Seawind 1160 Insurance

[seaskip]

Hey all,
I'm having some difficulty finding insurers to cover a Seawind 1160 that is owned by a private syndicate, and travels from NSW to Qld and back every year. The vessel spends a limited amount of time on either commercial marinas or commercial swing moorings. I just spent half an hour on the phone giving details, down to what I had for breakfast, only to find the boat was worth too much.
Hoping someone may have some hints.
Wind at your back.
Jeff

[KeithB]

Have you tried Pantaenius? We are insured with them and have been cruising the Australian coast from Brisbane to Busselton and back for last two years and We have not had any issues with their coverage.
Keith
Lagoon 420 "G'day"


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[seaskip]

Thanks Keith. I'll give them a try in the morning. Jeeze. Brisbane to Busselton sounds good.

[tuskie]

Originally Posted by seaskip

Hey all,
I'm having some difficulty finding insurers to cover a Seawind 1160 that is owned by a private syndicate, and travels from NSW to Qld and back every year. The vessel spends a limited amount of time on either commercial marinas or commercial swing moorings. I just spent half an hour on the phone giving details, down to what I had for breakfast, only to find the boat was worth too much.
Hoping someone may have some hints.
Wind at your back.
Jeff

Not sure what the problem is.

The type of ownership; private but in a commercial syndicate?
Where it is kept; swing moorings some time?
The insured value of the boat? "Only to find the boat was worth too much?"

Many insurance companies have "agreed value" policies, however the figure that you stipulate and pay a premium on, must be realistic.

With marine insurance; getting a policy and paying premiums is the easy bit. Most of us do this and think we are "covered". The real test comes when we make a claim.

[seaskip]

Thanks Tuskie. It seems a combination of factors in play.
We are a private syndicate. A couple of companies seem to have had a bad experience with syndicates that allowed charter type use by inexperienced crews. Not the case with ours.
Also, some companies don't like boats on moorings.
And finally, I understand agreed value. The company that frustrated me must have been a small boat only type, more for tinnys. They just forgot to tell me that till the end.
So, any suggestions?

[tuskie]

Originally Posted by seaskip

So, any suggestions?

I'm reluctant to recommend insurance companies unless I'm sure about their prompt and fair payout record. As I've personally never had a marine insurance claim in 35 years of owning policies, any experience is via friends and fellow cruisers.

I recently did some frustrating negotiations (like you) with Australian offices of insurance companies. Same frustrations, different reasons; we were looking at upgrading domestic policy to include international waters in South Pacific. Going through a broker who understands your special requirements may work.

We got good service and multiple options through SICYC's insurance brokers, but did not go through them. Our existing Pantaenius policy was upgradable but the rise in excess ( "deductable") was huge, and the International policy must be kept for a full 12 months if any claim is made on it. We were looking for a pro-rata refund if we returned to Australian waters sooner. We ruled out dealing with Club Marine because of very poor claims service shown to close cruising friends.
We were running out of options fast. Finally, we got a couple of recommendations to try Baileys Insurance Brokers in NZ. We accepted their quote for a Velos policy (UK based, Lloyd's underwritten) covering Australian waters and upgradable to international waters at reasonable cost. It came highly recommended by some Kiwi cruisers we met. I hope that I don't get to test their claims process.

[seaskip]

Marvellous Tuskie. I'm on the hunt.

[Boomerang]

For what its worth, I changed to the Shaggers policy just last November, and then had to make my first ever claim (in 15+ years of holding various boat insurances) in December. Despite being smack bang in the middle of the holiday shutdown, service was fantastic. Full coverage for the damage. Took a while to get the work done so my holiday on the boat was buggered, but all in all I'd strongly recommend them. Particularly like the pay-by-the-month at no extra cost option. Now I'm just crossing my fingers that my renewal next month isn't too steep due to our claim.

[seaskip]

Thanks all.
I'm trying all the hints above. Hopefully my research can be of use to others.
So far, I've ruled out Pantenaeius. They will only insure a syndicate with 4 or less owners.
We have a renewal option with our previous insurer, but having had a claim in the last year, the premium has risen. I'm just looking for a better deal.
Working with Shaggers ( I though you were having a lend ) and Baileys now. I'll post my results in a few days.
Wind at your back.

[Malcolm66]

Just Out of interest what is the value of the vessel.

[seaskip]

Hi all. Just to help anyone else in the same boat !
We eventually went with nautilus, though the deal wasnt great. It seems syndicates are not popular with insurers. Malcolm. I'll pm you. Thanks folks for the help.

[Hanham]

Hi Seaskip,

Glad to hear you got sorted.

I used to be a yacht insurance broker in Lloyd's and we ran into your issue quite frequently.

If you would like, next year give me a shout and I'll be happy to help you find suitable cover at a price that may be cheaper.

Safe sails,

Hugo

[seaskip]

Many thanks Hugo. Pm on the way

[Hanham]

Hi Jeff,

Unfortunately when there is a substantial claim, the premiums will usually increase for a while, that being said, sometimes there are ways to shop around for a lower premium, but keep the same cover.

I'm curious to hear more about the boat, her value, and her cruising limits etc.....We may be able to find you suitable coverage through a Lloyd's syndicate.

For some reason it wont let me send a private message. Would you mind if we switched to email? Have a look at our website Hanham Insurance Agency and send me an email and we can continue this conversation.

Thanks,

Hugo

[mjean88]

Originally Posted by tuskie

I'm reluctant to recommend insurance companies unless I'm sure about their prompt and fair payout record. As I've personally never had a marine insurance claim in 35 years of owning policies, any experience is via friends and fellow cruisers.

I recently did some frustrating negotiations (like you) with Australian offices of insurance companies. Same frustrations, different reasons; we were looking at upgrading domestic policy to include international waters in South Pacific. Going through a broker who understands your special requirements may work.

We got good service and multiple options through SICYC's insurance brokers, but did not go through them. Our existing Pantaenius policy was upgradable but the rise in excess ( "deductable") was huge, and the International policy must be kept for a full 12 months if any claim is made on it. We were looking for a pro-rata refund if we returned to Australian waters sooner. We ruled out dealing with Club Marine because of very poor claims service shown to close cruising friends.
We were running out of options fast. Finally, we got a couple of recommendations to try Baileys Insurance Brokers in NZ. We accepted their quote for a Velos policy (UK based, Lloyd's underwritten) covering Australian waters and upgradable to international waters at reasonable cost. It came highly recommended by some Kiwi cruisers we met. I hope that I don't get to test their claims process.

We have a Velos quote from Baileys which would meet our needs. Hopefully you haven't filed any claims but by any chance have you learned anything more about Velos Insurance? No one I know has insurance with them.