International boat insurance... Ohhh my goodness!!!

[KD on Tropic]

Ok... International yacht Insurance... what a mine feild.
I have a cat... lying in Indonesia... in a marina that is ran by an Expat and his native born family ...the marina has a very good name, under 24 hr monitoring, very well respected.... I could not be happier... and or sleep better at night knowing she is... where she is.

Yes... she is on a swing mooring with a northerly aspect to the open ocean... very well protected from all but the North.... but it is rare.... very very rare... that Northerlies create any problems..... and there is history to support this claim

She is in 18 mts of water... with a mooring that is inspected every year.

Now... the issue!!

I am looking to get insurance for her..... It might be easier to get blood from the proverbial stone!!
I have insurance already... and have had it for the last 5 years... no issue with them... but... I have emailed 9 times... and am yet to get a response... it is a German company... so I thought it would be good to get an Aus company... nothing short of impossible with larger amounts of absolute rudeness and pinches of.... "Why should we" thrown in for the added "salt" to the wound.

Tried to explain to one gent who shouted me down on the phone with nothing more than absolute distain in his voice... all I was looking for was guidance through the obstacle course called Marine insurance.... and yes... his company in WA is well known!!

if this is what service is about... I need to re-educate my employees to this low standard.
All I can hope... is that he was having a bad hair day!!!

So the question to the greater populous is...
Where do you get your International Cruising insurance from????

No.. we are not subject to Piracy in these waters... Yes... we are located in an area that has other cruisers pull in from time to time... this is a very well known stop over for many.
I have a boatman who is on board once a week to clean and ensure her soundness...

Yes.. I have had a claim in the last 5 years... nearby lightning strike took out 7 yachts close to me in the gulf of Thailand....The repairs were to the navigational / communications systems only .... and were professionally completed.... there were no hull / superstructure repairs needed... and yes we did haul her out of the water and carefully inspected her... by an Expat who was deemed to be an "expert" in this field.


So... please explain as to why I cannot get insurance without having to go overseas...??... I lose not only giving work to Aussies... but on the exchange rates as well!!

If anyone can suggest a good broker.... or company.... I would be grateful.

[chris in SG]

Your comment about a lightning claim rang a bell. My previous yacht was a 1960's Cheoy Lee and I suffered lightning damage in Singapore. With hindsight, I was probably stupid to make a claim. Perhaps like you, I thought that there was clearly no question of 'blame' or 'fault' on my part and therefore I would not be penalized in future. However, the following year, when I tried to renew the cover, I was told that the yacht was too old. It was not a significant round number anniversary in age (something like 37 years as I recall) and later I realized that I was effectively being targeted as high risk. The insurance companies will never admit that they do this. Instead they find another reason to exclude you.

[Malcolm66]

Whilst it is always nice to shop in your home country sometimes particularly with marine insurance you can get better deals overseas and coverage anywhere in the world without having to consistently change insurers. its always worth a look online to see whose out there, and to be honest I don't think I'd insure with someone who treated you like that over the phone when you are just looking for a quotation and help. If that's the service you get when trying to give them business what would it be like if you came to make a claim.

[KD on Tropic]

Well... its taken some time... and lots of phone time.... but I did find 2 groups who were willing to insure our dream... first was a group from Indonesia... with strong ties in Australia... were very helpful and backed by a very well known Aussie based underwriter.
And then I found a group in Berlin Germany... yep.... Germany.

The Indonesian group were able to give me most items... she could be moored in the marina... ok to have me going back and forth... very happy to know she is under the constant watch of the marina crew... but had a few limitations... such as sailing distances from land, ie... I could not go further than 20nm from shore... I had to contact them every time I wanted to go from Island to island, other small... but definitely controlling items.

The German group... same same as above... but no limitations. There was an initial issue with contacting them and the first lot of correspondence... I found that I was dealing with a "student" who was learning the ropes.... once I got the boss... all went very well, efficiently and his English was better than mine.

Price... yep... I hear you... well some of the more ridiculous ones were A$10K and upwards... but with the 2 above... after several clarifications on vessel detail, were in the ball park.
The German company ended up being A$4200.00 (this includes the OS monetary exchange rate... I went through a company called TORFX... astounding how much I saved by not going through the banking system... but this is another story for another day) and the Indonesian group were A4600.00.... very little difference...
I ended up going to the German company not because they were a bit cheaper... but because I had little to no limitations. I certainly did my homework regards the German company... speaking to many people who, some had... and others had not made claims.... those who claimed had no issues at all... some claims were large.. but nothing but praise for them.... I have to admit.... I did wonder if these people were secretly working for the insurance company to rope in dumb Aussie novice insurance sailors.... but it seems not to be the case.
I am happy to supply the contact numbers to both companies to anyone who needs these services... I just don't know if I can put it (allowable) on this page.
Thanks to those who gave me encouragement and advise... and I hope my experience will help others to get this most important piece of sailing equipment.

[clarkey]

G'Day i'm just about to embark on the insurance round- about trying to get to New Caledonia middle of this year. Would appreciate if you could pass on the name and numbers of the companies you where dealing with Thank Clarkey

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Clarky.

[KD on Tropic]

Hi Clarkey... yep no problem in giving you the 2 I had success with... but I am not sure I am allowed to post them on this forum??

I have received a couple of inforum emails.... and happy to give them over like that... or... if anyone can advise if its Ok to post numbers of insurance companies.