Boat insurance recommedations please

[Murdock]

I recently bought a 1994 16 ft Lund Rebel with a 30 hrse Yamaha tiller. Looking for any suggestions/recommendations as to a good insurance carrier and what annual premium I should expect to pay per year. Do you guys include fishing gear in your boat insurance coverage also? State Farm quoted me a $70.00 per year premium at $5500.00 coverage with a $250 deductable, without fishing gear coverage. I have been informed by many fishermen to not use Progressive Insurance due to bad service and many denied claims, insurance cancelations and premium hikes for no reason. I understand the amt of the deductable will slightly change the annual premium, but any suggestions/recommendations you experienced boat owners have and would like to share would be greatly appreciated. Please toss me your recommedations/opinions.
It won't be long until we are talking about sunburns and boat landing traffic.Can't wait!!!!!!

[Bushwacker]

I think a stand-alone boat policy is a must. A lot of people include their boats on their homeowner's policies and that does cover the liability, but it limits your physical damage coverage to the same perils as your home insurance. I am an agent and I had 3.5 hours of continuing ed last week that focused soley on recreational vehicles. It went very in depth about how people put boats, ATV's, snowmobiles on their homeowners. If a mouse chews through your oil line in the winter, you blow up your engine, you don't have any coverage for that on your homeowner's. It is definitely worth an extra $3 month to have a completely seperate policy for your boat. Another plus of that is that many companies are very strict on # of claims before they cancel you. If you have a $400 accident with your boat, it looks the same to the company as if you have a $100,000 house fire. If you have the boat on a seperate policy it does not effect your homeowner insurability at all. A little sidenote, our agency has 8 different companies that we can write boat insurance with, and Progressive is one of the top two we use. My secretary had her boat filled with water during a storm while tied to a dock last summer and they paid her every cent of what her boat was worth with no problems at all. If you talk to ten people who have insurance, all ten will have different experiences with it. No matter what company it is. Everyday I talk to people about different companies and everyone has different experiences. It comes down to having an agent that knows what coverages you need and knows how to make sure that if you ever have a claim, you are taken care of. The job of an insurance agent is to "insure" the client's finances. Fire, sickness, death, theft, etc. You should be in the same financial situation after a claim as you were before the claim, less your deductible. Make sure your agent thinks this same way and you will be ok.

Bushwacker
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[Chris Haley]

Also pay the little extra to get the replacement clause on your policy.

[Guest]

Boat US is the best rate and coverage I've found, although I haven't had to use it as of yet... Make sure to add personal effects coverage for your gear (like $30 per 1000 for the year).

[MrBig]

I use Liberty Mutual for all my insurance needs. I've compared rates every few years and have never found a cheaper rate. I've never had a claim so can't comment on their service.

[Scott Steil]

There are lots of good Boat Insurance Polices out there but they very in coverage. Your homeowners policy is a good place to start. Look into SCHEDULING your boat on your homeowners policy. This should give you all risk coverage on your boat. As for your fishing gear, that is covered under your Personal Property Coverage as long as you are not a guide or accepting money for fishing.

$75 is a good price for $5500 of coverage. Talk to your local agent about boat insurance and ask the right questions. Make sure you get the coverages you are looking. Yes, I sell this stuff.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[Kingfisher]

If you are looking for some professional advise on insurance it looks to me that Bushwacker has all the basis covered.