A GOOD insurance story.

[SailingHarmonie]

We started in 2016 with our current boat with Pantaneous USA, and were very happy with them. Hands down the most customer friendly policy I have seen, and while we never had a claim, we know from friends with first hand experience that the claims process was fast, easy, and fair. But they left the business.

We ended up with a policy underwritten by Markal starting in 2020. Same policy, same terms, no changes, the quoted price for year five on the policy is now 17% CHEAPER than it was 4 years ago. It's still not CHEAP, but in constant dollars, that's actually a pretty significant saving.

Just because people need to hear GOOD news for a change...

[Smunkey]

So you are paying north of 8000 a year? Threads like this are effectively useless without numbers. Or are you getting a discount for pushing them? Also, where are you located? Your awesome rate doesn't mean jack diddly to someone 500 miles away. What year is your boat? Length? Hull value? Without details, this thread is nothing but an advertisement.

$12,000 down to 10,000 is around 17% CHEAPER, but not necessarily all that interesting.

Don't mean to sound crass, just interested in real world metrics whereas I am in the market, and these underwriters are absolutely SCREWING people in Florida.

[Smunkey]

Read my reply this morning and realized how aggressive it sounded. Didn't mean it that way at all. I am glad to hear you had a good experience, when so many others have bad ones. I am coming off a bad one with some bad quotes, so was feeling torched at the time haha.

I am interested more in your details if you care to share. The latest quote I got was for a 200k boat, for around 9k. And they required a new survey, 2 years after our last one, which was a non starter, and then cranked everything down to where the policy was worthless, like they would depreciate the boat for anything other than a total loss. Can't do this, can't do that, can't go here, can't go there... Basically can't use the boat at all.

Anyway, glad you had good luck with yours. My solution for my situation is literally to move out of Florida.

[Pandor]

I was wondering if the 17% reduction in premiums might logically be associated with a reduction in the agreed value of the depreciated boat over the last four years.

So if your premiums are high to begin with, are less but still high four years later, it could be a wash.

[Tin Tin]

As noted above more data needed. Compared to 2016 what are:
1. Premium as a % of sum insured
2. Deductible
3. New for old clause
4. Geographic boundaries
5. International cover if any
6. Lightning clause

[Smunkey]

...crickets.

[sailorboy1]

no one can say they have a good insurance story till AFTER a major claim

[h20man]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

no one can say they have a good insurance story till AFTER a major claim

And the BEST insurance story is never needing to make a claim!

[sailorboy1]

That's not a story at all

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Smunkey

So you are paying north of 8000 a year? Threads like this are effectively useless without numbers. Or are you getting a discount for pushing them? Also, where are you located? Your awesome rate doesn't mean jack diddly to someone 500 miles away. What year is your boat? Length? Hull value? Without details, this thread is nothing but an advertisement.

$12,000 down to 10,000 is around 17% CHEAPER, but not necessarily all that interesting.

Don't mean to sound crass, just interested in real world metrics whereas I am in the market, and these underwriters are absolutely SCREWING people in Florida.

Sorry to be slow to respond, but I don't feel the need to do a lot of back and forth, I put out what i have to say, and leave it at that. You can take it or leave it.

It's kind of incredibly silly of you to suggest we are shilling for a company when we have not mentioned our underwriter or broker, don't you think??? If i was getting paid to promote a company I would hope they would want me to mention their name... The company is not important. The price trend is. I also did not say my rate was "awesome" in fact I am sure I said it wasn't cheap...

In short, you can believe me, or not. Makes no matter to me.

If you are staying in Florida year round, you are going to pay for it. Between hurricanes and lightning, insurance claims are through the roof compared to other markets. When claims are high, costs are high. Them's the facts.

Our agreed value is $275K That has not charged. The market value of our boat has probably gone up in the time frame we are discussing, but that is a fictional number anyway and not really relevant.

We do not have a home port. This a a key issue with insurance. Almost all of them are tied to a fixed location so they can put a risk value based on location. We have cruising grounds that range from Newfoundland to South America. We have coverage anywhere in that range--and have been everywhere from Nova Scotia to Grenada

Limits are: No coverage for named storms South of 31N and north of 10N from July1 to Nov15. All other coverage applies even in that zone. No Cuba, Haiti, or Venezuela. Otherwise, where and when we want to go. If we pass through the canal, or go east of Bermuda we are covered, but the rate will be different.

Our cost for the identical coverage, has decreased from $9500 to $8100. If you can get full hull and liability coverage for that kind of cruising range, for less than 3% of agreed value, have at it. That includes an extra rider for personal liability, but that is inexpensive and not really a driver. We need it because we do not have any kind of homeowners policy that would cover miscellaneous non-boat related liability issues. This kind of coverage is very hard to find.

I have owned a boat for more than 40 years. I have never had a claim. I am a licensed 100 ton offshore master. We sail about 10,000 miles a year. Our broker reads our blog and knows where we go and when. I assume they use that information to inform their coverage and pricing decisions.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by Smunkey

So you are paying north of 8000 a year? Threads like this are effectively useless without numbers. Or are you getting a discount for pushing them? Also, where are you located? Your awesome rate doesn't mean jack diddly to someone 500 miles away. What year is your boat? Length? Hull value? Without details, this thread is nothing but an advertisement.

$12,000 down to 10,000 is around 17% CHEAPER, but not necessarily all that interesting.

Don't mean to sound crass, just interested in real world metrics whereas I am in the market, and these underwriters are absolutely SCREWING people in Florida.

In Florida, hurricanes/named storms are a real threat, and a good part of the coverage cost.

We all relate to the frustration, but that's the reality of the situation, for both boats and houses.

Sailing Harmonie related their experience. It is useful information, particularly with the detail they added in response to your post.