Florida boat insurance recommendation

[duetto]

Hello, I am looking for recommendations for boat insurance in Florida. Looking to purchase a sailboat and need to get a quote and find out what the insurance company's requirements might be (survey, storage location, hurricane plan, ??etc.) for a 1979 sailboat.

Thank you for your time and responses.

[Creedence]

I just bound coverage for my new (to me) 1984 44” cutter.

Given the age of the boat, it’s a little trickier to find a policy, so I engaged a broker, Mariners General Insurance Group out of Bradenton. I’ve worked with them in the past, but with this latest purchase, I really think the broker was the way to go.

Doing the online searching only got me so far, but Debbie at Mariners was able to get me several quotes with some good policies. I had coverage bound within 5 days of contacting her and I had 5 quotes to choose from.

Some of the insurers she worked with wanted my boating resume, all required the survey. None required a hurricane plan, but they do have different stipulations with named storms (incentives to haul out, different deductibles for named storm damage, etc).

They’d be my personal recommendation based on not only my most recent experience with a boat similar to what you mentioned, but also with the two prior boats they helped get me coverage on.

Best of luck!

[DDabs]

Wallace Welch & Willingham, WWW, is great.

[chuckr]

Have you ever owned a boat before and had it insured?

[Creedence]

Chuck,

That’s a really relevant question, and since the OP seems to have left this thread to die, I feel okay drifting it a bit. How does a new sailor do it these days?

When I started out in Hawaii with my first sailboat in 2005 at the ripe old age of 22 with only (extraordinarily limited lake sailing experience), I sent a faximile to a couple insurers (the internet had not yet seen it’s first decade and bandwidth was unimaginably slow), I got a quote or two and picked my prized horse.

How does someone (like I used to be) with zero experience get coverage these days? Not a rhetorical question, just looking for insight here.

[Flyrod1]

I am buying a 1980 38’ with no relevant prior sailing experience (motorboats for 30 years).

GEICO quoted and did not ask for a sailing resume.

One carrier has given me an indication (a non bindable quote) pending receipt of my survey to be done in a few days. They asked for a boat resume but have not raised concerns so far. Better quote than GEICO.

Waiting on Travelers quote. They write my house and autos.

Got a quote from a very well know marine focused agency. Premium is twice what my other two quotes are, deductibles much higher, and no coverage unless I have a licensed captain sailing with me and once he writes a letter that I am proficient to sail on my own they will remove that limitation.

So far it would appear that marine expertise is working against me instead of for me.