Insurance-gctid807783

[Pacrimrat]

I've been looking around for another insurance carrier. I've been with Liberty for 30 years (14 on the boat) but they keep inching the costs up every year.

Has anyone tried Geico? Their quote looks like I could save a 1000 a year for better coverage.

[mmichellich]

Have you tried State Farm. I have found their boat insurance to be the closest to a yacht policy at much much lower cost.

[Songman]

I purchased a GEICO policy when I bought my boat and trailer. Just over $400 per year for a 2052.

[Guest]

Last year I did Geico and it was only covering what they thought the boat was worth. This year I went through Boat US which is underwritten by Geico and I was able to get an 'Agreed Upon' policy which works better in my opinion for an older boat.

[Omega]

I'd call Mary LaFluer at ALT Insurance Group. She's located in Anacortes, WA... She insured my 4588 and now my 5788, Omega. I believe all she does is marine insurance. She's quite knowledgeable in this type of insurance. I compared her prices to State Farm and others and she seemed very competitive if not the cheapest... PM me if you need her phone number...

I hope this helps,

BJ

5788

OMEGA

[joni]

I second BJ's post... Mary LaFluer at Alt Insurance is the only way to go! We had another 'marine' insurer in Anacortes and he wasn't even a boater! Switched to Mary for our 4788 agent and couldn't be happier. She is a great lady, a boater and is the only agent we will ever have!

Joni

4788

OnnaMission

[Jeffw]

I have Geico via BoatUS on both my boats. I had a claim on the 2858 and was very satisfied.

[CPT.BLAIR]

+ 1 For State Farm

[green650]

I just read an article about insurance. It seems insurance companies love people that don't shop around every year.

So, get on the phone and spend a few hours shopping. And do it every few years. Everyone's situation and boat is different, so there is no one insurance company that is best for everyone.

[Alan_Teed]

I can't tell your boat from the post, but it is posted in the M/Y section so I am going to assume it is a M/Y and my comments are directed accordingly.

Almost no one reads their policy, which makes these kind of posts somewhat problematic along with the advice proffered. Basically remember that most of the insurance offerers are not brokers with the mandate and hopefully ability to discern the best among a group of different insurers that they then recommend to you. They are often either direct insurers such as St Fm, or they are dedicated agents of insurers, and as an agent of the insurer their responsibility is to represent the insurer, not the buyer. This means they are selling you a product, not helping you select the best insurer for your needs. You may find an independent broker whose responsibility is to represent you and this is the best advice I can offer. I keep my boat in WA but my broker is located in Annapolis MD and consistently beats the local insurers while providing individual and independent input on the terms and prices of a variety of potential insurers. What does this mean? Essentially it means that unless you have a broker you are on your own and need to read the offers and the terms, conditions and exclusions that come along with them before deciding which is best for you. If you are in this situation some areas to focus on are:

~ Agreed value policy or Stated Value policy. the insurer agrees to indemnify you for the amount that you both agree to when writing the policy. If you don't have this your claim will be depreciated based on the vessel's age and this will reduce the recovery for a total loss. It may also result in what you consider to be a partial loss being prematurely declared a total loss. Bottom line the "Insured Value" will not be what you get when you have a claim.

~ Exclusions

~ Limit for liability for damage to third parties and for pollution. You need to have (at least) sufficient to clean up a spill of your full tanks, along with the resulting lawsuits for property damage. Better yet, get a sufficient limit from your Yacht Policy (say $300k or $500k) to permit the scheduling of this policy to a personal Umbrella policy (for say $3m or $5m) that will provide excess coverage over and above your Yacht, as well as your Homeowners and Your Auto policies. Easier to do with a single agent/broker/insurer but possible with multiple insurers. What is your worst case here? If your boat caught fire in your mainly wooden marina and took out the pier and most of the boats on it. You could be into this for many millions assuming no deaths. With deaths you can imagine $10m might be insufficient. You might consider $5M a sensible minimum limit - more if you occupy a covered slip, since they tend to experience greater fire spread.

My personal advice from 40 years in the Marine Insurance business is to get a Yacht policy, understand the terms conditions, exclusions and have as high a deductible as you can withstand. This will reduce your premium every year and will reduce the likelihood of an insured claim which in turn will help minimize future premiums. I spent my life helping clients collect claims (I am now retired) and for my own peace of mind I only want to file a claim if I have a loss that I cannot reasonably afford.

[Norton_Rider]

"igiftmon" post=807843 wrote:
I'd call Mary LaFluer at ALT Insurance Group. She's located in Anacortes, WA... She insured my 4588 and now my 5788, Omega. I believe all she does is marine insurance. She's quite knowledgeable in this type of insurance. I compared her prices to State Farm and others and she seemed very competitive if not the cheapest... PM me if you need her phone number...

I hope this helps,

BJ

5788

OMEGA

+1 on Mary LaFluer at ALT Insurance Group. She got an excellent price for an agreed value yacht policy on my boat. Incidentally, Mary specializes in boat insurance but handles all other types. I just had her review my homeowners, auto, and personal liability (umbrella) insurance. She managed to save me almost $2k/year.

Also, keep in mind that in some cases you will be better off with a specialized insurance company/program. For example, I was better off getting firearms insurance through the NRA and classic motorcycle insurance through J.C. Taylor.

[rogerkarenorth]

I agree - call Mary LaFluer

[Jim_Gandee]

+1 to what Alan Teed said! If you have a MY make sure you obtain "Yacht" insurance vs boat insurance. They are two different animals for a variety of reasons.

FWIW I use Anchor Marine Insurance in Seattle. I have a stated value for my 1989 3888 of 77K and the marine pollution is the max available at (it's like 900K or close, I can't recall exactly without reviewing policy). My annual premium is $750.

[kev_rm]

Just my $0.02.. maybe - probably not applicable to your situation - My (Geico) property portion of my policy was around 7% of value of boat and belongings.. which is astronomical. Since I don't REQUIRE my boat to keep a roof over my head or maintain a job.. and I don't intend to file a claim more frequently than I would actually suffer a loss (in other words, I don't plan on fraud) I am financially far better off with a liability only policy and just walking away from the boat if something bad happens. The math is fairly simple. Given average luck will I lose my boat on average every 12 years? No.

YMMV. Just wanted to point out property insurance is not a requirement (if you own your boat..)

[Apurpura]

I have an older boat and when I called USAA with whom I have my car and house with they sent me to another company. I thought it was odd but they were very helpful, they would set an agreed upon amount and it was fairly reasonable.