Boat insurance?

THEFERMANATOR

THEFERMANATOR

God
Who do you guys have, have used, or heard about for boat insurance good, bad, or indifferent? I've never had a "NICE" boat before, and I'm a little leary using it, let alone taking it places knowing I couldn't afford something to happen to it. So I've decided to break down and look into boat insurance and towing for my SUNDANCE. I'm just not able to do stuff like I used to, so I also plan on getting trailer coverage as the last thing I want is to be stuck on the side of the road, killing myself trying to fix a trailer. Should have got my seatow and trailer coverage at the recent fishing expo as my neighbor got both there for the cost of just the gold coverage, but I digress. I see though if you get SEATOW they have insurance they reccomend, and towboatus is the same, looking for input on there carriers as this is new territory for me.
 
I have two actually. I have my boat insured under my homeowners Insurance plan by Liberty Mutual, and I also have my boat insured by BoatUS. Plus I have Towing both on land and on the water insured by BoatUS also.
 
I was leaning towards seatow after reading into them a bit. Seatow says they will pay up $5K for towing if somebody else has to do it whereas boat us is $2500 for there regular or $3K for there gold. The other thing about boat us was when I did quotes, it said it would only cover me if I was inshore. I know it's only a skiff, but it is 20 feet long and 8 feet wide, so on calm days I may run out 10 miles to some near shore rocks or troll for kings, don't want to have problems if I do. Just asking though because I know how at face value sometimes plans can look good, but not actually be that good. Need to call my insurance office and ask how much it would cost to add it to it as well. I think they use progressive for there boat insurance. I just know if something happened to my boat, I'd be done for.
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
I was leaning towards seatow after reading into them a bit. Seatow says they will pay up $5K for towing if somebody else has to do it whereas boat us is $2500 for there regular or $3K for there gold. The other thing about boat us was when I did quotes, it said it would only cover me if I was inshore. I know it's only a skiff, but it is 20 feet long and 8 feet wide, so on calm days I may run out 10 miles to some near shore rocks or troll for kings, don't want to have problems if I do. Just asking though because I know how at face value sometimes plans can look good, but not actually be that good. Need to call my insurance office and ask how much it would cost to add it to it as well. I think they use progressive for there boat insurance. I just know if something happened to my boat, I'd be done for.
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I have BoatUS Gold, mostly because of the unlimited trailer towing if needed. The few extra dollars for the Gold are well worth it IMHO, It's a pretty good haul from where I launch to my house, and I'm not keen on paying hundreds in towing costs. My Liberty Mutual Ins. covers me for just about everything, since I have a $1,000,000 blanket on top of everything else. So BoatUS covers me for the water and towing and Liberty covers me for everything else on land.
 
For 25 years i never had boat insurance. After i got the new motor 2 years ago, i thought i might look into it. I got quotes from progressive, geico and boatus. Ending up going with boatus at $704 a year for $15000 worth of coverage. I also have boatus towing with trailering for $140 a year.
 
mawshj

my boat costs was covered by my homeowners but I had liability added as an extra in case, used Erie
 
Had USAA but BoatUS came in cheaper @ $309 for $11K loss + all the fuel spill liability, etc. Includes some towing but I also add on $120 for unlimited towing.

The towing is the killer. owned the boat for 16 years, never towed.
 
Was doing local reading and comparing who has more boats in my normal areas, and it's looking like boatus is the better one. I onow alot of people get there insurance through them as well. I never gave boat insurance a 2nd thought until the ladt hurricane went by so close to us. I was on pins and needles worried the pole barn I keep it in would come down in those wind gusts. Theres a big difference between having an old jon boat, and my current late model skiff(it's riduculous what skiff's cost now, but it was the best fit for us).
 
Ferm, I've got boatus,

On the 19 ft skiff I pay $171 per year for $10,000 agreed value with a $750 deductible.

On the V20 I pay $285 per year for $17,000 agreed value with a $750 deductible.

Both policies cover me in US and Canada inland and coastal waters.

Like Destroyer I have a $1,000,000 umbrella policy through my homeowners which includes the V20 as well.

I am also a towboat member for towing which covers any boat I am on for $172 per year which includes the trailer.

I used to be like you, and believe me, I hate dealing with insurance companies, especially those essentially owned by a salvage company, but want to get something if someone steals them or a tree falls across them. Boatus insurance now is run through geico.
 
