project boat, fixed it up to Bristol, had it surveyed with a market value and an replacement value, they don't care.
Been there done that recently, argued with BoatUS, then cancelled my policy and when somewhere else, end of problem.

My guess is they will loose a bunch of customers.

Wow, that kinda sucks. Especially since I plan on doing a bunch of upgrades. Thanks for the warning.

[CSY Man]

Yeah it sucks, but you better call them yourself, they may have different policies: My recent (bad) experience was with an 18' Duffy, probably not under their "yacht policy" program.
In other words, I can only speak for my own experience with, Your mileage may vary

[rw58ph]

At least you got some quotes. Most insurance companies have parameters the boat has to fit into to get a quote. Other wise best to use a boat insurance broker that will shop the market for you. The Eagle is not a typical boat so most general insurance companies will not quote. Many of the larger local insurance brokers have a marine insurance dept. I been using the company’s insurance brokers. However, the insurance company I been with for years is ACE, www.acmarineinsurance.com. In most major boating areas there are insurance broker that specialize in marine insurance.

Make sure the policy cover being a live aboard. Also you might want to get a yacht policy that is more than just boat insurance. It’s more like a home owners policy. Lastly make sure its for a state fixed value, not subject to depreciation/wear/tear/market. Also each time you do as major up grade have the a suvey done for insurance pouposes. Each time we did a major up grade had the boat surveyed and increased the value with the insruance company.

Lastly most insurance companies will not insure unless the boat has bern current survey. Each time the Eagle is pulled I have a hull survey done as a above the water can be done any time. Cost a couple hundred bucks.

[GalaxyGirl]

Thanks guys for the insurance help. Chris, you, and some others were right. IMIS is the way to go. They gave me a quote that is half of BoatUS. Glad that I have one thing sorted out

Now back to the surveyor hunt...

[Greenhand]

I just saw a commercial where George Washington Crossing the Delaware asked a cat how to get insurance and all I could think was "Geico isn't going to insure something that old!"

[robster]

Some good advice here and some bad advice. If you have a boat that you keep in the water you should buy a yacht policy from a good marine insurance company. I'm in the insurance business (personal and commercial lines, not yacht-specific). Most people think all coverages are the same. They are not.

I just did a presentation for my yacht club on marine insurance and got policies from six different companies. They were all different. If you are too lazy to talk with a good insurance agent and thoroughly read your policy don't bother reading the rest of this post.

Here is what you should look for (at a minimum):
1. What kind of towing/vessel assistance is covered? Many companies place a fairly low dollar limit on what they will pay for towing or assistance.
2. Make sure the agreed value of the policy is adequate for replacing your boat and possessions. All of the good companies will require a survey and that will establish the value of your boat.
3. How do they cover mechanical problems that result in other damage? I have two friends that were insured with Premier, and each had a defective part in a diesel engine fail resulting in complete damage to the engine. Premier would not pay for repairing/replacing the first guy's engine until he hired an attorney and started a lawsuit. My second friend is still fighting them a year after his engine failed. Most yacht policies will not pay for the original failure but will pay for resulting damages. Example: a fuel injector fails, spews fuel into a piston, causing damage to the piston that damages the rest of the engine. Most yacht policies will not pay for the fuel injector but will pay to replace or rebuild the rest of the engine. Premier's policy language requires that an accident take place (like you hit a sandbar or ran over an anchor line, etc.).
4. Protect your future and get the highest liability limits you can. If you are smart you will also have a Personal Liability Umbrella.
5. How much environmental damage coverage does your policy provide? A good yacht policy will provide somewhere north of $700,000. Your Personal Liability Umbrella will not cover environmental damages.

Did I mention you need to read your policy? :-)

[Boatguy30]

If marine insurers are now getting sued to repair engines, I can see what they don't want to offer policies!

This type of thing used to be called a repair not an "insurance claim"

[robster]

Yacht insurance is very different from car insurance or most boat insurance offered through personal lines insurance companies. Almost all yacht policies will cover engine damage that results from a mechanical failure.

In one of the cases I mentioned a spring on a fuel injector failed, causing too much fuel to go onto a cylinder, causing damage to the piston, causing damage to the engine. There was absolutely nothing the owner or his mechanic did wrong or could have done to prevent the problem.

Virtually all yacht policies would cover this damage. Before we bought our 50-foot yacht I would not have known this, either. If you don't care about having this kind of coverage then by all means buy your policy from the least-expensive carrier you can find.

[Boatguy30]

You need to update your profile from Bayliner to "50 foot yacht"

I guess you're claiming for a latent defect. No doubt the insure would go after the injector maker. I suppose if the engine had a few hundred hours this would be within reason, but no don't there is a service interval to "test and inspect" at a certain number of hours. Without proof of a complete service history it would be hard to prove whether it was a defect or improper maintenance?

[Mycroft]

I certainly wouldn't want to take something like that to court unless I was absolutely certain with no shadow of a doubt that the insurance company should be covering it.