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Who insures your boat? What are you paying?

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bankerii

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Greetings all. I am a new owner of a Bennington 2275 RCW with 250hp. I'm having a heck of a time with insurance. I have owned many boats over the years (pontoons, Seadoo's, ski boats, Fishing Boats).

I about fell out of my chair when Allstate sent me the insurance quote for my new Bennington. It was $900 per year. I had my $60,000 fishing boat with 250hp that would do 70mph insured for about half that amount.

Today, out of the blue, I get a letter in the mail from Allstate indicating that they have cancelled my policy because they believe my boat will exceed 75mph. I went out to the progressive site and got a quote and it was $1,200 per year.

Anybody else having this problem with insuring their Bennington? I'm at a loss here, I have owned more expensive and much more dangerous boats and never seen quotes anywhere near these.
 
Wow, makes me glad I bought a used boat with a little 50 on it. We attached the boat to our Farmers homeowner's insurance (liability only) for $15.00 per year. The boat isn't covered for replacement value but we don't have that much invested in it anyways.
 
Happy to report I just went to the Boat US site and purchased a policy with superior coverage inclusive of stated value, depreciation waiver and very low electronics deductible for $450. I have no idea what the problem is with Allstate and Progressive, but I am very happy that I checked with BoatUS.
 
We have had Erie Insurance group for almost 28 years. We have had all types of insurance through them.......our House, 5 cars, a motorcycle, 2 jet skis and of course our Bennington...........our full coverage premium is a whopping $231 a year for our toon.............
 
Obviously the Allstate underwriter was not marine capable. Any attempt to overcharge should result in taking all insurance policies elsewhere. Have you tried to get your Allstate agent to mediate with the underwriter? I know you wish it'd run 75+ mph, but that doesn't count.

The internet makes shopping for marine insurance very easy--and many companies will compete for your business. I make it a priority to keep a high FICO score, and I try to change insurance companies every 3-4 years on auto, homeowner's, RV and marine insurance. All companies seem to start at very low prices, but premiums increase yearly even though the cars and boats are depreciating. My change to Met Life saved $1,200 last year on cars and homeowners' policies.

I went with Progressive on my Waverunner as I was able to sign up in the middle of the night--quick and easy. Adding my Bennington 24SSLX with Yamaha 150 hp and trailer was about $270 per year. We hear nice things about U.S. Boat on the internet.
 
We have Allstate on house/cars. I added the Bennington for $200/year. This was an "agreed value" full-replacement policy with no depreciation on total loss. But, after comparing the details (read the policies!) I switched the boat over to BoatUS, and now pay about $380/year.

I doubled my cost making the move, but I feel the coverage is much better. For example, if you cause an oil slick due to a wreck, Allstate will pay $100. Yes, that's $100. I thought my agent really meant 100%, so I double checked. Nope, $100. BoatUS gives you $850,000 coverage. Almost all the other coverages are better too (medical, etc). It is also an "agreed value" policy like my Allstate was. But, it also has no-depreciation on partial loss, which Allstate does not have. In other words, if you ALMOST total your boat, and the insurance company decides to fix it instead of totaling it and replacing it, even with the "agreed value" policy at Allstate, they would depreciate the boat on the partial loss (means you pay a LOTof $ to fix it). The BoatUS policy I have does not depreciate on either full loss or partial loss. You have to get the premium BoatUS policy for this. If you want to pay less, you can skip the adder.

There are a lot of other services BoatUS provides both with and without a crash that Allstate does not provide.

I still have Allstate on everything else, but I am happy moving the boat over to BoatUS.
 
Nodak mutual Farm Bureau, full coverage 250 deductable for $500/year.
 
Farm Bureau @ $500 per year is pretty tough.

If you really consider that many boats are only run 50 hours a year or less, marine insurance is actually very expensive. I would think that boating claims are relatively low in frequency, but that claims are pretty expensive when they happen. Most people are especially under insured when it comes to liability and property damage coverages--on all their cars, boats, homeowners.

Maybe I'll be looking into a blanket liability policy next renewal.
 
Bamaman said:
Farm Bureau @ $500 per year is pretty tough.
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Tough to swallow or tough to beat?