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I have progressive. I think it's $370 for the year with towing and $10000 coverage. They paid right away when my boat was totaled in Sandy, so I can't complain. They just changed their towing policy to pay whoever tows you rather than a reimbursement policy. I have to contact them to find out more though. Im sick of paying seatow to not use it.
 
My big concern with towi,g coverage is I boat alot in the backwaters, and I don't think they could come get me if they wanted to. Not to mention where I put in is pretty well limited to flat bottom boats and airboats because of how shallow the river is. But I go out on bigger bodies of water with the family, so it wouldn't be completely useless. After reading what a few people have paid for in tow's, I don't want to chance it.
 
I realize im a little late on this thread but I just wanted to say no one mentioned the best part of having a boat insured with Boatus, it's having them come to get you when your on someone else's boat...any boat you borrow rent or what ever else you can think of . Love Boatus.. only time I ever used it was that exact situation I was on my son in laws boat and yep you guess'd it we ran out of gas .!!
 
My son-in-law is a Farmers agent and a boat guy - I think I'm paying about $100/ year for my mid 80's V-20. I don't recall the specifics of the coverage but I trust him to take care of me. We've been with Farmers since 1980 and had very good experience with their handling of our claims. They covered some construction equipment that was stolen in the 80's under my homeowners policy (even though it was in business use at the time) and didn't raise our rates during the few years our kids were developing their car destruction skills (to a pretty high level).
 
I have had BoatUS insurance for the over 25 years. I finally needed it for a short tow a few years back and the claims process was quick and painless. I can't recall who their carrier was at the time but BoatUS switched over to Geico last year. This year I had a claim on a damaged bimini top. What a PIA! Slow to process, horrible communications skills and tons of paperwork. I'm thinking about changing to a different carrier as I can just imagine the headache it would have been if it was a more substantial claim.

When searching for a policy, price is important of course but after my recent experience the quality of their claims handling is even more important IMO. If anyone can recommend anyone other than BoatUS/Geico for good claims handling, I'm all ears..

Skook - have you filed a claim with Farmers recently with good results?
 
jvitiel said:
When searching for a policy, price is important of course but after my recent experience the quality of their claims handling is even more important IMO. If anyone can recommend anyone other than BoatUS/Geico for good claims handling, I'm all ears..
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As previously stated, I have both Liberty Mutual and BoatUS. I use the BoatUS for any on the water or trailering claims, and Liberty Mutual for just about everything else. Back when Hurricane Irene came through we had a claim for damage to our home in the area of $90,000. They sent out an adjuster, he found some damage we had missed and the result was a claim for $98,000. Got the check 4 days later in the mail. Could not have been more painless. I'll stay with them till I die. Upped my coverage to a blanket policy that has a $1,000,000 limit,and it includes my home, my cars and my boats. Thinking about buying an airplane just so it can be covered also. :head:
 
Destroyer said:
As previously stated, I have both Liberty Mutual and BoatUS. I use the BoatUS for any on the water or trailering claims, and Liberty Mutual for just about everything else. Back when Hurricane Irene came through we had a claim for damage to our home in the area of $90,000. They sent out an adjuster, he found some damage we had missed and the result was a claim for $98,000. Got the check 4 days later in the mail. Could not have been more painless. I'll stay with them till I die. Upped my coverage to a blanket policy that has a $1,000,000 limit,and it includes my home, my cars and my boats. Thinking about buying an airplane just so it can be covered also. :head:
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Thanks D,

So what would the Liberty policy cover on your boat? Damage while sitting beside the house? I would like to get away from BoatUS for all of it - damage on the water, wet towing, trailering and storage. Is Liberty capable of covering all (most?) scenarios if you wanted?

I see that Striper80 got paid well after Sandy. I heard that Progressive was subject to a lot of complaints but that was years ago and in connection with auto - may be worth a look..
 
jvitiel said:
Thanks D,

So what would the Liberty policy cover on your boat? Damage while sitting beside the house? I would like to get away from BoatUS for all of it - damage on the water, wet towing, trailering and storage. Is Liberty capable of covering all (most?) scenarios if you wanted?
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Not to be vague, but your coverage all depends on what policy you get, and how much you are willing to pay for that policy. Since I have home and auto with Liberty my policy covers me for theft, if a tree falls on my boat at my house, or someone rear ends me while I'm towing.. and pretty much everything in between. It even covers me for towing, but if I ever have to have that service I'll use BoatUS for that for the unlimited towing (up to 100 miles) I have with them. I love the fact that in certain areas I have overlapping coverage from both companies. Yes, I pay a little more for that, but to me, the peace of mind is well worth it.
 
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