Who do you have your boat insured through?

[Mustang65fbk]

I purchased my house 5 years ago tomorrow actually, and have always had Traveler's Insurance for my home, cars and previous boats. Well... I called them up to insure my new to me 2004 GW 228 Seafarer and they said they'll only insure it for the purchase price of the vessel and not the agreed upon value of the vessel. The previous two boats I've owned were both 21' Arima's and the case was very different then. With those two boats, I told them the purchase price as well as what I thought the value of the boat/trailer/equipment was as well and never had an issue. The customer service rep said simply that they don't do that anymore, of which I think that's a bit insane since boat/home/car values differ incredibly throughout the country. Anyway, who do you have your boat insured through and who would you recommend? Or better yet, who wouldn't you recommend? I've seen or heard of more than a few on here with Boat US? Sounds like they're pretty decent to deal with? Thanks again and would love to hear your opinions as I definitely couldn't ever replace my boat in the event of a total loss for only $26.5k. Thanks!

 

[Blaugrana]

I have Boat US/ Geico. Been very happy with them and even pleasantly surprised as I was expecting by premium to go up given the communication they sent to everyone about a significant rate increase…Mine went down by a good amount.

No claims so far but they are willing to work with you to increase the value of your boat which is nice as we all update our older boats

 

[nuclear]

Geico

Had a claim with them after my old boat after it received damage while on a mooring, didn't have a problem with them processing the claim.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

I use progressive but haven't had any experience with claims or other insurers. They do allow a "stated value" which I use. It's at $35k from 2019 I'd need to pay $45k to get the same boat out here if I could find one.

 

[Don Davis]

My insurance company needed a recent survey before they would quote me insurance last year. I told them that I was only interested in the purchase/build value since it was a project boat. This is up in British Columbia, I guess they had too many scams in the past.

 

[Harrysea]

Progressive (through USAA)

 

[family affair]

Progressive. Free towing is a nice perk. Needed 2x in 10 years. Always with a new to me boat that hasn't been 100% debugged in year 1.

 

[Hookup1]

State Farm matched GEICO quote. All my insurances in one place.

Previous company Chubb had a hard layup and charged me extra for my Florida trip in the winter.

 

[Time Bandit]

I purchased my house 5 years ago tomorrow actually, and have always had Traveler's Insurance for my home, cars and previous boats. Well... I called them up to insure my new to me 2004 GW 228 Seafarer and they said they'll only insure it for the purchase price of the vessel and not the agreed upon value of the vessel. The previous two boats I've owned were both 21' Arima's and the case was very different then. With those two boats, I told them the purchase price as well as what I thought the value of the boat/trailer/equipment was as well and never had an issue. The customer service rep said simply that they don't do that anymore, of which I think that's a bit insane since boat/home/car values differ incredibly throughout the country. Anyway, who do you have your boat insured through and who would you recommend? Or better yet, who wouldn't you recommend? I've seen or heard of more than a few on here with Boat US? Sounds like they're pretty decent to deal with? Thanks again and would love to hear your opinions as I definitely couldn't ever replace my boat in the event of a total loss for only $26.5k. Thanks!

Boat us Geico

 

[Chris275]

I have used Boat US for all my boats for many years, including my old Albin 36 trawler and Grady 228 for quite some years. Got a letter from Boat US telling me about an "improvement" switch to Geico for their member plan and that rates could go up. Received a new quote from Geico for this year's premium and it really shot up. I had switched my 228 coverage to Progressive when USAA sent me to that firm. Got a much lower quote for exactly the same coverage, which even included towing coverage for the 228. I immediately cancelled my Boat US coverage for that boat last year. Kept the membership because I have good towing and trailer coverage from Boat US. So, I have now switched all my boat coverages to Progressive, and even reduced my motorhome coverage with Progressive recently.

I talked to Boat US not long ago and informed them why I did not go with Geico. I suspect they are losing a fair number of customers with the new rate schedule. I wonder if they will re-think their Geico premium costs. Progressive is also much more flexible on policy coverages than Geico is. I was able to keep the "east coast up to 75 miles offshore" coverage from Progressive with the basic premium. That premium is very reasonable, even for the new 275.

Geico keeps sending me letters wanting to do a quote, but when I talk to someone, it's the same overpriced premium. Won't go there again.

Hope you are having real fishing success with the old 228. I still miss it.

 

[JAdams1]

Amica

 

[Ky Grady]

Boat US/Geico here too. Had it since day one when I purchased the boat in '17. Haven't looked into USAA/Progressive yet, may have to give them a call. My current insurance renews in April.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I use progressive but haven't had any experience with claims or other insurers. They do allow a "stated value" which I use. It's at $35k from 2019 I'd need to pay $45k to get the same boat out here if I could find one.

