Progressive sign and glide towing is great

[brownoarsman]

I read a lot of questions online about this insurance policy before signing up for it, but few people had any reviews so I thought I'd offer my experience. My diesel was non operative and I had to get into the Marathon Marina from my anchorage in Bahia Honda to seek expert help. On advice from CF members, it was determined I shouldn't try to sail it onto the ball.
Thinking I'd save everyone a bit of money, I sailed the boat out of Bahia Honda and called sign and glide en route. Notably, I reached a rep right away, no holding or anything. Rather than let me reach Marathon, they wanted to send the tow right away! I talked them down from the ledge and we set up a waypoint where I'd call them.
They called Towboat US, I got picked up a mile south of the marathon bascule bridge and dropped on my ball. Bill was $450. I paid it directly, took a photo of the bill and texted it to sign and glide, and they are putting a reimbursement check in the mail overnight (I actually told them just to regular mail it to save them $s since I'm here a while). Fantastic! They even called to make sure I was alright when I forgot to call them after getting the tow, and called the tow captain when they couldn't reach me.
My understanding is that there are some restrictions on sign and glide, for instance I don't believe it covers hard ungroundings from my talk with the progressive rep (but that's really a motorboat problem), and they reimburse tow operators a max of $300 an hour. If you don't call ahead, you get a regular mail check rather than an overnight.
I'm pleased as can be with the whole experience.


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[monte]

Gee 450 is a fair chunk of change wouldn't he marina help you in with a rib?

[brownoarsman]

Didn't think to ask as the tow was free (for me). But I doubt the city Marina provides that service. I was surprised at the price too, but the time seemed right, 30 minutes from base to me, one hour under tow for the two miles (one from the bridge at 5 knots, and one at idle speed through the channel onto the ball), and half an hour back for him, at $225/hour. I had thought there base was closer to the harbor entrance. That last bit sure took a heck of a long time though - sort of reminded of a number of cab drivers who 'missed a turn' or 'took the long way due to traffic' on a slow night!
It's too bad, as all I really needed was a hip tow, but I have so far neglected to power my dinghy and wouldn't have wanted to do that singlehanded anyway. I will probably install an outboard bracket while here in marathon.


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[AnchorageGuy]

Why not just sign up for TowboatUS, which is the one that towed you, or Sea Tow, instead of a third party?

"My understanding is that there are some restrictions on sign and glide, for instance I don't believe it covers hard ungroundings from my talk with the progressive rep (but that's really a motorboat problem), and they reimburse tow operators a max of $300 an hour."

Hard groundings are far from only a powerboat problem, and TowboatUS reimbursement is 100%. So is Sea Tow.

[brownoarsman]

Sign and glide was less than $50 as an add-on to my policy, and covers tows from any operator, so I don't have to worry about network coverage (though I believe towboat us and seatow do this now as well). So partly a price standpoint, partly that I'll be going from Florida to maine and didn't want to worry about network, and partly because it was easy to have it all with one provider.


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[roverhi]

Glad it all worked out. Sounds a bit steep for the price but that's what you pay for with insurance. Tows are not cheap, the local tow guy wanted $200 to move my boat with an inoperable motor from one slip to another in the marina. Encouraged me to track down the fuel problem and fix it. Guess that makes $450 sound reasonable for a real tow at sea.

The one other time I called a boat tow outfit was when I was insured with Boat US. Had their basic policy so had a low threshold for what they'd pay. When I talked with the tow people, they were stacked up with other tows and couldn't get to me for hours. I was aground on a falling tide and they wouldn't have done me any good unless they'd been able to get there ASAP. The boat was already healing on its way to being high and dry. In talking with the tow people, it became real obvious that I'd have had to up the limit on my credit card for the tow so cancelled out. Rowed out a couple of anchors and waited for the tide to come back in.

Hopefully there are enough people that don't use the coverage so insurance is affordable for the rest of us. In any case, a $50 tow premium is really good insurance if you ever need a tow of even limited length or difficulty.

[AnchorageGuy]

I guess I'm confused. You say the coverage is $300.00 max and the tow bill was $450.00. That's $150.00 plus the $50.00 you paid for coverage, so now you have $200.00 paid out of pocket. Much more than the annual fee for Towboat or Sea Tow. The next time could be considerably more. Our last tow would have been $2500.00 if we would have had to pay it. The cost to us for Towboat, 0. Not sure what you mean about "network coverage". Both Towboat and Sea Tow cover the entire Atlantic and Gulf coast. You just call over the VHF or their toll free number on the cell phone. This doesn't sound so cheap looking at it from this respect. Chuck

[brownoarsman]

Hi Chuck,
Sorry, I wasn't clear. The max coverage is $300 per hour of Towboat operator time. So if towboat us were to charge $350 per hour for their time, you would be on the hook for $50. Or, if it was a two hour tow, $100. Fortunately, sign and glide works this out ahead of time for you. At $250 per hour charged, I paid nothing for the tow (except the insurance premium which was a sunk cost).
And I think peter's point is a good one, if you only have one network and they're stacked up, nice to be able to get the other operator. (Though if one is backlogged they probably both are).


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[letsgetsailing3]

How many tows allowed per year?

One? Unlimited?

[brownoarsman]

Not sure to be honest, so can't answer. Hope I never find out!


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[Cadence]

Maybe am reading this wrong. The tow boat companies charge from portal to portal, that is their dock to their dock. As I read the OP he took advantage of the insurance co. fully well knowing that a tow was needed just for relocation of the vessel for repairs. Anyone but me smell a rat. Someone has to pay for that.

[AnchorageGuy]

One more comment on Progressive from my personal experience. We insured with them ONCE. They really gave us a lowball price for insuring our boat the first year. Then when it came up for renewal we saw a very significant increase in our premium. No claims, nothing changed. When I contacted them to ask why, their response was, because we can. We switched to Seaworthy and saw a major reduction in our premium. Bait and switch? I'll leave you to decide. Chuck

[lesterbutch]

Anchorageguy: I have grave difficulty believing any insurance company would reply, "because we can" they are in business to make money and such a responce would be contraproductive. And from a personal viewpoint, I have had Progressive insurance for years and I'm paying almost the same annual premium now as I was years ago for my boat. Which by the way is a 1972 , Progressive insured it and didn't even require a survey.

[AnchorageGuy]

Just passing on my experience from a little over a year ago. Chuck

[lesterbutch]

I don't doubt your word but I have some knowledge of the industry as my uncle was a top executive with Etna. I would certainly encourage you the call the company and request to speak with an executive in marketing, and tell him/her what happened. Believe me they will be grateful for the knowledge.