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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

After progressive dropped me, I switched to these guys for liability, all they wanted was some photos of my boat. https://www.skisafe.com/

Just a note: My local favorite body shop has blacklisted State Farm. They say the claims are not worth the hassle

Trying to get ahead of this, just in case Geico pulls the plug on me, I've submitted for quotes from several of the vendors mentioned here. Two flat out rejected me due to the age of the boat; another wanted nearly $3,500 ; Progressive said it won't go above $500,000 for liability; and am still waiting to hear back from one more. I'm sure the mandatory $1 million liability my marina instituted this year is not helping matters.

bsangs said:

Trying to get ahead of this, just in case Geico pulls the plug on me, I've submitted for quotes from several of the vendors mentioned here. Two flat out rejected me due to the age of the boat; another wanted nearly $3,500 ; Progressive said it won't go above $500,000 for liability; and am still waiting to hear back from one more. I'm sure the mandatory $1 million liability my marina instituted this year is not helping matters.

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Ouch. Seems unreasonable.

Have you guys tried Hagerty?

Well, just to muddy the waters a bit here....

I just this minute hung up with Boat US/Geico. I told the lady on the phone that I frequent sailing internet forums and that the word on the street is that Boat US is not renewing any policies for boats over 40 years old, regardless of condition. She said that she was not aware of any such thing. She then pulled up my policy and said that she saw nothing that would make her think they would not renew me on my August 13 renewal date. I said that this was very strange because this was not a mere rumor but came from a forum member who actually had his renewal declined for the reason stated. She said she didn't know what to say about that other than that, as far as she knows, I will be renewed when the time comes.

I ain't betting money on it. I think it is far more likely that the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. I'm going to see what other options are out there so I can have one in my back pocket if I need it.

I'll report back here in August!

I did fail to get the survey Geico asked for. I then missed the notice that they dropped me. They then declined to insure me again because of the old-boat rule. But it may be that if i had maintained continuous insurance, I'd still have it. Bt in my case, there was no wiggle room--and I did talk to a supervisor who claimed that boats over 40 were out. I'd say, lie low! And if they want a survey after 10 years, consider it a decision point rather than something to ignore.

Christian Williams said:

I did fail to get the survey Geico asked for. I then missed the notice that they dropped me. They then declined to insure me again because of the old-boat rule. But it may be that if i had maintained continuous insurance, I'd still have it. Bt in my case, there was no wiggle room--and I did talk to a supervisor who claimed that boats over 40 were out. I'd say, lie low! And if they want a survey after 10 years, consider it a decision point rather than something to ignore.

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Good advice. As I said: I’ll report back.