got insurance offer from BoatUS for my project boat

duality · Mar 23, 2009

you can add florida at biweekly rider (at least i could) just let them know the dates you are cruising there and they will give you a price. i think a paid $100 for a 2 week period in the spring.

mike

RECESS · Mar 23, 2009

In Georgia there is no title for boats. It peeves me a little because some national insurance companies want to see a title. The only upside to Georgia's refusal to join the rest of the world with boat titles is that if you purchase a boat out of state you do not get hit with another tax when you go to title it.

Sorry I am no help with a better rate than what you are getting from BoatUS. The Florida exclusion would kill me as I live in Gerogia but sail often in Florida.

Don S/V ILLusion · Mar 23, 2009

This is precisely why I so dislike many of the so-called boater-friendly insurance underwriters. Without belaboring the issue, agreed-value means nothing except in the context of the policy language and many of these companies simply tell you that it is an "agreed value" policy presuming we are too stupid to know the difference. Be careful what you are REALLY buying.
Secondly, some unscruplous agents might take your money and sell you an agreed value policy written for more than the boat's REAL value. They are just stealing your money if they do that as you will never see more money than it is actually worth regardless of what you might be lead to believe.
Get a valuation survey and insure it for no more than that amount. Also, $1800 sounds way high to me for that value boat but this is very much location-dependent.

BobM · Mar 23, 2009

When I tried to get a $3000 agreed on policy for a boat I paid $1000 for they refused, offering only liability. They said they didn't want to encourage anyone to go out an sink a boat to make money. $1800 is probably about right for $40K. I think my policy is about $800 for $20K agreed upon. As far as Florida goes, this sounds crazy, but when I needed a rider to cover a hired Captain I got slightly different answers when I called. Figure out what you want to do, then call and have them get an underwriter involved. They'll do anything for a price. If you don't like the price, my experience was that they will even haggle with you.

tommays · Mar 23, 2009

I did a yacht world search and 50K was on the really low side compared to the 8 similar hunter legends for sale right now

Hermit Scott · Mar 23, 2009

I contacted boat us about a policy. THey asked me how much I purcheased my boat for, I told them $3500. When they asked the value I told them $15000. For full covereage it was $1350 a year and for liability it was $1250 per year. But with full coverage they will only cover the boat up to $4000 since I only paid $3500. I'm not even going to get insurance. They had a clause that if the boat is totaled there is a couple of thousand dollar fee so basically I would have to sink my boat in the first year to make the policy worth it. Oh yeah and they wanted a survey while it's on the hard.
Basically I could take the money I was going to spend on insurance and survey, put it in the bank and if I sink my boat, I can just take the money out and I would be way ahead.

shemandr · Mar 23, 2009

Newer boats cost less to insure. My 2002 356 in NY is about $800. My old Ranger 29 was much more. However, $ 1,800 seems high to me. You may want to shop. You are in the danger zone there and probably have to pay.
Its a real eye opener to talk to any attorney friends you may have about what happens when you have a claim. Don't over-insure but make sure you're insured for what you do. Pay attention to those restrictions - you can be sure the insurance legal department will.
Shoreline in Clinton Ct. has been pretty good for me. Ive gotten cheaper quotes but ....

Joe · Mar 24, 2009

My Cat27 is insured for $10,000 in so cal with BoatUS for about $300 per year. Liability and environmental insurance, along with an endorsement for my marina are also part of the policy.

tommays · Mar 24, 2009

Hermit

You are down in a huricanne ZONE which has a huge inpact on rates

MattObjects · Mar 24, 2009

You mentioned that your boat is a project-- if you are not planning on launching it for some time, make sure the insurance company knows that when you get your quote. This touches on a few factors that insurance companies ask about--e.g., a boat in a cradle has a top speed of 0 kts and you don't need to add your wife as a covered operator because the boat isn't being operated. Also, make sure you're not paying for towing coverage while the boat isn't in the water. The idea here is to just pay for the coverage you actually need while you're repairing the boat.

When the time comes to launch the boat, call the insurance company back to upgrade the policy to meet your needs at that time.

Don S/V ILLusion · Mar 24, 2009

Hermit Scott said:
I contacted boat us about a policy. THey asked me how much I purcheased my boat for, I told them $3500. When they asked the value I told them $15000. For full covereage it was $1350 a year and for liability it was $1250 per year. But with full coverage they will only cover the boat up to $4000 since I only paid $3500. I'm not even going to get insurance. They had a clause that if the boat is totaled there is a couple of thousand dollar fee so basically I would have to sink my boat in the first year to make the policy worth it. Oh yeah and they wanted a survey while it's on the hard.
Basically I could take the money I was going to spend on insurance and survey, put it in the bank and if I sink my boat, I can just take the money out and I would be way ahead.

