Ion insurance Costa Rica

[Useless]

I’ve just received a quote for insurance through Ion insurance S.A. As the underwriter. They aren’t rated by AM Best or Fitch, but are rated by Dun and Bradstreet. Appear to be financially sound, just don’t want to put myself in the Northern Reef/Edward William scenario of a few years back. They are one of only two quotes I’ve gotten back that will cover in Guatemala. (Rio Dulce).

I’ve read their annual report, googled the holding company, googled their officers, just looking for anyone who actually made a claim.

Thanks

[JULIOMOND]

I'm in the same stage of you about Ion Insurance, I did the same research... I will sail from USA to Gibraltar and stay in the Mediterranean. After trying many brokers two of them quoted with ION Insurance. By now, it seems that I still have no other choice.

[tturgeon]

I just received a quote from ION and I’ve been trying to see if anything suspicious comes out on them. did you get insured with them? any new information that can be shared?

[TheOffice]

Check the deductibles carefully. The quote I received depreciated the mast at 5% per year, so a 20 year old mast was not covered.

[dwh61]

We are in similar situation as the other poster's. SOPAC is not represented by Edward William. They have offered ION. We have read the policy rules carefully. One thing we have not been able to discern is what do we lose agreeing to Costa Rica law vs. US Law. I understand the obvious. Has anyone signed up with ION? Has anyone made a claim?

[olegrumyantsev]

Following. Shopping for insurance quotes now (cruising in NW Europe and Mediterranean). Several came out fully or partially underwritten by ION Insurance SA. Premiums vary a lot broker to broker. Some other quotes underwritten by more reputable names are ~3x higher premiums... Have to make a decision soon. If anyone got more information or good/bad experience - please share. Thanks!

[BG305]

I have business and property in CR along with a good attorney that speaks fluent English if you guys need him. He has been my personal and business attorney for the past 10 years. Feel free to ask any questions you think i might be able to help with pertaining to CR.

[SailingHarmonie]

Use ION Insurance at your own risk.

From another forum written by someone who took the time to do the research:

All reputable insurance companies will open their books to obtain a rating by a third party such as AM Best. The higher the rating, the more financially solvent the company. Meaning they have the ability to pay claims, even very large ones. This is a third party verification regarding the solvency. A good rating is considered “A”, or higher. The current underwriter for Edward William is ION. ION is not rated by AM Best, or any other third party agency. This should be a HUGE red flag to a policyholder or anyone considering them for coverage. If you don't believe me on this, ask a reputable insurance broker to explain the importance of a good rating.
Up until two years ago, Edward William Insurance was selling cheap policies underwritten by Northernreef policy subject to Uruguayan law and practice. They convinced their customer base Northernreef was a sound underwriter. Like ION, Northernreef were not rated. Northernreef went bankrupt and closed. They did this overnight and without warning. It was easy to do since they operated as a shell company. EW Policyholders had to cough up additional funds to EW in the middle of their policy terms or be canceled. https://www.edwardwilliam.com/upload...April-2021.pdf
The address listed in IONs policies and on their web page are all shell companies. These are not physical offices. They are nothing but mail drops. This includes addresses they have published in D&B and on their corporate page, American Samoa, Costa Rica, and London. Others have stated there is a physical office in the Bank of America Building in Ft. Lauderdale. This isn’t listed anywhere. I wonder why they don’t want you to know where they are.
The address given on ION's American Samoa page appears to be a mail drop on the second floor of a shopping complex. Google it. I did: 210A 2nd Floor, Fagatogo Square, Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799
On the D&B listing, ION states their offices are: Plaza Roble Corporate Center, Las Terrazas Building 5th Floor San Jose Escazu, San Jose Costa Rica. Google the address. This is either a small rented space or virtual office. Here is the link to the building ION claims to be their corporate office address. This also appears to be a mail drop. https://www.regus.com/es-mx/costa-ri...-terrazas-1349
So, do they have funds? You might find they have no money whatsoever. Or perhaps they do. Who really knows. I guess you can "hope" they have enough to pay your claim. Because, you can’t verify they do.

[Montanan]

Ion Insurance unaudited modified cash basis accounting financial statements from 2019.

https://www.ioninsuranceco.com/2019_ION_Group_FS.pdf

Personally I would avoid this underwriter.

[IRENE]

I was searching for the Ion customer service number to obtain a quote some months ago. I could only locate the Pago Pago, American Samoa, office via search engine. The website was garbage.

So I called the phone number and it is answered with “hello”. I asked if this was Ion insurance, and I was told yes. Not too confidence inspiring. Not what I want for my wife to deal with if I am dead and the boat is gone. We passed after a short conversation that yielded only less confidence.

I found a couple of references to Ion while searching various forums and our owners group, but none of he information was of value for our decision to obtain a quote with them.

[Hhew]

Bumping to keep this active. Has anyone done business with Ion and made a claim? I just received a pretty reasonable quote from Ion but this discussion here has me wary. Any updates?

[JULIOMOND]

I solved the problem with Topsail Insurance an exceptional broker. They issued my insurance with Great Lakes Insurance SE from Germany for a very reasonable price. Talk to Mollie at mollie@topsailinsurance.com and she will find a solution for you.

[SailingHarmonie]

If you do enough research on ION in Costa Rica you will find that they are a shell company without any actually verifiable financial backing.

They try sometimes to conflate themselves with a totally separate (reputable) company in the USA, which told me all I need to know. If they give you an address from which they claim to do business, do a simple google street search at that address. See what you see. Call the customer service numbers, listen to what you hear.

Buyer beware. Do not let wishful thinking get in the way of clear thinking.

Myself, personally, would never touch them, and beyond that I would never talk to a broker who represented them.

You can do as you see fit. I would just ask if you have your insurance with them, you stay far away from my boat.