Boat insurance?

[THEFERMANATOR]

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).

[bradford]

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.

[Striper80]

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.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Striper80

Im sick of paying seatow to not use it.

Personally, I'd rather pay and not use it than have to use it... Just sayin'....

[THEFERMANATOR]

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.

[Striper80]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

Personally, I'd rather pay and not use it than have to use it... Just sayin'....

Me too. I probably could've worded that better. I was just saying that it's pretty expensive.

[wellcraftv20step]

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 .!!

[scook]

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).

[jvitiel]

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?

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by jvitiel

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..

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.