Insurance Question

[a64pilot]

OK, I've been with USAA forever, so I gave them a call. For boats less than 250K they shuffle you off to Progressive. I got a quote for a 100K boat (ten yrs old) for 1,500 a yr at 1,000 deductible, 5,000 deductible for named storms. Didn't need a named storm plan or anything I've heard about here.
Is this a good price? What questions should I ask them before I purchase the insurance?
No questions about experience were asked, they said they would add this boat to my other boats policy.

[Pirate999]

That seems like a fairly good quote. Typical deductible and names storm coverage. Find out the cruising area limitations. Not sure where you are but it may limit you to location.

[a64pilot]

Panhandle of Fl most likely. I'll check on cruising area, but with work being what it is, I can't go far, yet.
Soon as I have a sailing boat, I'll update my signature, but as of now only have a couple of smaller power boats

[BandB]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

OK, I've been with USAA forever, so I gave them a call. For boats less than 250K they shuffle you off to Progressive. I got a quote for a 100K boat (ten yrs old) for 1,500 a yr at 1,000 deductible, 5,000 deductible for named storms. Didn't need a named storm plan or anything I've heard about here.
Is this a good price? What questions should I ask them before I purchase the insurance?
No questions about experience were asked, they said they would add this boat to my other boats policy.

First, there are many other factors. What level of liability coverage and personal injury? What about salvage and clean up? That is frequently a big difference between true marine insurers and others and the cost of salvaging a boat and cleaning up any spillage can be huge. What is the coverage on all the electronics?

Now while the rate sounds reasonable at 1.5% the only way to be sure is to get a competitive quote as well.

[colemj]

Check to make sure that is a replacement policy and not a depreciation policy. While the latter are much less expensive, you lose big time if you need to make an actual claim for lost gear - a lighting strike will essentially not be covered.

Mark

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by BandB

First, there are many other factors. What level of liability coverage and personal injury? What about salvage and clean up? That is frequently a big difference between true marine insurers and others and the cost of salvaging a boat and cleaning up any spillage can be huge. What is the coverage on all the electronics?

Now while the rate sounds reasonable at 1.5% the only way to be sure is to get a competitive quote as well.

Originally Posted by colemj

Check to make sure that is a replacement policy and not a depreciation policy. While the latter are much less expensive, you lose big time if you need to make an actual claim for lost gear - a lighting strike will essentially not be covered.

Mark

OK, will do. Got any contact info for a decent insurance company?
I asked specifically about named storms and lightning. She also brought up keep receipts of any equipment, like fishing gear or portable generators etc as that was covered as well, but I didn't know to ask about the difference between a depreciation and replacement policy, good point.

[Suijin]

I would suggest that you at least talk to a marine insurance broker. I was going to go the route of simply getting my own quotes during my last purchase and my broker suggested a guy I should talk to. While yes, he was making a referral to a friend, the subsequent conversation with the broker was a real education. He was extremely knowledgeable and grilled me with questions about the boat, the survey, and how I was going to use the boat. Ended up going through him and ended up getting insurance through Seaworthy that I am very comfortable with.

[karenmccraw]

Progressive won't go above 35' length. Darnit - that sounded pretty good to me!

[BandB]

Originally Posted by karenmccraw

Progressive won't go above 35' length. Darnit - that sounded pretty good to me!

It's only as good as the coverage and we don't know all of that. A lot of people have found great deals that left them very short when it came time to need it.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by karenmccraw

Progressive won't go above 35' length. Darnit - that sounded pretty good to me!

You sure? Did you go through the USAA route, the rule they use for USAA vary a little from their normal apparently. I need to check that as I may end up with something a little bigger than 35. As BanB said, gotta know what I'm buying first. I'd hate to buy boat insurance that didn't cover it while it was afloat or something

[undercutter]

Anybody had a problem with renewals in SEA? When we renewed this year our broker informed us that there was a 25% premium increase due to the deficiencies of the yards and lack of quality surveyors in this part of the world. They said that the underwriters were experiencing significant cost increases for repairs due to lack of qualified workers and limited oversight of work. Also stated that the underwriters were considered about the quality of hardstand equipment as well as haulout lifts and then stated that even firefighting and other safety factors were a concern. They even added a 250 mile offshore limitation to the policy which in the end agreed to drop. Named storm, full pollution and cleanup protection as well as salvage costs are covered as before and I won't mention the liability limit just in case but a 25% increase seems unjustified.

When I went after them a little harder they suggested that I could maybe have a Lloyd's certified surveyor to inspect the yard(s) where I would have the boat hauled and stored for the off season while we were away and that depending on the report the increase may be waved. How much do you think that would cost!!!!

[a64pilot]

Insurance is a rip off, pure and simple. I usually self insure, my house and this boat are the exception, just too much money in either for me to recover from should the unthinkable happen

[BandB]

One other thing to watch out for is "implied warranty of suitability or seaworthiness." A policy needs to exclude that. Insurers are using that to deny claims where a boat breaks apart in some way or capsizes. They then say you and/or the manufacturer implied the boat was seaworthy. Since it wasn't, they, they insurer are not liable.

Clauses like this are why the person above mentioned a marine insurance broker.

We are insured through Pantaenius.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Insurance is a rip off, pure and simple. I usually self insure, my house and this boat are the exception, just too much money in either for me to recover from should the unthinkable happen

That's the reason for insurance. It's a risk we can't or don't want to take on our own so we pay an insurance company for letting us share the risk with others. That's not a ripoff. That's a legitimate business service.

Now there's one insurance I purchase even though we could afford to self insure. That is medical. The reason is that they negotiate better fees than you or I could. A hospital would probably bill us three times what it bills the insurer. Doctors would bill more.

I would hope you don't self insure auto liability. That's another place where the claims can run into the millions.

[Kevin84]

A64, regardless of whether you get replacement insurance, don't try to self insure for liability. If, God forbid, your boat caught on fire at a marina, you'd be liable for all the damage to the marina and other boats. Well, if yours was the cause if the fire. That could be a pretty hefty bill. Make sure you've got enough liability coverage to CYA.

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