Vendors, General Insurance options for older boats?

I obtained liability only, with the usual $1 mill for oil spills, from a local broker (Sunset Plaza) and Markel. Total cost $1400 annual, of which $350 was the broker fee.

Not perhaps a bargain, but Boat US was only insuring hull for about $30K, and any company would require a survey for hull coverage, which is $800 plus the haulout. No survey required for liability only.

I have no issue with so-called self insurance. With a $1000 deductible I wouldn;t report stolen winch handles anyhow, and the chances of sinking at the dock are controlled by me.

Next year I'll look around and see if I can do better, price and coverage wise.

Christian Williams said:

I obtained liability only, with the usual $1 mill for oil spills, from a local broker (Sunset Plaza) and Markel. Total cost $1400 annual, of which $350 was the broker fee.

Not perhaps a bargain, but Boat US was only insuring hull for about $30K, and any company would require a survey for hull coverage, which is $800 plus the haulout. N survey required for liability only.

I have no issue with so-called self insurance. With a $1000 deductible I wouldn;t report stolen winch handles anyhow, and the chances of sinking at the dock are controlled by me.

Next year I'll look around and see if I can do better, price and coverage wise.

Click to expand...

I'm also in Southern California, and I'm also currently insured by BoatUS/Geico, so guess the bell will toll for me soon enough. I'll be watching this thread carefully to see what options people are finding. I'm fine going with liability only for my low-value boat. So I take it that BoatUS would not issue a liability only policy to make my marina happy? And I have heard others tout Progressive as an alternative, but it sounds like they are going in the same direction.

This should be an interesting rodeo.

To anyone insuring an older boat (or any boat, for that matter), I would recommend calling United Marine Underwriters, at 800-477-7140.
Here's their website: https://unitedmarine.net/boat_insurance/

They represent numerous companies, and will go over all the cost factors to get you the best policy. If you have an older boat, they can absolutely find you a policy, and give you all the options for the best price, and coverage. I ended up with Markel American Insurance Co through them, which gave me all the coverage that was required by my marina at the best price-- better than Progressive, Geico, or any of the other major providers-- and they made it easy, and headache-free. Can't recommend them highly enough.

Is anyone else insured under their regular home/auto insurer? American Family, in my case. Maybe it's just an inland thing?
There's a helluva a lot of boats here in the land o' lakes. My 38' sailboat is insured no differently than the neighbors' bass boat in the driveway next door.
I guarantee that sparkle boat is (monetarily) worth more than driftless, even after all the money in refit.
I've poured over every word of the boat section of my policy, and it makes no mention of any restrictions on location. Loophole?

Of course the only claim I've ever made was for on the water towing, and since then I've just bought the annual BoatUS, which of course I've never used. My tow claim was actually a great insurance experience though - no deductible, full reimbursement, and no premium increase.

driftless said:

Is anyone else insured under their regular home/auto insurer? American Family, in my case. Maybe it's just an inland thing?
There's a helluva a lot of boats here in the land o' lakes. My 38' sailboat is insured no differently than the neighbors' bass boat in the driveway next door.

Click to expand...

It might be an inland thing, but ours is the same way, thru State Farm. I know some have had poor experiences with them. For us so far, they've been fine. The only restriction we have is a 100 mile offshore limit, though it does allow the territorial waters of the Bahamas, down to the Tropic of Cancer. No restrictions as to location during hurricane season, which is a bit odd, but we'll take it, It's unlikely we would go further south than what it allows, but if we did we'd probably opt for liability only and take our chances.

We have typically a restriction to SoCAl waters Pt Conception to Mexico. You can buy more geography.

There is no insurance for singlehanded to Hawaii, or (I think) singlehanded offshore anywhere.

Christian Williams said:

I obtained liability only, with the usual $1 mill for oil spills, from a local broker (Sunset Plaza) and Markel. Total cost $1400 annual, of which $350 was the broker fee.

Not perhaps a bargain, but Boat US was only insuring hull for about $30K, and any company would require a survey for hull coverage, which is $800 plus the haulout. No survey required for liability only.

I have no issue with so-called self insurance. With a $1000 deductible I wouldn;t report stolen winch handles anyhow, and the chances of sinking at the dock are controlled by me.

Next year I'll look around and see if I can do better, price and coverage wise.

Click to expand...

$1400 seems like a lot for liability. About 5 years ago I had liability only on my Folkboat from Progressive for $500K--I think it was $200 for the year. I suppose a Folkboat with an outboard can't do much damage as a 38 foot boat.

Pete the Cat said:

$1400 seems like a lot for liability. About 5 years ago I had liability only on my Folkboat from Progressive for $500K--I think it was $200 for the year. I suppose a Folkboat with an outboard can't do much damage as a 38 foot boat.

Click to expand...

For my inboard diesel E 25+, $300K liability, $1M oil pollution, and a few other items, with a $250 deductible costs me $165 a year.

Acorn said:

For my inboard diesel E 25+, $300K liability, $1M oil pollution, and a few other items, with a $250 deductible costs me $165 a year.

Click to expand...

I was in the insurance business, insurance brokers are not always your best friend when it comes to deals. Their "free" services are really paid by commissions from the insurance companies and, well, you can fill in the rest. There are good ones, and I know some, but do your homework yourself. The scammer brokers are eventually going away because of the internet search engines, but they are still out there.