Merry Christmas from Guardia Civil (Spain)- insurance q

[Timreyn]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

No offense intended.

It likely has more to do with not being able to get ahold of a non-EU owner than it has to do with lawsuits coming from the U.S.

How can one keep a U.S.-registered boat in the Med for 7 years? I can see why that might pose a problem for E.U. insurers.

What you're doing works for you, and that's great.

Easy to stay in EU. To avoid paying VAT you just have to leave the EU every 18 months, even for 24 hours, resetting the 18 months clock.

I have insurance for my boat with EIS in Europe for full coverage excluding liability. But I found out they wrote policy without liability. Because USA liability laws have no limits on liability, insurance companies here have quit writing policies. UK companies will write it.

[markxengineerin]

To follow up on what happened, I have obtained a comprehensive policy from Topsail (France based) for <$800/year, with 1 million liability, cruising range all of the Med. They will be able to cover my planned crossing back to the Caribbean, but nothing available in the US. I may be able to cancel the policy at that point and be partially refunded, depends on their decision at the time.

Other helpful companies:

Yachtsman Marine, Ireland- too expensive but otherwise would be a good choice.

inovexpat.com - 300Euro liability only policy was not useful outside of Med, but otherwise seemed ok. Very responsive customer service.

So, of about 20 contacted, only 3 could help, not so easy. Most took issue with having an American boat, American address, being single-handed, and most recent survey being 3 years ago now.

Thanks again for the interesting discussion and helpful tips