Boat insurance

[TV BOY]

I'm looking for input on who is a good company to deal with for boat insurance. My agent discontinued carring the company I'm now with for home/car/sled. So I'm considering a total switch or just a policy for the boat.

I'm not looking for an agent! just input of people's experiences with companies/ and or problems with claims.

Thanks.

[sparkyaber]

I just insured my first boat last month, and promptly ran it onto a rock pile on its first expidition. Called the insurance company when I found out how much it is to repair a fiberglass boat. They got on it right away. The boat is actually getting repaired less than a week from the initial phone call.

You may be surprized but I have progressive for car,motorcycle, and boat. My wife got into an accident that was not her fault and they got her back on the road in no time.

Also, they are very cheap- we pay about 300 clams a year for boat coverage.

Side question, what does everyone think about my rates going up? I have never had an accident before so this is new territory for me. This is not meant to be post hijacking.

Good Luck

[Valv]

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I just insured my first boat last month, and promptly ran it onto a rock pile on its first expidition. Called the insurance company when I found out how much it is to repair a fiberglass boat. They got on it right away. The boat is actually getting repaired less than a week from the initial phone call.

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I am surprised they didn't total your boat, you must had light damage to it.

[TV BOY]

I'm not a fan of many of the orginizations that Progressive has given millions of dollars to. So no matter how cheap, they will not get my money.

[sparkyaber]

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I am surprised they didn't total your boat, you must had light damage to it.

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I was just idleling along, about 3 mph. Took some chips off of all of the chines on the right side of the boat. No cracks, estimate was about $3K. I figured the boat hull alone is worth over $10K?.

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I'm not a fan of many of the orginizations that Progressive has given millions of dollars to.

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Share with the rest of us will ya'. If they are organizations that I disagree with, I will look elsewhere also.

[NEANGLER]

State farm is good - my rate for the year was $240 for a 2002 Alumacraft TP 175 w/ 150 & 9.9 Merc. Progressive and Gieco were more expensive.

[Ihateriversnags]

I'm sitting at 160 a year for my 92 astro with a 150 yammy on the back. that's for full coverage plus an extra 4G to cover the extras (tackle, rods, electronics, etc...)

[Down Deep]

I use Boat US. They are underwritten by AIG. They had the best rate by far of the several companies that I checked out. You will have to join Boat US, but the membership dues is only $15 a year. They also provide towing and fuel spill.

[wx_nut]

I go through American Family.

I just got insurance with them for my "new to me" boat. I pay $43/year for a 82 16ft Crestliner with 40 horse evinrude.

Getting the insurance was easy - I just called my agent up, and it was all set to go in about 30 minutes.

No claims yet, but I also have my car with them. My last claim I had with my car (about 5 years ago) I had a check from them within a few days.

Hope this helps.

[FullTilt]

I'm not sure on this but I think a lot of your big insurance companies sub-contract the insurance for boats. I have everything insured through Farmers but my insurance card for the boat is through Foremost insurance.

Another discussion to have with the agent is if you can insure your boat for an "agreed upon" value. This is probably more applicable to used boats but it allows your insurable value to remain constant while the boat depreciates over time. For instance, if you bought a used boat for $15,000, you and your agent can agree upon this value for as long as you own your boat. The other option is similar to car insurance where the value of the boat is determined at the time of a claim. Just something to ask about.

[mamohr686]

I'm also with American family. No claims yet, but they were cheaper than state farm for me because of my multiple policies and also since I had passed a boater's safety corse by the game and fish I recieved an additional discount. Also keep in mind that your tackle and components inside of your boat are covered by your homeowners/renters insurance policy. If someone breaks into your boat and steals your rods and equipment, only the dammage to the boat that occured during the break-in will be covered by the boat policy.

[ccarlson]

Be careful of the post suggestions by mamohr686. Personal property is usually covered by your homeowners or renters insurance but, depending on your policy, when it is not at your residence, there are limitaions as to the amount of coverage.

Also another important factor to consider in that choice of coverage is that by making a claim for items lost from your boat through theft or whatever, will be an additional claim to any damage or loss with the boat in the same incident. Many people carry a much higher deductible on their homoeowners insurance than they do their boat and if that is the case, you will have to pay that deductible. You also now have a mark against your homeowners policy that may affect your rates or status of future coverage with that company. If you have contents coverage with your boat insurance and have a couple claims, your insurance company might only cancel your boat coverage which wouldn't affect your homeowners rates.

In my opinion, there are just too many reasons to not have a determined contents coverage amount added to your boat insurance rather than relying on your homeowners insurance to cover the contents of your boat.

ccarlson

[Hookmaster]

Ihateriversnags,

What company are you with?

[Hookmaster]

I insure mine for an agreed upon value. If it is totaled there will be much less difference to make up on its replacement than if I insured for the true value of the boat.

[mamohr686]

I wasn't suggesting anything. I was just pointing out that there some circumstances where it is important to have both types of coverage for your boat and for it's contents if you have valuable equipment. One of my my customers when I was working for a sporting good store, had several thousand dollars worth of tackle and rods stolen only to find out it wasn't covered under his boat policy.