Boat insurance blues

[Gary]

Feedback on Progressive?

Appreciate the suggestions. Does anyone have claim experience with Progressive or is familar with any exclusions that they have put into their marine policies?Gary

 

[Dave]

Not a claim called a claim.

I distrust ALL insurers after several different experiences. The boat experience arose when we had a chainplate bulkead part at the setee line. We called our agent and asked if we were covered. He came out and inspected the failure. He determined that the failure was due to the age of the boat and No claim was ever filed. Shortly afterward, we received a notice that our rates were being raised due to excessive claims. We had a claim 2 years previously resulting from a collision. SO 1 claim and 1 inspection resulted in an excessive claims declaration. More non-coverage money-grubbing by the insurance compay. Fair WindsANDincident-free sailing

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Dave, my Allstate agent warned me to never call

the insurance company and ask about coverage. Only call the agent for info. He explained that the industry knows that if a customer makes such a call, there is a better than 50-50 chance of a claim being filed in short order. So the call equals your first claim in a year. The actual claim equals your second and then you're canceled. BUT you called your AGENT! What a jerk he is! Name some names. Who did you wrong?

 

[ex-admin]

Final results

Final results for the Quick Quiz ending April 11, 2004:My last insurance renewal was a premium change of:   41% An increase of ten percent or less 38% No increase or a decrease (yeah, right) 11% An increase of eleven to twenty percent 10% An increase of more than twenty percent

 

[Richard Frehs]

BoatUS - slight premium increase

I have insured my Hunter 170 through BoatUS since I purchased the boat, new, three years ago. I do not race the boat.My rate increased $10.00 this year. I have the deluxe plan for inland lands and coastal waters. The rate includes a discount for boat safety courses taken and I have never or needed to file a claim. Recently I completed another boating safety course through U.S. Sailing & Power Squadron. I called my insurance representative through BoatUS and was told that I am already receiving the maximum discount. No more deductions will be given for additional safety classes. The representative then mentioned I should be happy that my rate only went up by $10.00. Actually that equates to a 10% increase.I recently read accident statistics in the quarterly BoatUS insurance magazine. Sailboats that participated in racing had the highest accident and claim rates

 

[Kirk Glenn]

Boat Insurance Blues-Boodry Boo Hoo!

If Ted Boodry would only get a responsible job instead of delivering boats for rich wealthy clients his cruising kitty wouldn't take such a hit at insurance time.I hear insurance in the Azores is much cheaper.Kirk Glenn

 

[Bob Hechhlinski]

Watch your six o'clock with insurance

Insurance is a dicey proposition anymore. These companies have data pool that is just lurking there and waiting for a claim to come up.Being over 60 years old and having never submitted a claim of any kind to any insurance company was poor background to what happened after we had our car illegally entered and cleaned out. With damage and lost articles, the claim was for about $1,600. The next thing I knew is that my airplane insurance was not going to be renewed because of that claim.Because of that, I decided to eat everything except for catastrophic losses. I raised all my deductibles up as high as I could go even with one on one negotiations. We have very poor coverage and the lowest possible premiums but I have coverage in case the boat goes down. The trouble is, when we lost a genny during an overnight wind storm, it was our expense as it was below our deductible.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Bob, you know what?

I'll bet they wanted you out of their data base because they didn't know how to spell your name! OK, probably not true, but with a name like mine, I think that way.

 

[Rich]

Boat sank, Insurance said no, Judge said BULL!!...

Many of you may remember in January 2003 my O'day 25 sank due to a raw water strainer freezing, cracking and flooding the boat. My insurance denied the claim due to the fact the policy was specific that it did not cover freeze damage.Many of you felt I was S.O.L. but fortunately I took the advice of the majority and hired an attorney.It has taken 15 months of the Insurance attorney delays but finally we had a discovery hearing with the judge, April 8, 2004. For those unfamiliar with this a discovery hearing is where the judge reviews the policy listens to both parties and determines if there is a violation of the coverage agreement and a reason to procede to court.The Judge rendered the following decision:A) Ordered the insurance to pay the claim along with content loss.B) Ordered the insurance to pay all of my Attorney feesC) Ordered both parties to court before a jury,to allow a jury an opportunity to  decide what I should be paid, since there is some question as to whether or not the boat was under appraised.It's been a long wait but one worth the fight. For those that fully agreed and supported my plight, thanks, WE won. The little guy can have his day in court against an insurance company.

 

[Jeff M21319]

Glad to hear that you got some justice...

it's nice to know that the legal system in this country can still get it right once in awhile! Let's face it, the insurance biz is kinda like being a bookie. Like in my case, I'm betting my insurance company $400 a year that my boat will be destroyed somehow, and they're betting me $8000 that it won't. (basically 20-1 odds) They always win (let's hope!) but if it ever happens that I should 'win' then they darn well better cough-up the cash! If they don't, you get a lawyer and sue the bastards! With any luck, you'll get a judge with half a brain who'll see that you're the good guy and force the big, fat insurance company to make good on the wager!

