Who do you have your boat insured through?

[g0tagrip]

Allstate.........beat Geico/BoatUS & USAA. Used to have Marine Underwriters but they jacked the cost every year, had to change.

 

[max366]

I researched this heavily for my '04 265 Express. I was with Charter Lakes but Markel increased the premium by 20%. I got quotes from
Markel
Amica
Progressive
Geico
Marine underwriters
Sea Insure, part of Sea Tow
Wound up with Sea Insure because of Agreed value, low(est) premium, hurricane haul out, and good deductible. I didn't need the towing policy but even with that, they came out on top. Progressive and Geico were way high, BTW.

 

[alan burack]

I have a 1995 Grady 20' Adventure. I insure with Foremost Insurance. They have given me the lowest rate and most coverage. The price was much cheaper than Geico until this year when Foremost went up considerably because boat was over 25 years old.

Foremost was still less than Geico and I could insure for what I felt was true value. Geico had a predetermined price.

 

[JJF]

SeaInsure (think SeaTow)

Agreed Value

 

[alan burack]

Yes.

 

[family affair]

Shame on me for not doing my due diligence, but reading this thread got me thinking. Some industries use terminology that logically seems to mean one thing, when in fact it means something else. I have assumed agreed value means what the asset is valued at if a claim is made. If for instance a boat, engines, trailer have an agreed value of $50k and is totaled, I assume the insurance company will pay out $50k.? However, does that give the owner any right to make a claim to the totaled assets? In other words, the insurance company declares the package totaled, can the owner on their own dime salvage components to offset the loss? Or does the insurance company make claim to the package and it can't be touched by the owner? I hope it never happens, but I'm wondering if I should change how much coverage I should have.

 

[Blaugrana]

FamilyAffair - Based on what I learned, you’ll need to find some quiet time and review all of the quotes when you receive them. I learned that each company assesses the value differently, some go with agreed value vs cash value vs replacement value. It’s frustrating as you think you are comparing apples to appples because the amounts match but they are in actuality different.

Also, I think hull and engine are assessed separate from trailer. Can you part out? Depends as I’m pretty sure if they consider the boat totaled, the agency will come and pick it up as they’ve done with my car during Sandy. It then ends up parted out or auctioned off. You could remove some items I’m sure as they won’t know but I doubt removing an engine would go unnoticed.

 

[seasick]

It's pretty much standard that if the vessel is decaled a total loss and you take the payment, the insurance company owns the boat. This is the same as it would be with a automobile. You can't have your cake and eat it too! ( Actually that adage should be " You can't eat your cake and have it to")
Agreed upon value is the max payment for a total loss. You can and I do adjust my agreed upon value every now and then to be realistic with respect to my boats value. Although it may ne tempting to request a higher value than the market is, you pay for that in higher premiums.
Of course in todays market, your original value may be less than the boat is worth. Same goes for cases where major improvements like repowers are made.

 

[family affair]

"Although it may be tempting to request a higher value than the market is, you pay for that in higher premiums."
Right. Considering I have never had a claim, I'm not one to throw money at a low probability "what if" occurance. I look at it as the $ I save by having a slightly lower replacement value is worth the little risk if me ever making a claim.
This brings me back to the unlikely event of a total. How common is it for the insurance company to let you buy back the totaled assets?

 

[Mustang65fbk]

My uncle had a previous boat, it was I believe a 1993 Bayliner 26' boat that he had insured through Allstate. I'm not too familiar with insurance terms but he didn't have an "agreed on value", he had I believe a "fair market value" or whatever it's called. Anyway, we have a beach cabin on Whidbey Island with a mooring buoy in front of our cabin, of which one day we had a really bad storm and 60-70 mph winds. The chain on the buoy broke off and the boat drifted down the beach until it beached itself on the sand several miles away. I walked/drove after the boat, anchored it up so it wouldn't go anywhere and later on the next day when the tide was high, we got in the boat and took it back to the dry storage area where he typically stored his boat. I don't know if he ever had the boat inspected after that but a week or two later we put it back out on the buoy and then a couple days later it sunk completely and was a total loss. I can't imagine that being on a flat, smooth sandy beach for a day or two would've put a crack in the hull or damaged it but yeah.

