Types of Insurance and Costs

[SV Bacchus]

Holy Moly!

About to close on our new to us Leopard 42 and shopping for insurance quotes.

I had heard the best way to go is Agreed to Value but it seems to be about 2.5 times as expensive as conventional Actual Cost Value, the type where they determine the hull value in the event of a total loss.

Is that normal pricing? If so I will probably have to go conventional and keep my fingers crossed!

I did some research and found a great blog entry by Where the Coconuts Grow titled what-marine-insurance-companies-dont-want-you-to-know.

[Mike OReilly]

I conducted a survey of what people are actually paying for insurance earlier this year. Both CF and SN members took part. You can probably find the thread here if you search, but here are the summary reports. Perhaps this may help:

http://helplink.com/CLAFC/wp-content...nce-report.pdf

http://helplink.com/CLAFC/wp-content...ility-only.pdf

[SV Bacchus]

Thanks Mike,

That is great info! It is appreciated!

[brownoarsman]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I conducted a survey of what people are actually paying for insurance earlier this year. Both CF and SN members took part. You can probably find the thread here if you search, but here are the summary reports. Perhaps this may help:

http://helplink.com/CLAFC/wp-content...nce-report.pdf

http://helplink.com/CLAFC/wp-content...ility-only.pdf

Thanks Mike, that is very helpful. I missed your initial poll, but the results tell me just how much the young male premium is!

[SV Bacchus]

Just as an update quotes are coming in now and WOW, they are all over the board. Still waiting on a couple, one of which may be my best shot but so far we are looking at $4700 to $11,900! Dang!

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by SV Bacchus

Just as an update quotes are coming in now and WOW, they are all over the board. Still waiting on a couple, one of which may be my best shot but so far we are looking at $4700 to $11,900! Dang!

Holy smokes!

The survey revealed quite a range of rates, even for boats in similar locations. Guess it pays to shop around.

[CaptJamesCook]

Just got my insurance bill it came in at 1.3% of value.
Travelers Insurance.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by CaptJamesCook

Just got my insurance bill it came in at 1.3% of value.
Travelers Insurance.

Thanks Cap. I used this exact measure as a way to compare apples to apples in the survey. The survey dataset is far from perfect, but I was kinda surprised to see the range of rates; from 0.33% to over 6%. I forget the average and median, but it was higher than the oft-references 1%.

I plan to redo the survey again in a few months. I’d really like to do it annually to see if we can detect any shifts in the rates. I also hope this can help make boat insurance a little less opaque. It seems oddly hard to figure it all out for most of us. Not sure why it has to be this hard...

[Dave22q]

Your prices sound very high. Do you know the current market value for your boat? If you want agreed value at a significantly higher level the underwriters might see that as a problem. You screen name might also be a turn off in that alcohol and claims often go together. Just saying.
You might also consider that the vast majority of claims are not for total loss. Any extra you pay for a higher agreed value is insurance strictly for total loss in the amount of agreed value minus market value. Looking at the numbers might convince you that paying for the higher value is a bad deal.
My experience with BoatUS was that jumping my declared value from the prior level by 10% increased the premium by about the same percentage and that was too much for me.

[ztsf]

I think you should consider "Agreed Hull Value" rather than "Market value", as the latter is subject to significant changes. Compare market value of boats pre-recession (2006), with post recession (2008-9). I couldn't give my boat away in 2009. Finally sold in 2013 but still at a discount to '06 prices (although it was "older" by then obviously).

FYI, I insure a 48' monohull (U.S. Northeast - coastal cruising), for an annual premium of 0.6% of AHV.

[barnakiel]

I was requested 5% - on the value as set by the insurer. I rejected their kind offer. I simply do not think one in twenty boats sink a year.

Cheers,
b.

[Big Macca]

There's some issues to think about here. One is that insurance rates in the US are beginning to rise after a long period of stability. There's going to be quite a few dollars going in claims following the hurricanes, and that will make the underwriters more fussy about the risks they're prepared to take on and the price they'll demand.

Any marine underwriter will tell you that there's not a lot of profit in sailboats, which always surprises me considering the premiums they demand.

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

Do you know the current market value for your boat? If you want agreed value at a significantly higher level the underwriters might see that as a problem. You screen name might also be a turn off in that alcohol and claims often go together.

My highest quote was from Boat US, now underwritten by GEICO. Two other agents told me GEICO just had a substantial jump in catamaran rates as a result of the latest hurricanes (islands and Keys).

I gotcha about the screen name but this is the only place I use it and I doubt they know.

50 years boating experience, 40 years of boat ownership, USCG Master license, no claims ever so they are hard pressed to rate me for lack of experience or training.

It seems to be the state of insurance at this point. Me thinks everyone's rates may go up a little, some maybe more than others. Quotes I am getting are for the purchase price, which is below survey value so No, I have not inflated coverage. When I inquired about less coverage the premium didn't drop all that much.

Still waiting on the one quote I said I had high hopes for as it will be coming from England, maybe with Lloyd's? Anyway it offered the extended navigation coverage I was looking for and does cover me for being "in the box" during cane season, if I'm foolish enough to hang around (I don't plan to but home dockage is Florida and If I stay, that is where the boat will be). Agent feels confident the rate will come in around 1.4 or 1.5%. Fingers crossed!

[InTheDish]

I just paid 3%, but I am keeping it on Florida's East coast for hurricane season...on the hard. I could knock off 1% if I moved it North of the St. Mary's river for the summer.

[SV Bacchus]

Well, he couldn't make 1.5, it came in at 2% which was what I was planning on from the start. Then I got all excited thinking 1.4 to 1.6 would happen but it didn't. However, no hurricane restriction anywhere in Florida or any of the Bahamas except the very southern islands. I don't have to get N of the St. Mary's so it is good! But I probably will go north anyway!