Boat Insurance

[TabbyCat]

iiii,
See the attached print screen from my Progressive log in. I ran it with a Florida mooring. Is it possible that someone did not disclose that your vessel is over 35' long? Could be really interesting if you have a claim.35'.doc

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by TabbyCat

Tomperanteau,
Progressive is a good A- rated company. Unfortunately they will not insure vessels over 35' long, and FloFar is purchasing a 37' vessel.

There is a disconnect somewhere. Here is a cut and paste from the Progressive webpage: Watercraft Insurance: Watercraft Insurance Coverage - Progressive
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Look beyond your homeowners policy.

Your boat or personal watercraft may be too big or too expensive to be covered through a homeowners policy, which means you may need watercraft insurance to protect it. Progressive accepts boats up to 50 feet long and up to $250,000 in value, as well as personal watercraft up to 15 feet long and $27,000 in value. <<<<<<<<<<<

[iiii]

TabbyCat

Here's the declaration page for our policy dated May 8, 2009.

[TabbyCat]

iiii,
I asked the underwriter at Progressive what's going on, since I recieve that message about not allowing vessels over 35' all the time. I figured it always applied, but he says it actually goes by zipcode. They classify zipcodes as either coastal or non-coastal. In my test case, in the mooring location, I entered in the zip code for St Augustine - I see yours is for West Palm Beach. I don't see why they would consider you to be coastal in WPB and me to be non-coastal in St Augustine, so I sent him a follow up e-mail. There appear to be some errors in their zip code database. He's going to check into it. Thanks for letting me know.

[nautical62]

It's interesting how sometimes the insurability is not at all clear. I had one boat that the insurance company flip flopped 8 times about whether or not I could get a certain coverage before they finally wrote the policy. Very frustrating.

The other boats I've insured were all very straight forward.

[TabbyCat]

Here's what the underwriter at Progressive said about their rating system the 35' length:
"All inland boats are up to 50' and $250,000 in value. The coastal limitation is 35' and $175,000."

The zip code I used in my sample was for St Augustine, Florida. So they consider that to be coastal. Seems kind of backwards that coastal boats are only allowed to be a maximum of 35, but that explains why I keep getting declines for boats over 35'.

iiii- I have asked (without identifying your policy number or name) whether your zipcode is considered coastal or inland in their system, and also whether they go by mooring zip code or mailing zip code, since their system has a separate field for each of those.

So their intentions are clear, but their computer program might have some bad zip code data.

Best Regards,
Susan

[sarafina]

Cal 28 1967
Progressive
$101.00 annually

[scallywag]

BoatU.S.
1976 Allied Princess 36'
Approximately $2,500.00
Within 1/2 mile of the Atlantic on a barrier island

John

[night0wl]

I have found BoatUS and RLI (via Mariners General) to be the cheapest in my neck of the weekds. This is Fort Lauderdale.

$2000 for $130k coverage (vessel value) with $5000 hurricane/named storm deductible

[DaveOnCudjoe]

Given the restrictions of living in a hurricane area I have opted to be uninsured. I plan ahead for worse case scenarios. Over the last ten yrs insurance has become the bane of my existence and I've dropped all but fire and liability on my home. Analyse your risk and your ability to recover from loss and do the math. Dave

[sck5]

here's another vote for IMIS. They are an agent and will tell you the pros and cons of the different companies and policies. That is what I really want since I dont want to read the fine print from 10 different companies. Also, they know which companies are actually easy to get a payout from and which arent. That is really the crux of the matter. No matter how good a policy looks on paper, if they jerk you around and dont pay for a year or two when you really need it, what good are they?

[Tim Parker]

Hi Flo Far,

Congratulations on your boat purchase. There are many companies that can offer you a boat insurance but there are others companies as well that sells boat insurance right on the website. You can check policydog.com for that because they give you an instant quote on the website which you can compare with the price of what others quoted you. If you like the price then you can buy boat insurance online. They offer pretty good service.

Tim

Originally Posted by FloFar

Aye Mates, ...am about to purchase a S/B (37' cruiser) and am interested in information, horror stories, good stuff and the like about marine insurance/companies.

Anyone care to share their personal experiences both good and bad, cheap and expensive, and to whom???? would you recommend

Thanks,
FloFar