Coverage for Chartered Boats

[Chris Bloor]

Hi, Al, and welcome to Planet Cat! I noticed your "mailbag" filled up quite quickly! Hot topic, this boat insurance! We currently sail our Catalina 42 in the Great Lakes -- mostly Lake Erie -- and have a very comprehensive policy with Cigna that covers both our chartering and personal use. We charter through a reputable agency -- and one with which the local Cigna office is familiar -- so full coverage extends to these activities. We carry $500,000 liability plus hull and personal property. You're probably familiar with their marine policy.Living in Ohio, our boat spends half the hear "on the hard" not earning any money and not allowing us to enjoy her (although we do spend several weekends a winter aboard "camping out"! Ha!) But in any event, we'd like to sail her south during the winter months -- probably to the Gulf Coast of Florida -- Tampa, Ft. Myers area -- or maybe to the Keys. We're having difficulty finding an annual policy that will cover both situations.Do you have any companies in your brokerage that will cover the chartering and personal sailing we do in the Great Lakes during the summer months plus:1. Cover us if we personally manage the Florida chartering from Ohio through a live-aboard captain? We'd like the ability to offer both bare-boat and captained charters.2. Cover us if we hire a chartering company to manage the Florida chartering?After a lengthy search on the internet, I found one company willing to offer full coverage for anything we want to do on inland waters and up to 250 miles off-shore. If I remember correctly, he wanted about $3500 a year -- I don't have the details handy at this moment. I don't think that sounds outrageous, but Bob thinks it's terribly high. We already pay Cigna about $1200 for the coverage I mentioned above, so the "unlimited" coverage at that price sounds reasonable to me. Especially if it's the only game in town!I'm rambling -- sorry. Let me know if you'd be interested in offering a quote, if you think the premium quoted for the potential new business is reasonable, and what you think of our current Cigna pricing.Thanks, Al, and again, welcome to the site! I'll look forward to your insight!Chris Bloor and Bob SheppardGreat Escape IIIC-42 #372

 

[Al Golden]

Charter Coverage

Chris & Bob:Oh my God! You must be having at least some kind of feeling of being.... a blown out sail?Private pleasure rates for the Great Lakes with a 6 month lay-up should be well under $.50 per hundred dollars of value. Adding a chartering endorsement with $1,000,000 liability limit should cost about another $450.It's not too clear if you intend keeping the yacht in Florida or traveling back and forth seasonally. Assuming the latter, you should be looking at approximately doubling the cost.You're certainly welcome to fill out the quote request form and we'll go to work on getting actual quotes for you.AlIMIS

 

[Chris Bloor]

Charter Coverage

Yes, Al, I'd be interested in completing a proposal form. And your assumption on the travelling is correct -- if we do this, we'd be bringing the boat back to the Great Lakes each spring. Where do I find one of your quote applications? Thanks again for your quick response...Chris

 

[Al Golden]

Charter Boats

Chris:You can link directly to our Quote Request Page at "insurance quote" on this forum's home page.AlIMIS