Buying insurance worth it?

[thomasthetank]

Was wondering if buying insurance is worth it?

I plan to save for years and buy a lagoon 50, cost of 1 million dollars.

Is it worth it to buy insurance for this boat? I am not afraid of wrecking the boat, I am afraid that I will wreck the boat and then the insurance company will find some loophole to avoid paying out the insurance claim.

I do not plan to keep the boat in the hurricane zones, and I am very careful of reefs and other obstructions on the high seas.

Any other cruisers have a very expensive uninsured boat.

It seems most people live their lives minimizing risk. I want to take on more risk. I would rather the insurance company pay me money every month I have no accidents and then if I crash the boat I have to pay them money. I do not like to transact in one sided markets. You can only buy insurance to minimize risk. I cannot sell insurance against my boat to the insurance company to increase my risk.
Yes I am biased against the insurance industry in general. But has the insurance ever saved you while cruising?

Cheers

[Empty Pockets]

Can you afford to lose the million bucks?

[Paul L]

Sure, if losing a million dollars won't significantly affect your lifestyle if you do put it up on a reef or losing the boat in a lawsuit to cover the damage you did.to someone else's boat won't set back your cruising plans, then have at it.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by thomasthetank

Is it worth it to buy insurance for this boat? I am not afraid of wrecking the boat,



Cheers

I never met one person who thought he would someday "wreck the boat".

This is a simple concept. No one likes insurance companies. That is irrelevant. Equally true is that no one needs insurance - until they do. And then, they are glad they have it.

Putting aside the fact that marinas invariably require insurance, you are simply passing the cost on to anyone with whom you may have an accident even if it's your fault. That doesn't address the environmental liability caused if/when you do "wreck the boat". That isn't a lesson in "do unto others..."

If you can afford a million dollar boat, cheaping out with insurance is ludicrous.

[DotDun]

What are you asking? Liability insurance or Hull/Machinery insurance?

Two different discussions.

[SV THIRD DAY]

At a minimum you will want Liability insurance because when you have a Million Dollar Boat you also have a "Sue Me" sticker on your Stern when you drag one night at anchor and Hit a 1970 MacGregor 26.

[Calif.Ted]

Gee, that's right, we've all just been pissing millions of dollars away when all we got to do is be more careful around "reefs and other obstructions" . I don't know about the rest of you guys but I'm cancelling all my insurance on the boats, cars and houses.
These mariners lasted 2 days in their uninsured circumnavigation, didn't hit a reef, just ran out of fuel and washed up on the beach.
Four displaced after sailboat sinks in Pacifica | abc7news.com

[billknny]

Originally Posted by thomasthetank

Was wondering if buying insurance is worth it?

I plan to save for years and buy a lagoon 50, cost of 1 million dollars.

Is it worth it to buy insurance for this boat? I am not afraid of wrecking the boat, I am afraid that I will wreck the boat and then the insurance company will find some loophole to avoid paying out the insurance claim.

I do not plan to keep the boat in the hurricane zones, and I am very careful of reefs and other obstructions on the high seas.

Any other cruisers have a very expensive uninsured boat.

It seems most people live their lives minimizing risk. I want to take on more risk. I would rather the insurance company pay me money every month I have no accidents and then if I crash the boat I have to pay them money. I do not like to transact in one sided markets. You can only buy insurance to minimize risk. I cannot sell insurance against my boat to the insurance company to increase my risk.
Yes I am biased against the insurance industry in general. But has the insurance ever saved you while cruising?

Cheers

I smell troll breath.... This really, really, REALLY is NOT the kind of question a person buying a million dollar boat with CASH would be needing to ask...

My father always told me there were no dumb questions... but that was before the internet.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by billknny

I smell troll breath.... This really, really, REALLY is NOT the kind of question a person buying a million dollar boat with CASH would be needing to ask...

My father always told me there were no dumb questions... but that was before the internet.

Whomever said there are no dumb questions is an idiot.

[thomasthetank]

I don't have the million dollars or million dollar boat yet. I never claimed to. I am currently saving up for it.

And It seems that all of you have insurance / like paying for insurance.

I was more interested to hear if anyone has filed a claim with the insurance company only to have it rejected. Or anything of that sort.

I think my question is totally reasonable.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by thomasthetank

I was more interested to hear if anyone has filed a claim with the insurance company only to have it rejected. Or anything of that sort.

I think my question is totally reasonable.

I agree it's a totally reasonable question.
Having been cruising and living aboard for the last 10yrs, insurance companies not paying out claims for damaged/sunk/destroyed boat doesn't see to be that big of an issue. If anything I see, people with "Good Insurance" taken care of better than I would actually expect.

[a64pilot]

Not that they were now or million dollar aircraft, but I have never carried anything but liability Insurence on either of my airplanes.
But that is because they are pure luxury items, I don’t sleep or live in them, nor were they needed for me to make a living, therefore they were expendable to me.
I only carry liability on automobiles for the same reason, I always had at least one extra.

Our boat is not a million dollar Boat either, far from it, however it is our home and we are now Retired, if it were lost, I couldn’t just “eat”the expense, so it’s insured. Underinsured, but insured.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by thomasthetank

I don't have the million dollars or million dollar boat yet. I never claimed to. I am currently saving up for it.

And It seems that all of you have insurance / like paying for insurance.

I was more interested to hear if anyone has filed a claim with the insurance company only to have it rejected. Or anything of that sort.

I think my question is totally reasonable.

I doubt anyone likes paying for insurance.

We had a fire onboard once. Owned the boat for two days at the time. The previous owner wasn't a very good electrician...

The insurance company took 11months to finally settle. It wasn't an enjoyable experience but not having insurance would be less so.

Insurance costs a lot but not having it costs a lot more.

[danielamartindm]

Hi Thomas,

So if I understand correctly, you wouldn't mind losing a million dollar vessel, only paying for insurance and then being screwed over if a claim is filed. Look at the numbers here, though. Let's arbitrarily say insurance cost you $8K a year. Over ten years, that's $80K, compared to the potential loss of a million dollars' equity. As one who has been screwed over by insurers, I understand your resentment of the industry; but consider that it is by no means a certainty that you WOULD be screwed over in the event of a loss, and given the vast discrepancy in the numbers just considered....
Anyway, unless you have access to millions in cash, liability insurance, IMHO, is a moral imperative.

[thomasthetank]

I do the same thing with my cars, I have just liability insurance since I can use the other one if my main one is out of commission.

I do not plan to buy two million dollar sailboats, but if my sailboat is destroyed I would have to go back to the mainland and take a job. But if I had full coverage I could get a new sailboat and keep sailing.