Insurance for Catamaran

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by BillKny

Whenever I see the posting of someone complaining that they can’t get insurance companies to quote for them at any price, I wonder...



How many people understand that one of the pieces of the risk assessment that goes into the machine is your credit rating. If you have shown yourself to be a bad credit risk for other venders, it is highly unlikely you will find an insurance company willing to take you on.



This is never mentioned here, but it’s an important piece of the puzzle.

I'm going to bump this, because it's a very important point. Credit rating affects both your ability to get insurance, as well as the cost. Ditto for auto insurance. Plus for boat insurance, there are some coverages available for high net worth individuals not available to everyone.

If you have a son or daughter just old enough to be on their own now, work with them to establish good credit score. It will save them a lot of money on auto insurance.

[BuoyCall]

Originally Posted by justakiss

You can also have the certified Captain sign a CG-719S form to verify your time at sea. Have the form with you and complete it before you part ways as well as it can be a challenge to try and contact previous Captains.

Ballpark how many hours will a captain require you to complete in order to get signed off....given you are able to handle the boat correctly and don’t take out any docks? Going to need this myself eventually.

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by BuoyCall

Ballpark how many hours will a captain require you to complete in order to get signed off....given you are able to handle the boat correctly and don’t take out any docks? Going to need this myself eventually.

The easy answer is just 5 days.
Gone With The Wynn's purchased a used Leopard 43 in Florida 5 years ago with no sailing experience at all. The insurance company required them to have a captain sign off before they could go solo. They took a 5 day ASA course with the captain who stayed on board and was also an instructor. After that the insurance company signed off so they could take her out on their own. I can't recall if the courses were required by insurance or just the sign off. It's all there on YouTube including the cost of the instruction as well as the boat sales price, documentation fees, repairs and everything else. It's really informative. They are in New Zealand now.

[BuoyCall]

Originally Posted by SeaBas

You’re right. Their limit is 50’, but it is reduced to 35 in hurricane prone zones. However, if you’re a USAA member, it stays at 50 even in hurricane prone zones.

I called Progressive yesterday and asked about the 35' or 50' restrictions...yep and that explains why a friend in Florida has a 45 +/- sailboat and has Progressive. My zip code only goes to 35'. Hurricanes hit the entire state from what I remember the last 30 years.

Planning on calling my Progressive rep there and getting a list of zip codes that allow up to 50' if anyone is interested. Also licensed in pretty much the entire US and Alaska if that helps.

[Morndenkainen]

RE: Geico/BoatUS. I've owned everything from a 16' bayliner capri up to a 28' SeaRay prior to buying my Leopard 48 and they insured me without any issues. Granted, I've owned the smaller boats for nearly 20 years and mainly used em for fishing or tubing, but they didn't ask about that. All they wanted to know was how long I owned them, where I "docked" the new boat at, and where I was going to sail. They did not ask about my ASA training or any sailing experience. I've got an agreed hull value policy of $500K and a Bahamas extension for a bit less than $8K/yr.

The only time they really asked anything was when I emailed and asked for the Bahamas extension they wanted to know what days I was going and when I said I didn't know when the repairs would be done, they wanted to know what all I was having done on the boat and why.

[Captain Bill]

Progressive seems to have different standards depending on whether you buy directly from them or through a contracted organization. Progressive declined to cover my 44ft cat when I contacted them, saying that 35ft was their limit. I got a quote from NBOA and guess what, it was actually Progressive. They had no problem covering me through NBOA. The only issue I have is that they will not cover below 24N in the Bahamas.

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

The only issue I have is that they will not cover below 24N in the Bahamas.

That's basically Key West. I guess they (actually) draw a line there and beyond that there's boat eating monsters.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Progressive seems to have different standards depending on whether you buy directly from them or through a contracted organization. Progressive declined to cover my 44ft cat when I contacted them, saying that 35ft was their limit. I got a quote from NBOA and guess what, it was actually Progressive. They had no problem covering me through NBOA. The only issue I have is that they will not cover below 24N in the Bahamas.

That's ironic if it was before 2019, just stupid if it was after 2019 given that the most intense hurricane on record to hit the Bahamas only impacted islands north of 24N, with most of the damage above 26N! For reference so others don't have to look it up, 24N is the bottom of Andros.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by CapnR

I am insured through State Farm, It was much cheaper then the other options and did not require a survey. The sailing area is limited with in 100 miles of the east Coast of the USA and the Bahamas.

I just called State Farm and they told me that they didn't offer any coverage at all in the Bahamas.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

I just called State Farm and they told me that they didn't offer any coverage at all in the Bahamas.

We have State Farm and they insured us down to 23N in the Bahamas

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by smj

We have State Farm and they insured us down to 23N in the Bahamas

We have State Farm auto insurance and noted that State Farm seems to vary a lot from state to state. My understanding is that State Farm in NC is technically a different company than State Farm in FL. Perhaps the State Farm in your state offers this insurance but Fl State Farm does not. State Farm currently does not offer home owners insurance in Florida, but we had it in NC 11 years ago.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

We have State Farm auto insurance and noted that State Farm seems to vary a lot from state to state. My understanding is that State Farm in NC is technically a different company than State Farm in FL. Perhaps the State Farm in your state offers this insurance but Fl State Farm does not. State Farm currently does not offer home owners insurance in Florida, but we had it in NC 11 years ago.

We have State Farm located in NC. We spent 5 months in NC last summer and switched from Geico to SF but are currently in Fl for the winter.

[BuoyCall]

Originally Posted by BillKny

Whenever I see the posting of someone complaining that they can’t get insurance companies to quote for them at any price, I wonder...

How many people understand that one of the pieces of the risk assessment that goes into the machine is your credit rating. If you have shown yourself to be a bad credit risk for other venders, it is highly unlikely you will find an insurance company willing to take you on.

This is never mentioned here, but it’s an important piece of the puzzle.

Exactly, as soon as my kids turned 15 I added them onto my AMEX credit card as authorized user, as soon as they were old enough to have their own, i got them 2 credit cards...i also made sure balances were constantly paid off too. Told them, when they leave my house they will have perfect credit...it will be up to them to screw it up. Credit rating is HUGE in insurance all around.

[BuoyCall]

Originally Posted by smj

We have State Farm located in NC. We spent 5 months in NC last summer and switched from Geico to SF but are currently in Fl for the winter.

Was told Geico no longer does catamarans and Progressive no longer does boats over 20 years old unless you are already with them then you can be grandfathered in. Area code is also huge factor.

[Tupaia]

I have to say this is probably the consequence of attitude. The first time I passed through the Caribbean ALL the boats left at the start of the hurricane season. 15 years later hardly any left and the attitude "it's insured" prevailed. Then a series of hurricanes and big losses and the comments changed to "yikes my deductible is $100k"