Cruising Insurance Company for the Carribbean

[johnanddeb]

We want to buy insurance for our next season,crossing from the florida keys and ultimately to St.Lucia.

[pras]

We ultimately went with Blue Water Yacht Insurance. Great to deal with and "reasonable" premiums if that is possible on a sailboat. Looking forward to seeing other responses as well as ours expires soon and we will be researching better rates.

[nautical62]

Give IMIS a try

IMIS Home Page

[Palarran]

Joe Kolisch
Kolisch Marine Insurance, Inc.
1020 Bayamo Avenue Coral Gables, FL 33146 USA
305-992-3482 fax 305-424-9358
www.kolisch.net
joe@kolisch.net

[colemj]

We have Commandeur in the Netherlands. We had a pleasant surprise this year when we renewed - payments are in Euros, so our premium decreased ~25% due the the drop in the euro vs the US$ this year.

Commandeur verzekeringen | Yachtinsurance | Yacht Insurance | Ease of mind with excellent conditions

Mark

[TabbyCat]

We have Commandeur in the Netherlands

The last time I looked at the Commandeur policy it excluded coverage for injuries to your guests while they were aboard you vessel. So I guess that means you have to have happy hour on someone else's boat.

[chuckr]

we have used and recommeded bill hodgens of ft lauderdale for sometime and those who have contacted him have been happy and a couple of boats let me know that they went with him as he was able to structure a program just for them

we will be headed to mexico and points south later this year (God Willing) and we have already begun discussions with him on what we will need and he has given us some prelimary numbers that we liked with a couple of great companies

nothing ventured nothing gained - give him a try at yachtinsure.com

and NO i get nothing out of this except to help fellow cruisers out

chuck patty and svsoulmates
on the hook onancock, va

[colemj]

Originally Posted by TabbyCat

The last time I looked at the Commandeur policy it excluded coverage for injuries to your guests while they were aboard you vessel. So I guess that means you have to have happy hour on someone else's boat.

Yes, this is true. For personal liability, you can either have happy hour on someone else's boat or you can just get a personal liability umbrella policy for $100-200 to cover that part.

Luckily, if you are outside the US, sue-happy people are rare and any cases must be brought through foreign courts using local attorneys, making them more difficult to pursue.

Insurance is always about trade offs. For us, Commandeur is half the price of IMIS with much better coverage and terms (excepting the personal liability part). Others may have a different set of criteria and prefer different carriers.

Mark

[AnchorageGuy]

Run away from Bluewater. Look at IMIS. The companies they will find for you will probably be the same. Don't shop brokers, find a broker like IMIS that understands cruising boats and let them shop the insurance companies and underwriters for you. Chuck

[chuckr]

i would disagree with waterway guy -- i would shop brokers -- they are all different and may give you differents answers --
but i would agree with him on finding a broker who understands and was a cruiser - i have met with the head of imis and he knows what he is doing - i deal with bill hodgens and he is an excruiser who has been there done that
some brokers only quote and have not been there or done that and do not understand the issues involved

good luck
chuck patty and svsoulmates
on the hook deltaville va

[AnchorageGuy]

chuckr, What I meant was that calling several brokers will not get you a better deal since they are all using the same underwriters and insurance companies. What you will find is that if you contact three brokers, they will all three request a quote from the same underwriter or insurance companies. Then you will be branded as a shopper and the service you receive will suffer. Find a broker that you are comfortable with, and stay with them. There are few companies today that will insure cruisers. If you are a weekender or casual boater your options are greater.

[Healer52]

Anyone have any reports about Admiral Insurance in Britain?

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Waterwayguy

Run away from Bluewater. Look at IMIS. The companies they will find for you will probably be the same. Don't shop brokers, find a broker like IMIS that understands cruising boats and let them shop the insurance companies and underwriters for you. Chuck

Absolutely correct. Do a search on "TabbyCat". She works with IMIS and has been very helpful. IF you are lucky, you'll qualify for a policy issued by Markel, either a Helmsman or Jackline policy. In either case, IMIS is your best bet.

FWIW...

[JamuJoe]

My Leopard 42 is in the Caribbean. I re-shop my marine insurance every year, and once again I am insured with Pantaeneius for the best coverage and premiums.

[sck5]

Another vote for IMIS. They really know what they are doing and have been very good to me.