I Need 300k in Liability Insurance

[SabreKai]

$300K?? Hah, I sneer at your pittance worth of liability.

I just got the insurance slip for the spit kit, Kona Winds. Boat worth $5K but must have $2 Million in liability. We do things differently up here.

Sabre

[brankin]

I am also looking for an Insurance carrier but I am looking for the best quality and service for the buck. I don't want to be holding an empty bag if something goes wrong. I would be nice if the members of the forum could state their carriers and their opinion of the carrier much like the feedback on ebay. Then we could compile a list and put it on the stick list.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by brankin

I am also looking for an Insurance carrier but I am looking for the best quality and service for the buck. I don't want to be holding an empty bag if something goes wrong. I would be nice if the members of the forum could state their carriers and their opinion of the carrier much like the feedback on ebay. Then we could compile a list and put it on the stick list.

Actually, the various insurance options and companies have been talked/posted about on CF and other forums like SSCA for years. Although there are probably only about a half dozen, at most, insurance companies who write policies for really international cruising - there are hundreds of local insurance options for folks who still have homes and land dwellings.
- - The basic system of marine insurance works through "agents" or "brokers" and there are an unlimited number of those. They take your information and assess your needs, get the data about your vessel and then "shop" the actual insurance companies to see what is available and how much it costs. They then tell you the options they have found and collect your premiums, keep their cut and (hopefully) send the rest to the actual insurance company.
- - Since the "market" for recreational international cruisers is extremely small, the actual insurance companies come and go fairly frequently whenever there is a major event that wipes out a lot of boats. And you will never know about which ones will fold until it is too late.
- - However, there are the old mainstays who have been in the market for a long time and weathered various storm-caused large losses and the most reputable "agents/brokers" deal only with those. So it is important to find a reputable agent/broker more than trying to deal with anything else.
- - There are constantly new and enticing advertisements for "new" low rate coverage popping up in boat magazines and internet advertisements but these are by and large either scams or new companies that have not had major event losses and been put out of business.
- - As to permanently publishing claims experiences by cruisers that is a none event as upstarts will bring lawsuits and harassing actions against anybody or any organization that tries to publish negative information. That is an old trick and very successful at suppressing negative information about a company or business entity. But such information does "leak out" occasionally and if you search the archives of various forums you will find these "reviews." You will also find a hundred contrary posts from fake posters trying to suppress the one honest review.
- - So ask around the marina or boatyards or anchorage from real live cruisers/boaters who they use and what their experiences are and you can get a feel for what is currently available. But as I said, except for the handful of old-time companies and broker/agents, things change dynamically as Mother Nature clobbers a new batch of boaters.

[cantxsailor]

I have State Farm for my cars and they give me $500k(their minimum amount) for $55.00 per year. I've never needed to use it so I don't know if it's actually any good or not but I've never had a problem with them paying a claim for anything else........m