I think I'll give Progressive a shot... I've been needing to switch my home and auto insurance over to them anyway as they're slightly cheaper than Traveler's from what I've found. Thanks for the recommendation! And yes, I know you wouldn't be about to find a boat like yours or mine on the west coast for less than $35k. I actually saw a boat similar to mine on Craigslist that was also a 2004 GW 228 Seafarer and also had a 2004 Yamaha 225 hp outboard on it with less than 1k hours. It had a nice kicker motor and nicer/newer Garmin electronics with radar but they were asking $55k for it. And since the ad has been deleted from Craigslist, I'm assuming that means it must've sold.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I have used Boat US for all my boats for many years, including my old Albin 36 trawler and Grady 228 for quite some years. Got a letter from Boat US telling me about an "improvement" switch to Geico for their member plan and that rates could go up. Received a new quote from Geico for this year's premium and it really shot up. I had switched my 228 coverage to Progressive when USAA sent me to that firm. Got a much lower quote for exactly the same coverage, which even included towing coverage for the 228. I immediately cancelled my Boat US coverage for that boat last year. Kept the membership because I have good towing and trailer coverage from Boat US. So, I have now switched all my boat coverages to Progressive, and even reduced my motorhome coverage with Progressive recently.

I talked to Boat US not long ago and informed them why I did not go with Geico. I suspect they are losing a fair number of customers with the new rate schedule. I wonder if they will re-think their Geico premium costs. Progressive is also much more flexible on policy coverages than Geico is. I was able to keep the "east coast up to 75 miles offshore" coverage from Progressive with the basic premium. That premium is very reasonable, even for the new 275.

Geico keeps sending me letters wanting to do a quote, but when I talk to someone, it's the same overpriced premium. Won't go there again.

Hope you are having real fishing success with the old 228. I still miss it.

Thanks Chris! I'll look into Progressive as I've heard quite a few good things about them and I should stop being lazy and switch over my insurance on my home/auto to them as well. Just put her in the water for the first time yesterday after adding downriggers and tried to do some fishing. There were 20+ mph winds as well as 5'+ rolling swells and only caught some small shakers. Combined with the rain, we were only out for a couple of hours but the boat did fantastic and while the conditions weren't exactly optimal, the ride was actually quite nice for the conditions and definitely an improvement over the 21' Arima that I'd had previously. I'll try and post a picture or two when I get a chance!

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Boat US/Geico here too. Had it since day one when I purchased the boat in '17. Haven't looked into USAA/Progressive yet, may have to give them a call. My current insurance renews in April.

I thought that initially about insurance companies and not being able to change over your policy to another company until your current one expires. I guess though that it's kind of like a pro-rated policy in that if you have insurance on your boat through Boat US for let's say $500 a year... if you only use it for 6 months before you change to say Progressive, then you get a check for $250 back as you paid for a year membership but only used it for 6 months. That was definitely peace of mind to hear for me and makes me a bit more "aggressive" about searching for "the right" insurance company and not feeling like I'm stuck with one that I'm not happy with or paying too much money with.

 

[seasick]

I research insurance every now and then. For me, Progressive. Their rates have increased a decent amount since Sandy and the more recent hurricanes but have always been a lot less costly that Boat US quotes.
I had only one claim, that being after Sandy and it was handled quickly and professionally.

 

[ECO]

Marine Underwriters, provides protection and towing up to 200 miles offshore, the best the others offered were 75, and if you ask 125. As we run 150 to 175 miles, we wanted to be sure we were insured. Received from GEICO and USAA, and the were $200 less but had slightly less coverage.

 

[Byram]

Allstate

 

[Father's Day]

I purchased my house 5 years ago tomorrow actually, and have always had Traveler's Insurance for my home, cars and previous boats. Well... I called them up to insure my new to me 2004 GW 228 Seafarer and they said they'll only insure it for the purchase price of the vessel and not the agreed upon value of the vessel. The previous two boats I've owned were both 21' Arima's and the case was very different then. With those two boats, I told them the purchase price as well as what I thought the value of the boat/trailer/equipment was as well and never had an issue. The customer service rep said simply that they don't do that anymore, of which I think that's a bit insane since boat/home/car values differ incredibly throughout the country. Anyway, who do you have your boat insured through and who would you recommend? Or better yet, who wouldn't you recommend? I've seen or heard of more than a few on here with Boat US? Sounds like they're pretty decent to deal with? Thanks again and would love to hear your opinions as I definitely couldn't ever replace my boat in the event of a total loss for only $26.5k. Thanks!

 

[Father's Day]

Geico owns Boat US so I get free premium towing package included with my policy ($3000)per incident , most of my friends are paying $170 a year for the same package works for me