It is a bit higher due to having a low 250 deductible if I would jump the deductible up to 500 or more it would drop the premiums quite a bit. But considering the vale of the vehicle it is covering I don't think it is too bad.

I just looked and the last bill was 233 semi annual.
 
I have Allied and it is $269/year for coverage on my 2012 QCW with a 250 Yamaha.

Jack
 
I use Al Banker, an independent agent that shops around. Our deal was about $330 for our 2012 GCW w/Yama 150. I agree w/Bama, boat insurance is high for the risk. If you trailer it, I think your car insurance covers anything that could happen on the road.

My experience with insurance is to not get wrapped up with who provides it. Shop it every couple years and go with the cheapest. In the end, insurance is like taxes, you have to pay for it and you might as well do what you can to reduce the expense if possible.

Also, your dealer can likley provide a name for someone they use for sales of new boats. When I shopped them it was about the same as Al Banker, but I went with Al because we had some other business there. Good luck and we hope to see more of you on the forum.
 
USAA with everything I own and they ran me through to Progressive - $250 approx for the 2004 2275 with 130 on the back.

Agreed value deal as well.
 
Boat US.

2012 Bennington 22 with 150 Yamaha.

Agreed upon value 45K. 300K liability etc.

Safe driver, never a boat claim.

$179 per year. We are in TN.

This my 4th or 5th boat with Boat US.
 
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princefan319 said:
My experience with insurance is to not get wrapped up with who provides it. Shop it every couple years and go with the cheapest. In the end, insurance is like taxes, you have to pay for it and you might as well do what you can to reduce the expense if possible.
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A hail storm went through a couple years ago. 2.5" stones. My wife was home, and after it was over, she went out and collected a bowl full and put them in the freezer for me to see when I got home. They were huge! Every piece of siding on the west end of our house was broken. No more than 3-4 feet between holes. Shingles were destroyed. Fortunately, none of our skylights broke. Every house for miles was in the same condition. Car dealers lost their entire stock. Allstate came through for me with new siding and a new roof. A neighbor a few houses away was denied. He had every bit as much damage is I did. We're talking very obvious holes the size of golf balls missing from the siding, and they denied him his claim. I couldn't believe it.

When we got our roofing estimates, I asked the roofer how the insurance companies were treating people. He didn't want to say anything bad about any of them, so I worded it this way: "If you were buying insurance today, which companies would you avoid?" There was one company in particular that he was VERY emphatic about NOT getting a quote from when I asked the question that way. Turned out it was the same company as the guy down the street. They were flat out denying everyone, even though the damage was obvious.

I learned that day that picking the right company is more important than what you pay for the coverage.

Just my experience.
 
One of the great advantages to buying a policy from BoatUS is the Fuel and Other Spill Liability coverage. If you ever have an accident that requires environmental cleanup, this coverage will be invaluable. Also, BoatUS deals ONLY in boat insurance - no one is more experienced in dealing with marine-related insurance issues, and they have a stellar reputation for excellent customer service.
 
2013 22SFFX 70 Yamaha and Karavan Trailer

Seaworthy Insurance: full replacement cost, full fuel and spill, deluxe policy: $444.00
 
I've had State Farm for pretty much everything for almost 40 years. We have a terrific agent and excellent service despite a couple of difficult situations. It was great to have him to at least talk with and they've taken great care of us.

When we bought the new Bennington I got their quote and then compared coverages with Boat US. It was very clear that Boat US offered a better policy with agreed value coverage (stated value, no depreciation), spill liability, and upgraded personal contents, medical, etc. My SF agent reviewed it and agreed it was a better option, for slightly less cost ~$490 for loaded 2275RCW, trailer, Merc 250hp outboard. Boat US was very easy to deal with and put me in touch directly with the underwriter who easily adjusted some of the coverages for my specific needs. Time will tell, but I'm happy with how the handled it up front and hopefully I don't need to use them.
 
I have our insured with our homeowners policy. We just bought a new 2375 GCW 150 and the policy was reasonable. I want to say about 450 a year. We are in Wisconsin thought and we have a pretty short season. You might look into adding it to your policy
 
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