Insurer excludes Colombia-Why?

[cards26]

[QUOTE=Capt.Alex;1776267]
I guess the bigger question is- Can anyone with recent first hand experience demonstrate that Colombia is any more dangerous or more risk prone to an insurance company than Miami, Port-of-Spain, Colon, St. Vincent, etc? Looking at the Noonsite piracy pages and incident reports, as well as other web sites, Colombia doesn't seem to have too many reported issues lately. QUOTE]


There's absolutely no comparison between Colombia and Miami. Take a look at the U.S. State Dept warnings. Extortion, corruption, general level of crime is rife throughout the local and national govt. I could tell you stories you would find hard to believe. I can see the point of the insurance company, there's no rhyme or reason to the justice system here. I have more than a decade of recent experience, and I can tell you that they've been fk'ing me so bad, i'm taking birth control pills.

This is a very dangerous place with warlords as the govt on the coast; I'd listen to your insurance company.

[cards26]

at times, 50% of the emergency room admission are scopalomine victims.

[tropicalescape]

From what I can tell from Noonsite the things they report/make notice on are what has happened in the past to someone as its reported after the fact most of the time..Its like someone said earlier you don't want to get your information from someone thats been drifting around the open ocean for 3 months..US State dept publishes Travel Advisories that are up dated in real time..Much more reliable than Noonsite for such info..

[cards26]

Maybe someone can help me with my main question, and this is on topic with the OP. I have a Miami address that I can use, but I want to keep my boat in Panama. I don't want to register, insure, or ever bring the boat to Colombia; I don't even want the Colombian govt to know I have the boat.

So can I register/insure the boat in Panama as a U.S. citizen, but a Permanent Resident of Colombia?

Most of the boats at the yacht club in Cartagena are illegally registered somewhere else because of fear of extortion.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

"Has" being the operative word. As you noted, Columbia used to be one of the more dangerous places to go. Insurance companies tend to be very slow to react, especially when it comes to expanding coverage (they're never slow to react when it comes to expanding premiums!).

You can find another company that is more up with the times, or wait until your current company catches up to today's reality.

Good luck.

I think its just slow change too. The USA is actually spending money to help stabilize Colombia now...rather than the deliberately destabilizing activities used in many Latin American countries in the past...so I don't think that political angle holds up, in this case.

My policy excludes Colombia by default too, but getting a rider for Colombia was as easy as sending an email. And that way they can charge you something extra for it too!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by cards26

Maybe someone can help me with my main question, and this is on topic with the OP. I have a Miami address that I can use, but I want to keep my boat in Panama. I don't want to register, insure, or ever bring the boat to Colombia; I don't even want the Colombian govt to know I have the boat.

So can I register/insure the boat in Panama as a U.S. citizen, but a Permanent Resident of Colombia?

Most of the boats at the yacht club in Cartagena are illegally registered somewhere else because of fear of extortion.

I think you can. I'm a USA citizen, with Guatemalan residency, and a USA registered boat currently lying Panama. I've never had the question of country of residency come up in relation to Documenting (USCG Registration) or insuring a boat.

[chuckr]

[QUOTE=cards26;1776336]

Originally Posted by Capt.Alex

I guess the bigger question is- Can anyone with recent first hand experience demonstrate that Colombia is any more dangerous or more risk prone to an insurance company than Miami, Port-of-Spain, Colon, St. Vincent, etc? Looking at the Noonsite piracy pages and incident reports, as well as other web sites, Colombia doesn't seem to have too many reported issues lately. QUOTE]


There's absolutely no comparison between Colombia and Miami. Take a look at the U.S. State Dept warnings. Extortion, corruption, general level of crime is rife throughout the local and national govt. I could tell you stories you would find hard to believe. I can see the point of the insurance company, there's no rhyme or reason to the justice system here. I have more than a decade of recent experience, and I can tell you that they've been fk'ing me so bad, i'm taking birth control pills.

This is a very dangerous place with warlords as the govt on the coast; I'd listen to your insurance company.