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Jeff, that's an awfully high premium.

My policy is 'agreed value, 80K value, 300K liability plus replacement cost coverage. $500.00 a year. (even)

 

[Jeff M21319]

Thanks Fred, I really didn't shop around...

when I got the insurance for her, I just went to my State Farm agent, who has always been a good guy to work with (I have my personal cars, my company trucks and my other boat insured through him), he came down to the marina and took a few pictures, quoted me a price and I wrote him a check. My actual premium is $360 a year (got a 10% discount for taking a safe boater course) and that includes full replacement value of $8000, including the outboard and trailer, $500k of liability, and uninsured boater coverage. Does the premium still sound like it's too high? Would the fact that I'm an inexperienced sailor make a difference? Does the fact that the boat is trailerable add to the cost? Do they take into account your driving record? (mine's spotless, not even a parking ticket in at least 15 years)If you're getting insurance on an $80k boat for $500 a year, I'm starting to think I'm getting hosed! Think I'll call BoatUS and see what kind of quote they'll give me!Thanks,Jeff

 

[Carl]

Well I had a claim...............

After hitting a rock at 5 knots..... 14,000.00 in repairs... They would only cover12000.00 stating pre existing damage ...My premiun prior to that was a little over 500.00The year after the claim it was a little over700.00..... This year it's 722.00 ..The coverageis 35,000.00 on the boat and 500,000.00 in liability...The boat is an 85 Hunter 34..So I guess I better not have another claim or I might get cancelled.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Boat US sent junk mail to me last weekend

They wanted to get my business this year, because I didn't go with them last summer. So I called them on Friday. I told them what my present coverage is. The lady on the phone said that the proposal (by me) would have to go to the underwriter. They would call back on Monday. I also provided my web address that Allstate used to agree to the value. As of Tuesday, no call from Boat US. I called them. The lady had my proposal. Same deal as last year. Blue book value only. She explained that it was an underwriter rule. They couldn't do agreed value. I asked her to take me off of their mailing list. Too bad, good company.

 

[Tom-in-Annapolis]

Carl - I'd shop around

That sounds like a hefty premium. I pay $208 for my '86 34' Hunter. Allstate.Tom

 

[Andy]

Any experience with Inamar?

I have gotten two quotes, one from Boat US for $1800/yr and one from Inamar for $750. The difference is so large that I called them both back several time to make sure that the policies were comparable. The coverage from Inamar is actually better ($350 per tow, $2k deductable, dinghy coverage) in many respects and even on many others (liability, personal effects). I should state that I will have in a few weeks a new 2004 Hunter 33 that will be my first sailboat owned.After all of the positive BoatUS comments I was wondering if anybody had personal experience with Inamar? Thanks.

 

[Daryl]

$80K value Fred?

That is the value of three of these boats. Haven't seen one listed or sold over $40k in years. I have Allstate and it was very obvious they have no idea how to insure boats. They must be crazy (or stupid) to agree to a policy like yours. It would be very tempting to sink your boat, collect the money and buy a much better one. Please don't tell me you have $80k invested in that dog. I keep them because they insured my h34 for $30k at a cost of $170 year and I'm on a Hunter budget.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Daryl, you are on a ROLL this morning.

Now you call my boat a dog. And not in a good way. Allstate looked at my web site and the survey. They would have gone higher.

 

[Paul Zetlmaier]

DOG! Dear me, Back it down a notch boys!

Good for you Fred! I learned a lot from your site. If the insuror will underwrite it youknow they think that's what it's worth.Was it the documentation or the survey that madeit work?

 

[John Nantz]

Daryl - The 34 is a Good Boat!

... and... Fred is a good sailor. Calling Freds 34 a "dog" is pretty low. Did you know that in the worlds first Hunter rendezvous, 1989 at Port Ludlow, WA, there was a challenge race and Freds boat was first-to-finish, boat for boat, against a whole fleet of other Hunters? And this included many boats which were much larger. "Dog"? Naaaa, I don't think so.Part of his success is owed to his sailing ability, coming from the back of the pack, sure, but I tried catching him with our then-new 35 and just couldn't catch him. Maybe after all these years of mods and additions his boat might be a bit slower but, hey, add on all those batteries and other things and it does weigh the boat down and slow it down. The 34 is, in my opinion, a good sailing boat.As for value - a lot of owners just don't maintain their boat and this drags down the bottom end of the resale market. Anyone who knows what it costs to properly install upgrades will know it costs a lot. A pair of Lewmar 43 winches for over $2K, refrigeration with larger condcutors, proper ventillation, larger batteries, battery boxes, new master switch, larger breaker, additional insulation, around $4K, spinnaker rig around $5K, etc. It all adds up so don't expect to find a well equipped and well maintained boat for cheap. As the commercial says, "You can pay me now or you can pay me later" but in the end you'll find it's actually cheaper to pay more for a good boat.