Any boat owner will agree that the excitement of the day when you become the proud owner of that new boat pales in comparison to the excitement on the day you receive the insurance policy for it in the mail! But, this is the time to control your eagerness. I know it will be hard to control yourself, but don't read it yet. Shove it as far back in some drawer as possible, and try to forget about it until you have a claim. That way you can continue to enjoy the suspense of not knowing what you aren't covered for until you actually need it. There are many other things which you should remember in dealing with the insurance on your boat: ACQUISITION: Try to deal with the neighbor or brother-in-law who sold you your homeowners or business policies and doesn't know his transom from a hole in the ground. At worst, settle for your local branch of Boats-R-Us where the people you deal with are likely to have the same level of expertise as your brother-in-law. Actually if you're a horror story fan, and you have a cousin who is a lawyer, the latter might be the better option since they will probably have insurance experts on their executive staff who really know how to make the claim process interesting for you and lucrative for your cousin. Whatever you do, you'll want to avoid the marine insurance professional who might ask you boring or difficult questions to try to get you proper coverage, and won't ask you entertaining questions like "is your Hunter used for water skiing", or "is your Marine Trader used for racing". PRICE: Always remember that you're just buying a piece of paper that you're going to stuff away in a drawer without reading anyway, so shop for the lowest priced piece of paper you can find that says "Boat Insurance" on the front. So what if it "excludes damage due to water"? You'll probably never have a claim anyway. POLICY CONDITIONS: Why are you reading this? I told you not to pay any attention to this subject; you'll ruin the suspense! This section doesn't apply to you anyway of course since you never, ever have any sort of lapse in the perfect equipage, maintenance, and operation of your boat. You never have any guests, crew, or workers on board. Your jibes are always perfectly controlled, etc, etc, etc. But, you might want to tell that jackass who nearly T-boned you last Wednesday night because he wasn't maintaining a proper lookout, that he should not be upset when he finds that his popularly priced policy insures him on the condition that he never have that kind of lapse (as one of the most popular policies around does). After all, he didn't hit you..., that time! AGENT/CLIENT RELATIONS: Make sure you don't bother your agent with a lot of questions. If you've followed the advice above they're not likely to know the answers, you might embarrass them, and besides they are very busy and can't spare the time for you if they already have your money. What did you think you were buying, professionalism? CLAIMS: Now is time when you'll really appreciate your forethought in not paying any attention to the policy you got so cheaply. Until you get home and pull it out of that drawer (now let's see, which drawer was that) you can run through those masochistic fantasies of yours. And then, even better, you open it up and imagine that it says what you want to it say (major sigh of relief), and then later you get to find out what the adjustor says it really says (gasp). Just like the best of the horror films, but better because this time you're the victim! A neat twist, by the way, is to keep the policy on board so that it can go down with the boat, or up in smoke with her. And, think of how pleased your spouse will be at your cleverness.... Hi everybody! My name is Al and I'll be your tour guide.... whatever.... here. Let's try to have some fun, and I'll try not to get too maudlin. Al International Marine Insurance Services
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Welcome aboard, Al! 
How many years has it been since you first welcomed me to the CompuServe Sailing forum? (Don't answer that! <g>) The only thing more mystifying to most folks--and more misunderstood--than the head, is boat insurance...and I'm absolutely delighted to see you here! Hopefully, your advice will save at least one person from what happened to a friend of mine who was very fond of bragging that he'd found the best insurance deal in the country...till his 6 yr old boat sank in its slip, and he found out that his policy considered everything that wasn't actually built into the boat to be "personal possessions" that were never covered by his boat policy and told him to contact his homeowners carrier...and everything else but the hull and the engines to be 100% depreciated after 5 years--and therefore no longer covered either. Yep...there's more to boat insurance than most people realize! !
How many years has it been since you first welcomed me to the CompuServe Sailing forum? (Don't answer that! <g>) The only thing more mystifying to most folks--and more misunderstood--than the head, is boat insurance...and I'm absolutely delighted to see you here! Hopefully, your advice will save at least one person from what happened to a friend of mine who was very fond of bragging that he'd found the best insurance deal in the country...till his 6 yr old boat sank in its slip, and he found out that his policy considered everything that wasn't actually built into the boat to be "personal possessions" that were never covered by his boat policy and told him to contact his homeowners carrier...and everything else but the hull and the engines to be 100% depreciated after 5 years--and therefore no longer covered either. Yep...there's more to boat insurance than most people realize! !
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