Cruisers, Where are You "Moored"?

[gettinthere]

If you are out cruising permanently or semi-permanently, where do you claim your mooring port for insurance purposes? As I understand it, this does not need to be your state of domicile.

[Capt Phil]

I always used Nevada, USA on every USCG documented vessel I've owned since 1980. There are several small mail forwarding companies in Northern Nevada to use as a physical address if you don't have an address here. No state income tax in Nevada and folks are pretty relaxed about regulations in these parts. Cheers, Capt Phil

[gettinthere]

You report that the boat is MOORED there? This is different than your domicile where you claim residence or the home port painted on your stern and noted in CG documentation. Some insurance companies require the mooring port, even if you don't really have one since you are always moving.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Never had an insurance co, ask for a mooring port.

[Capt Phil]

We have a small lake adjacent to Stateline, Nevada... whose to say the boat isn't moored there. The lake is 26 miles long and 12 miles across and about 1600 feet deep. My insurance company always accepted the home port as the mooring port except when I was cruising and required an additional rider to sail further than 100km in to Mexico. Never had any drama with it. CP

[callmecrazy]

just got insurance for the first time. They did infact ask where the boat is currently kept, what my state of residence is, as well as where I plan to keep the boat during the season/cruising, plus what I consider "home waters"... They must be getting smarter???

I paid attention to this because I live in OH, the boat is registered in MD and currently located in MD, but I will be moving the boat south and staying in VA for most of the year.... their biggest concern was that part about keeping it in VA. I was subsequently sent to a VA agent who processed the application....

After asking a few questions, I noticed that they are not opposed to insuring in different areas, but they need to transfer the policy to a different office according to where the boat is spending most if its time. So it's not too difficult to follow their policy by reporting a change in status and letting them work out the details. You can keep your current residence, your mailing address and your state of registry (taxes etc..), and update your insurance area whenever you make a move to a new destination.

this is, of course, only concerning US coverage.

Obviously, if you tell them your boat is in Nevada, and you get damaged by a hurricane in Georgia... they probably won't cover your damage. the insurance folks are the ones you should be the most honest with, otherwise, what's the point in having insurance when they can deny a claim based on minor discrepancies?

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by callmecrazy

............the insurance folks are the ones you should be the most honest with, otherwise, what's the point in having insurance when they can deny a claim based on minor discrepancies?

I like the wisdom presented by "callmecrazy", I think I'll call him "callmeright"!

[gettinthere]

That's why I posed the question: "where do you claim your mooring port for insurance purposes?"

If you are a cruiser, you don't really have a permanent mooring port. CG documentation allows you to use any city in the USA regardless of whether there is water within a hundred miles. So that has no bearing. Same for your domicile. You can be domiciled in North Dakota, nowhere near the ocean.

I'm wondering about claiming a port in Florida and the hurricane issue, or claiming Maryland and perhaps getting the tax man from that state after you.

So those of you out cruising, what mooring place did you claim on your insurance policy?

[Hudson Force]

I use my mailing address with St. Brendans Isle in Florida and identify my documented home port as Jacksonville , Florida. I also, report my cruising range and seasonal areas to my insurance company and as "callmecrazy" suggests, I'm clear and candid with my insurance provider.

[osirissail]

First off, the word "Moored" has many different definitions depending upon the nation of the person using the word. In the USA it generally means, tied to a buoy. Elsewhere it means being in a marina and/or buoy. It seems to me the OP is talking about "Home Port" for registration of documentation purposes. So without knowing what the OP is using as his definition of "moored" we can only cover all bases.
- - In the USA documentation "home port" can be almost anywhere from North Dakota in the middle of a sea of grass to Block Island, surrounded by water.
- - For State registration there is no "home port" as you are given State numbers and pay the fees/taxes applicable to your local residence area - home address.
- - For boat insurance from your auto/home insurance company they piggy back your home address and give restrictions on how far away you can take the boat which is generally inside US territorial waters sometimes with the inclusion of the Bahamas.
- - For cruising insurance - offshore - or out of the territorial waters of the USA, the insurance company wants an annual itinerary of where you and the boat are going to be each month of the year. Then they use that to calculate your premium. They don't care what you put as your homeport for documentation purposes.

[doug86]

Originally Posted by gettinthere

If you are out cruising permanently or semi-permanently, where do you claim your mooring port for insurance purposes?

Originally Posted by osirissail

It seems to me the OP is talking about "Home Port" for registration of documentation purposes.

The OP was pretty clear about his question, which was for insurance purposes. Most insurance companies want to know where the boat is kept when it is not moving. Just as they want to know the place you keep your car at night, they want to know where the boat is stored when not in use. They base part of their rates on this information. For most boaters, this is their home marina or mooring. For full time cruisers, it is a bit more problematic to answer.

Is there a port near where you claim as your permanent home address? Or, is there a place that you usually return to when you're not cruising?

At one time, I had my boat documented in S. Dakota, but the insurance company wasn't going to believe that I 'moored' my boat in Sioux Falls. I picked a place I spent the summer months as my 'home port' for insurance purposes, even though the home port on my document and on my transom said Sioux Falls, SD.

[osirissail]

Exactly - the insurance company wants to exactly where the boat will be during the year and in the case of cruising insurance - by month of the year.
- - For instance, your S.D. documented boat kept in Florida for more than a few months will trigger an insurance surcharge by the State for hurricane/storm damage (whatever). Even though my homeport was inside Florida, my boat's physical presence there was only for a few weeks per year, so I avoided that surcharge.
- - In the insurance forms are places where you are asked to specify what boatyards you will be hauled in and how long, along with other questions about physical location of the boat during the insurance year/term.
- - The term "moored" has little or not relevance, whatever the definition. What the insurance wants to know is - where is the boat physically and how long will it be there. There are "time limit" triggers that the insurance company needs to know about so they can comply with various State tax/surcharge regulations on boat insurance and calculate the "risk" of the boat being in that physical location during storm seasons.

[jyoung]

since you all are on the subject, what is a good company for boat insurance and would it be a benefit to claim your own residence as the mooring

[Capt Phil]

jyoung... if you PM me I will share with you the insurance co I used for many years. Never had a claim and they also provided personal liability for me on deliveries.
Personally, I do not want anyone providing info on any asset I own to the State of California. They are true blood suckers and even tried to nail me for sales tax on a boat I bought years ago in Washington State even though the boat was removed immediately to Canada for close to a year and never was in CA. I was not and never will be a CA resident but did have a slip in my name in San Diego that was being used by a friend of mine. Took years to unravel the mess and I had to go to Canada to collect receipts from marinas where I had stayed years before in order satisfy the Franchise Tax Board.
In these days of info exchange and searches electronically, IMO we need to guard against govt intrusion into our lives... just sayin'... cheers, Capt Phil

[gettinthere]

Again, this is for insurance purposes. The agent wants to know the mooring port. The agent understands I will be full time cruising. Still wants to establish a mooring port.

...I don't understand why either.