Regarding the insurance aspect...
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I dont see why you are obligated to give info you are not asked for.
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You must always disclose any
material facts to your insurance agent, regardless of whether you are specifically asked the question. Most insurance policies have this written into the policy language, but even if they do not have such language, it is standard maritime law. The reason is that if you don't disclose something that is
material (important to) the agent (which then gets passed along to the underwriter), then they might have made a different decision regarding whether to insure you or what price to charge you. If you subsequently have a claim, and it comes out that you kept an important fact from the agent/underwriter, the maritime judge will settle the claim in the insurance company's favor. They will allow them to refund your premium and deny the claim, as if you never had a policy at all. The reason is that you didn't keep your end of the contract, so the insurance company is freed from their end of contract. Some examples of material facts that must be disclosed:
~ Have you had any claims? (they will often tell you how many years back they want to know)
~ Has your insurance been cancelled?
~ Are you a live-aboard?
~ What is the speed of the vessel (mainly for powerboats)
~ Is the boat for sale?
~ Your experience
~ Any criminal convictions or felonies
~ Those are the most obvious ones, but really, just about anything on the application form that you sign is a material fact. Always remember:
the application is a contract between you and the insurance company.
We are agents for a large number of insurance companies. I can tell you that some of them market specifiically to live-aboards, while others don't cover live-aboards at all. So you should be looking for a policy from a marine insurance company that is eager to insure your boat, rather than trying to trick a company that is not in the live-aboard market into insuring you.
If you're not sure if you meet the definition of a live-aboard or not, it's best to just disclose the number of months you'll be spending on the boat during the policy period, and let the agent and the underwriter work it out.