I need some help.
been a customer of BoatUS since 2008, they had my tow package, and i maintained the
membership although i have significantly reduced all West
Marine purchases the last few years. I am active duty Military and just transferred from
San Diego to Norfolk last year. i don't know where I am going to retire too yet so i am living on the
boat while doing a
refit right now. 1984 Passport 42, sailboat.
Last year my yearly premium was $1700, for $100k on the
boat, 300k liability & uninsured boater, 10k
medical (don’t need), $997k
fuel and spill. first payment was ~$3-$400, followed by ~ 200 payments for ~9 months. Previous premium was $1200 i believe, ~$900 before that I believe. i have had no accidents, claims or issues in that time. currently doing a
refit so the boat sits at the
dock. I am a professional mariner, US
Navy small boat coxswain & Tactical
Small Boat Coxswain, at my previous command i wrote the coxswain/Tactical Coxswain
training course and have been teaching sailors to safely operate
boats in normal and intense conditions for over 15 years. have a decent number of formal
marine engine manufacturer schools/courses, and military boat/ship/engine courses.
So i get my notice to renew my policy and make a payment for the next year. says $900 but i didn't think anything of it, i thought it was my yearly premium. i call them this morning and they tell me that due to the number of claims they have raised rates. my premium is now over $3000, and they want $905 for the first year payment ~30% they said. that's the remainder of my paycheck. marina requires
insurance or kicks you out.
so my option is to starve and not pay remaining bills until the 1st but keep my slip, or have no
insurance after the OCT 26th and get forced out of the marina, have to
anchor out somewhere (not really an option since i have to
work every day). Highly pissed, like hung up on them twice and promised to picket their booth at the
Annapolis boat show and tell people how crappy of a company they are, kind of pissed.
cant tell you how upset, angry and vulnerable to these overpayed Aholes i feel right now. needless to say I am looking for a new insurance company before my policy expires. already got a quote from Progressive for $414-$520 for the year, but it’s mostly liability only. a good stop gap measure but they are not a marine insurance company. I see a few marine insurance companies, but not sure what the best move going forward is. im going up to the
Annapolis boat show Sunday and Monday, so I have calmed myself down enough to try and be patient and shop around a bit.
Reality is I will be sitting at the pier at least until next summer, and I don’t know these waters so nothing major at that, all time, energy, and
money is going into the refit right now. The
mast is still at the boat yard waiting to get painted, after having the boat trucked over. All the
Mast hardware,
equipment, and fittings were refitted 2019 before getting orders and
shipping the boat, so I just need to
paint it. Been ripping out the old wires and refitting the boat after what was originally just supposed to be a Marine AC install, that has since become a bigger
project. I don’t really want to get a
survey until after the refit, spring maybe once the mast is back up. I am living onboard while doing the refit, to be able to
work more and put more
money into the refit.
What Marine Insurance companies are worth the money for the
Chesapeake bay area? Live aboards? Should I even put down that I’m a
live aboard ect? Best tow
service package to replace boatUS? Any other tips and tricks regarding Boat insurance? I’ve never gone outside of boatUS so im feeling a bit nieve and unexperienced at the moment. Progressive will work in a pinch but they don’t have the full coverage and the last thing I need is trying to fix the boat on my own after some idiot hits me, or a storm pushes a boat into me or something. i don't want to pay for liability and then have to change insurance anyway when i start testing systems and operating the boat.