Boat Insurance 101

[XP 590]

On 3/29/2018 at 9:04 PM, fishinwrench said:

Yes, absolutely.   150.00/yr. is just throwing money away.  That policy likely isn't worth the paper it's printed on.   

Well for starters, if the bank requires insurance, as most do, then insurance is a cost you must incur to get a loan.  Insurance is all about offsetting risk.  If you can pay cash for a $35k boat, and are willing to risk thousands of dollars in repairs for what would have been a covered loss, more power to you and that's your choice.  In addition to that is the liability exposure in case you injur someone.  I'm not comfortable accepting that kind of risk, but that's just me.  To me, $150 a year is a pretty good value to transfer that risk to someone else.  I also know if I insure my boat with that company for $35k and I total it, they will pay me $35k.  Having $35k in property coverage, $100k liability and towing coverage for $150 a year makes that sound like a very valuable piece of paper to me.  But again, that's just me.  A lot of people dislike insurance in general and I get that, I'm not a big fan myself,  but I'm not willing to take the risk of not having it.  

And if you think your auto or homeowners insurance extends to your boat,  please read your policies very closely.   Those policies generally provide very little, if any coverage for watercraft.  Some do, but most have very specific exclusions and/or limits for watercraft of all kind.    

[fishinwrench]

I guess my point was that I'd be real surprised to see a policy that you're only paying 150.00/yr for to cover a 5,000- 7000.00+ impact claim.  

You might as well spend that 150 per year on beer.  If I could buy insurance for 12.50 per month, and that insurance would actually protect me financially......heck yeah I'd buy it.   But C'mon.  

[slothman]

I was perusing the forum archives and saw a pretty good thread about boat insurance on the Table Rock Lake forum. I want to say it was a thread from 2014, but don’t hold me to that. 

[Ketchup]

Just did a Geico quote. $15000 value, $500 deductible, $1000 fishing gear, mechanical "lower unit" coverage, $100,000 liability, etc.  for $477 a year.  Thinking thats not bad.  Anyone care to share their coverage and amount? 

[fishinwrench]

8 minutes ago, Ketchup said:

Just did a Geico quote. $15000 value, $500 deductible, $1000 fishing gear, mechanical "lower unit" coverage, $100,000 liability, etc.  for $477 a year.  Thinking thats not bad.  Anyone care to share their coverage and amount? 

That's pretty darn good!

The last rig I had fully insured for competition and guiding, the premium was 360.00 every 3 months.  That was in 2005.  That was through Farmers and I never made a claim so I can't comment on how good it was.

[Ketchup]

Maybe the "guide" part was the kicker? Trying to get an idea if it is a fair or average quote. 

[fishinwrench]

Sounds crazy fair to me.  

As long as you don't participate in competition events or do any guiding you should be fine.    

I'm doing some work on a Gieco claim right now, and they are being very easy/pleasant to work with.  

[Ketchup]

I tourney fish atleast once a month, 9 months a year. Does that have a bearing on price? I didnt see anywhere that gave me that option to click. 

[fishinwrench]

12 minutes ago, Ketchup said:

I tourney fish atleast once a month, 9 months a year. Does that have a bearing on price? I didnt see anywhere that gave me that option to click. 

Study your policy.  If it doesn't say anything about it, then ask.   (Get it in writing).

An old aquantance was killed in a boating accident during a tournament, and his co-angler was badly injured. His insurance (while acceptable to the tournament organization for accepting his entry)  balked and didn't cover squat.  The guy's wife and the co-angler received nothing, and was even sent a bill for recovery of the boat.

[Ketchup]

Ouch.  I have looked at this quote, and every single small print i could find. They provided a phone number, which i will call tomorrow before clicking the "pay in full" tab.