I am guessing you live in Miami but have not been to Cartagena. I also use to live in Miami and have been to Cartagena and spent 3 months there. To us Cartagena was safer than Miami. We had no issues and went everywhere. Like any big city there are places you do not want to walk but over all it is safer than Miami.

In fact we found Cartagena one of the safest places in the Caribbean and that includes everything from Mexico to Cartagena and Jamaica to Trinidad.

No idea why the added cost. Oh and we did have a briefing from the American Embassy when we were there and the counsel general was a complete A$%. When asked about traveling he said he never went anywhere without an armored car and guard. Having been to a couple of things put on by the embassy in various countries this guy was so full of himself I went to one of his staff and let him have it. The staff was a bit embarrassed by the guy and sail hey look the only real problems are in the mountains and don't take a bus from Cali to Bogata but beyond that not a real issue. Just keep you normal awareness as you would in any country.

Good luck and Cartagena is simply a great place to visit.

[tropicalescape]

Lot of places in the world are changing at a fast pace,what was safe last month may not be next month in this fast moving political environment..Check with State dept . before going to places south of the lesser Antilles..

[belizesailor]

We spent 3 weeks traveling in Colombia (Cartegena, Bogota, Medellin) and have Colombian friends. My understanding is that currently the primary problem areas are along the Pacific coast and some far Southern areas. The Carib coast is not a problem area and I've only seen reports of typical petty theft and even those seem to be at a low level. So, I don't think insurance companies really have any current justification from a crime perspective to exclude the mainland Carib Colombian coast. My policy explicitly excludes just mainland Colombia (not the distant islands of San Andreas & Providencia). Don't know if they've had any significant claims due to losses in the often rough seas off the Carib Colombia.

Even Bogota is no riskier than any other large city. As others have said Cartegena is a great place to visit. Medellin is also quite nice. We went to Bogota because we have friends who live there...otherwise I wouldn't bother with Bogota...its just another big city.

[cards26]

[QUOTE=chuckr;1776812]

Originally Posted by cards26

I am guessing you live in Miami but have not been to Cartagena. I also use to live in Miami and have been to Cartagena and spent 3 months there. To us Cartagena was safer than Miami. We had no issues and went everywhere. Like any big city there are places you do not want to walk but over all it is safer than Miami.

In fact we found Cartagena one of the safest places in the Caribbean and that includes everything from Mexico to Cartagena and Jamaica to Trinidad.

No idea why the added cost. Oh and we did have a briefing from the American Embassy when we were there and the counsel general was a complete A$%. When asked about traveling he said he never went anywhere without an armored car and guard. Having been to a couple of things put on by the embassy in various countries this guy was so full of himself I went to one of his staff and let him have it. The staff was a bit embarrassed by the guy and sail hey look the only real problems are in the mountains and don't take a bus from Cali to Bogata but beyond that not a real issue. Just keep you normal awareness as you would in any country.

Good luck and Cartagena is simply a great place to visit.

haha, as i stated, i am a permanent resident of Colombia and have been for the last dozen or so years. i spend a week or two in the States, but the rest of the last 12 years, have been spent here in Colombia, and the last 7 in Medellin.

yes, i have been to Cartagena, the last time about a month ago, and i spent my first year in Colombia there.

the reason that you spent a safe holiday in Cartagena is because you were eyeballed by paid security and plain clothes the entire time you were there. in my case, i have paid, private security, (thugs), at my home 24/7. in the area i live in, everybody does. these young fellas, (thugs), have access to some paramilitars armed with AK-47's, if needed, and they are close by.

i don't see anything like this in Miami.

that consular general you talked to at the Embassy, is not an "A$#". he's an informed American of what goes on around here. it's not only him that rides around in an armored car, it's a lot of average colombian citizens. these cars were not designed to be armored, and they're very hard to drive and control, as well as being costly to operate, as gasoline is about double the cost here as in the States.

i don't see average people driving armored cars in Miami.

here's a very good friend of mine that was murdered for his wallet. many of the DEA agents here are good friends of mine, and this hit us pretty hard. if you notice, he was warned to not take taxis off the street, and that's good advice. are tourists/residents warned to not take taxis off the street in Miami? (here in Colombia, you can call and get a password from the dispatcher and then ask the driver for that password when he shows up)

