Do you guys really have insurance???

[starfish62]

We live in South Florida and while I have insurance on the condo, kids, cars, health.... we have never had insurance on the boat. It is unaffordable, in my opionon. Excuse me, IMHO. Even with hurricanes an every year problem we put our money into making sure we have the safest most secure mooring known to man. Three 7 foot helix anchors and heavy stainless chain and hope no one else hits us. We still feel that at appr. $6,000 a year we can do a lot of repairs with the insurance money. Rover made it 5 years and from here to Australia without insurance and we doubled our outlay money when we sold her. Yet I keep hearing on this board about insurance. Is there somewhere cheaper than I have seen?

[avazquez]

We pay around $1,500.00 a year but it covers only Puerto Rico and the BVI's.

[starfish62]

None. I repeat, none, of the cruisers we met in the South Pacific had insurance on the boat. Even the well heeled ones.

[Sunspot Baby]

We have insurance including US off shore and Bahamas. It is about 1.2% of the insured value premium per year. Even if I didn't have coverage on the boat itself, I think I would carry liability. Deductible on a named wind storm is pretty high, about 5% of value.

I am in NC and since this is a fairly high hurricane risk area already, I am not excluded from Florida and other high risk states in season.

When my dinghy was stolen, the insurance pay out was about the same as my premium so I about broke even this year.

When we go further afield, we may have to go self insured except liability.

George

[Ex-Calif]

We have 50k smooth lilability per event as minimum required by Singapore law. It is a very non-litigous society with none of the baloney that goes on in the US. In any case I have no assets here other than my clothes so a judgement above insurance cover would be hard to collect.

I decided a while back that toys are paid for in cash and are self insured. I break it I lose it.

[Vasco]

Yes, I have insurance. Our yacht club requires at least 1 million liability. In addition I have found most reputable boatyards will not haul a boat without proof of insurance.

[jackiepitts]

We carry full coverage on our big boat and that runs about $2,200 here in California. Our small boat is covered with Liability only 300,000/500,000 which is required by the Marina and that runs us about $350.00 per year. Although it would hurt to loose our small boat it would be devistating to loose our big boat since we have quite a bit of money invested in it. We do not owe money on the big boat so the decision to carry full coverage is ours alone. I am already checking into what it will cost when we start cruising to keep full coverage on the big boat. Although from what I understand the price that we pay now will almost triple it will be budgeted into our cruising costs.
Fair winds and following seas,
Jackie

[markpj23]

Full coverage with no hurricane exclusion, Gulf Coast waters including Florida costs us $3,900 / year or roughly 2% of appraisal value. Our search found other cheaper policies but excluded named storm coverage and other things important to us. BoatUS surprisingly was outrageous at 5% of value...

"Shop around" applies to insurance like perhaps no other item you'll spend boating dollars on.

[TAREUA]

Shop around is exactly right. I only have insurance because my marinia requires it. I was getting frustrated at the high rates too, when I finally thought to call my regular insurance agent who insured my house and cars. In my case it was State Farm, but it shouldn't make any difference. They have access to pretty much any underwriter, and I had $450 boat insurance in a matter of two days.

[Tropic Cat]

self insured. When I call for insurance prices, they hang up the phone

Rick in Florida

[ssullivan]

Wow! Rates seem to vary dramtically. I pay approx $500 per year on a $100K+ policy on a 1987 45' sailboat. I got a lot of discounts due to my marine credentials, but still... I think some shopping around is certainly in order.

[jackiepitts]

From what I understand the full coverage rates are a certain percentage (depending on your area) of the agreed value of the boat. Many insurance companies (including ours for the big boat) run a credit report on there insured and the rates will change depending on your credit rating. The logic in that really escapes me but I have first hand knowledge that this is true.
There is a hugh difference in liability only insurance and full coverage. Progressive covers our small boat for liability only. They will not do full coverage on our big boat so we are covered through Zurich for her and the policy is a "agreed value" policy which from what I understand is different than a "appraised value" policy. Our car/house insurance company will not touch either boat due to the age of the boats.

[camaraderie]

If you can't AFFORD to lose your boat you need to find a way to AFFORD insurance. I was sure glad I had it when Ivan hit us in Grenada....before that all I did was complain about the premium. Many of our friends there are now back working and without a boat...not by choice.

[Harriet]

As full time liveaboards with no land-based dwelling, insurance for our boat is essential. We could not afford to replace the boat without it. Is it pricey? Perhaps. However, it is pocket change compared to what we would face in a total loss.
Rates are primarily a function of how and where (and to some extent when) you use your boat. Since we keep our boat out of the "hurricane box" during hurricane season, we keep our costs down.
While insurance gives us peace of mind, especially knowing the kind of service I get from my insurer and my broker, it may not be the right solution for everyone. You have to balance the costs and your ability to absorb the risk of loss.

[dana-tenacity]

When I discovered the cost of ins for a full time offshore cruiser I went and bought the biggest anchor I could fit on the boat instead. The one time I used it , it was waaaay better than an insurance policy (I'm still here).
Having the confidence to sail without ins it now annoys me when places (yards, marinas, countries) demand it. Just part of the dumbing down of the cruising fleet.