The insurance company jerked him around and said "we'll give you $8k for the boat because we found a similar one in Louisiana", even though he was paying the premium on a $35k policy... and even though the boat they found that was "similar" wasn't even close to being similar. Long story short, he went back and forth with them several times and finally settled I think in the low to mid $20k's, even though he was paying the premiums on a $35k insurance policy and even though he probably had at least $35k into the boat, including purchase price. Allstate basically said take us to court if you're not happy but since then I've become a bit anal on insurance and if it's $500 a year as opposed to $350 for a policy, then I'll pay the extra $150 a year. He also got the boat back from the insurance company as I guess they didn't want to get rid of it, and so we sold it to a local guy I think for $3500 iirc. Frustrating that all insurance companies seem to act differently and some do more than a couple of shady things that make you a bit on the suspicious side when dealing with them. I guess the bottom line is that no one expects to need to file a claim or have a total loss until it actually happens to you, and then you'll very much wish you had a good insurance company with a great policy. Just my 2 cents of course.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I just transferred my auto/home/boat policies over to Progressive from Traveler's and it was fairly quick and relatively painless. I'm spending less than $100 more on my home insurance policy with Progressive but am saving $400 a year switching my auto insurance policy over to them. Which pays for the slight increase in my home policy and even the difference in my boat policies between the two companies. Before when I had Traveler's, they'd only insure my boat for the purchase price and it was around $315 for the year. Now with Progressive, I have an agreed upon price of $45k with the trailer as well as towing, $1k for fishing equipment, electronics and so on. I think my boat policy with Progressive is just under $550 a year and either way, the $400 a year or so that I save with Progressive helps offset the price differences between insurance companies to where I still save money from switching over, and even get better insurance coverage. Shop around and see who has the best rates, best coverage, towing and so on. I was shocked to find that I saved $400 a year with Progressive just on my automobile policy and will pay for the added home/boat policies and even keep a few bucks left in my wallet.

 

[PointedRose]

With Geico I have agreed upon value, then when I got my second boat they asked if I wanted personal items coverage, I didn’t even know that was an option initially, but I got I think $8k of coverage on things like a cell phone or whatever if the boat sank with personal property on board. They also told me the engine after 20 years was essentially worth nil, so if I were to hit a submerged log or something and engine was damaged they wouldn’t be paying out. Worth making sure to read the policy details and shop around.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Definitely. I checked with Geico as well as a few other places on an auto policy quote and Progressive had pretty much the best rates out there for it. I figured with Progressive having more than a couple decent recommendations above from Grady owners, as well as being one of the best out there for third party reviews, that I'd go with them. I guess I'll check and see how they are for the next season or two and then go from there. Hopefully their rates stay the same or similar and I don't need to make a claim. It was nice to get towing, both on the water and roadside, included in my policy and for not much more money.

 

[Micholetti]

Progressive for my boats. About 8 yrs ago I blew out the lower unit on a FL submerged sandstone rock in the Seahunt. The Progressive claims adjuster came by the marina, gave her a look over & approved a new lower unit/prop no questions asked. Vanishing deductible meant 100% covered. Personally I stay away from Geico, I've a friend who had low-ball hassles by their claims department.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Progressive for my boats. About 8 yrs ago I blew out the lower unit on a FL submerged sandstone rock in the Seahunt. The Progressive claims adjuster came by the marina, gave her a look over & approved a new lower unit/prop no questions asked. Vanishing deductible meant 100% covered. Personally I stay away from Geico, I've a friend who had low-ball hassles by their claims department.

I agree. I've heard of more than a couple that've had issues with Geico, State Farm, Allstate and others. I can't recall having heard of any family members, friends or anyone on a forum having any issue with Progressive.

 

[greauxpete]

Skisafe here

 

[Punchline Cap]

State Farm. I have our homeowners and automobile thru them so I get a discount on all three. I never really shopped around because our agent is a personal friend and when we have a claim his service is exemplary.

 

[magicalbill]

Boat US/Geico;

Plenty happy with them. No plans on shopping or switching.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Boat US/Geico;

Plenty happy with them. No plans on shopping or switching.

Ever filed a claim with them?

 

[Meanwhile]

Chubb. They just covered the cost of my transom rebuild after an email argument. My policy covered manufacturer defects.