Seven Colombian taxi drivers extradited to U.S. in DEA agent's death - LA Times

how about the Colombian military killing totally innocent citizens, dressing them up as rebels, (there's a 50 year civil war going on here), for purposes of earning vacation time or bonuses. that figure of 1500 is not accurate, it could be double or triple that, and the problem goes all the way to the top.

i don't see the authorities in Miami killing totally innocent residents and dressing them up as lawbreakers to meet their quota.


If You Kill Two Young Men And Pretend They Were Guerrillas To Get Vacation Time, You Should Apologize


of course, there are some people coming here with bad intentions, and i can't tell you how many of them have been murdered. this is a very good story of a well known expat, if you have the time to read it.


The Murder of Noah Goldberg AKA 'Medellin Paisa'



sure, there are 100's of thousands people coming here each year that have a good time, but keep in mind that security is tight, and for a very good reason.

let me know when you register/insure your boat in Cartagena.

[Capt.Alex]

I think we are getting a bit off topic here. Lets agree that there is still a crime/violence problem in some cities within Colombia, and that there may be good reason to deny life insurance coverage. Can anyone cite any recent cases of foreign yachts being victims of piracy, robbery, burglary, or other insurable loss?

It seems to me the biggest risks of visiting Cartegena by boat is passing by Venezuela--assuming you are arriving from the East, and the rough weather that is frequent in that part of the Carib.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Capt.Alex

I think we are getting a bit off topic here. Lets agree that there is still a crime/violence problem in some cities within Colombia, and that there may be good reason to deny life insurance coverage. Can anyone cite any recent cases of foreign yachts being victims of piracy, robbery, burglary, or other insurable loss?

It seems to me the biggest risks of visiting Cartegena by boat is passing by Venezuela--assuming you are arriving from the East, and the rough weather that is frequent in that part of the Carib.

See the thread "Pirate attack..uninvited boarding" click on the flag over Columbia.. Not a private yacht but it did happen in Columbia Jan. of this year..

[cards26]

Originally Posted by Capt.Alex

I think we are getting a bit off topic here. Lets agree that there is still a crime/violence problem in some cities within Colombia, and that there may be good reason to deny life insurance coverage. Can anyone cite any recent cases of foreign yachts being victims of piracy, robbery, burglary, or other insurable loss?

It seems to me the biggest risks of visiting Cartegena by boat is passing by Venezuela--assuming you are arriving from the East, and the rough weather that is frequent in that part of the Carib.

believe it or not, my discussion is actually on topic. it is not unreasonable for insurance companies to raise the premiums based on evidence of an unstable govt. a bribe is expected to get anything done here through a judge.

i don't know what's going on at Club Nautico, as their website has not been updated since 2011. John the Dockmaster is a member of this forum, and has updated this site on the problems that he's trying to resolve, but i don't see any recent activity from him. in the past, there's been heavy security at all the marinas in Cartagena, but if you do a search on this site, you see some sailors have had problems with burglaries and assaults on the docks, as well as lots of visitors of the short skirts and 4-inch heels variety.

i'd really like to hear from John and give us an update. he may have corrected all the problems. (insurance companies may not agree with him)

[belizesailor]

John (the same John I assume) hasn't been at Club Nautico for a long time...he's the dock master at Shelter Bay now.

I was at Club Nautico a few months ago. Construction appears complete except for finish out work and the docks were very well built and in good condition. Rates quoted me were very high though.

We spent a week all around Cartagena with zero issues, as do many.

[cards26]

that's good news about John, and i hope you will thank the DEA for your safe visit to Cartagena.

the first high-rise apt building when entering Cartagena contains an apt manned by DEA agents 24/7 with state of the art telescopic cameras, photographing and filming every vessel entering and leaving.

you were being filmed the entire time you were there. when you left, your boat was captured on film and this info was sent to DEA headquarters in Washington. all vessels are handled this way.