Don't fall into this trap of being penny wise and pound foolish.
If the boat sinks, you have the salvage bill to pay, the disposal charge to pay and the environmental liability associated with cleanup of any oil release and the hazardous waste disposal fees. If someone hits your boat prior to it being raised and salvaged, you have still bigger problems.
Your plan (described above) relies more on luck than logic.

MattObjects · Mar 24, 2009

I agree with Dan-- while it may be true for some that the value of a vessel makes comprehensive coverage a waste of money (e.g., a $2000 deductible on a boat worth $1,000), that doesn't mean anyone should go without insurance coverage altogether.

Insurance policies have multiple components, to protect you from risks of different losses. The risk of losing your own boat is called "comprehensive coverage." You may decide you do not need comprehensive coverage to insure against the personal property loss of your own vessel because replacing the vessel would cost less than the coverage. If the numbers support it, that can be a perfectly legitimate conclusion.

But you would still absolutely need liability coverage to insure against your boat damaging the boats or property of others or causing environmental damage. You need this liability coverage even when you're in a cradle in the marina--if a hurricane picks up your boat and drops it onto someone else's (just google "Katrina" and "sailboat" for examples of this), you wouldn't want to be paying for that out of pocket. Similarly, as Dan notes, if your vessel sinks, you may be willing to walk away from the loss of the vessel's value, but you can't just walk away from a potential fuel spill and salvage clean up costs without paying significant money. Without liability coverage, in the event of an accident or act of nature, you could end up losing much more than the value of your boat.

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Mar 24, 2009

I've had some experience with insuring a project boat

If the boat won't be launched any time soon, what you need now is a "builder's risk" policy that will cover what you have in it if, for instance, it catches fire in the yard or falls off the stands. Since you're not using the boat, there's no coverage for liability, fuel spills etc because you don't need it.

Once it's in the water, if it's not ready to leave the slip, you'll need a "port risk only" policy...this will cover any engine "test drives" out of the slip, but no other use.

BoatUS may not offer these type of policies. A friend of mine who's a yacht insurance broker does and he's a super nice low key guy who won't try to push anything on you:

Al Golden,
International Marine Insurance Services
110 Channel Marker Way #200
Grasonville, MD 21638
1-800-541-4647

When all the work--at least all the major work--is done to the extent that you'll want to be able to use the boat, then you'll need a "condition and value" survey to determine the amount of a full coverage policy.

"Agreed hull value" isn't just an arbitrary amount, nor is it based on what you pay for the boat....it has to be based on replacement cost for the same boat, in the same condition, at the time the policy is issued...and a survey is the only way to know for certain what any individual hull is worth.

BobM · Mar 24, 2009

I wouldn't be too scared of a survey. Usually they will accept a recent survey done by a surveyor you hire. Most surveyor values tend to be on the high side anyway. If you feel the value has gone up significantly after you complete additional work your insurer should be willing to amend the policy based on a new insurance survey. Given the age of most boats on the water I am sure they are used to this sort of thing. As long as the boat passes a full survey and was wired/plumbed to current standards you should be fine. From your perspective, it is worth having a good survey of your work to support that your work was safe and supports later resale.

If the real value of the boat is perhaps $100K that perhaps explains why they won't go lower on the agreed upon value.

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Mar 24, 2009

Survey is to your advantage

A 'condition and value" insurance survey is only looking for anything that can put the boat at risk..iow, anything that can cost the insurance company money. A C&V survey usually costs about half what a full pre-purchase survey costs, 'cuz the survey takes a lot less time and the report that the surveyor has to write is a lot shorter and requires less research time.

I dunno why people resist insurance surveys...'cuz they're actually cheap education! A survey provides an opportunity to find out what if anything is wrong that could be disastrous if not corrected. That's to YOUR advantage as well as the insurer's. Good surveyors love to educate and will almost always answer questions and offer suggestions about how best to do an upcoming project...that's even more to YOUR advantage.

Hermit Scott · Mar 24, 2009

I just got a quote in the mail from BOATUS for a one year policy, it was $305 for liability. This looks a lot more reasonable. I still have to get a survey. That's not a problem so long as the insurance cost is reasonable.