Boat insurance questions

[yelmrap]

So I had a mishap with a submerged log and my outdrive back in August:facepalm:. Long story short (first time owner running a lake I wasn?t familiar with) I decided to do a claim on the outdrive.
I also decided to have the work done at the dealer since they worked up the estimate. Insurance company covered the repair. Boat background 1991 glasstream 180SE 4.3L. I only pad 4k and the claim was around 3k. First I was surprised that the insurance company paid out without totaling the boat. Well I just received the notice of insurance cancelation effective the end of Oct.
Of course being Sunday I can?t get a hold of my actual agent (of 15 years for home, life and auto) to ask questions.
What makes me second guess my decision about going ahead with claim is that I could have of bought a reman lower half for the fraction of the inflated dealer cost and did this myself out of pocket. What justified the decision at the time was deductable was $250.

I?m wondering if this the way boat insurance works on older boats, insurance company reluctant to total, but by cancelling the policy is there was of saying we will not pay out on the unit in future.
I?m assuming now since this boat has a claim of that value no other insurance company will touch it with a ten foot pole.
Like a stated above I haven?t called in insurance agent yet, but I?m assuming I should be able to get liability insurance at the very least.
Thanks for opinion

 

[emoney]

Re: Boat insurance questions

Sounds like the Insurance Company realized that they probably should've totaled it and then cancelled, since that's a common MO it seems. I would imagine their "total loss" percentage must be 75% and they rounded down instead of up. Not knowing who the insurance company is, my thought would be they didn't really want to insure it to start with. I'm sure you can get coverage from somewhere else.

Either way, I still think you did the right thing. In reality, they're the ones making the wrong decision at this point, since this policy is now guaranteed to be one for the "loss" column, since they won't be collecting future premiums. Not sure who's making the calls there, but just goes to show another example of "corporate ignorance". At least IMHO. Try getting a quote at BoatUS. I've been very pleased with their on-water-towing service and this year they included trailering insurance in my normal annual premium.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Boat insurance questions

No idea what your policy coverage is, so noone can answer whether it should have been a total loss or not.

But you answered your own question regarding cancellation, when you point out that for less than 1/2 the claim you had them to pay, you could have done the reapir yourself. If I charged you over 2 times more than Jiffy Lube to change your oil, would you ever come back to me? Of course not. Well, your insurance company just paid about as much as your boat was worth to fix it once (their mistake), they aren't about to pay for it again.

You are exactly wrong about this statement " I’m assuming now since this boat has a claim of that value no other insurance company will touch it with a ten foot pole. " If it was repaired properly, it's worth exactly what it was prior to your loss. That's what insurance is for. So you should still be able to, and want to insure it for physical damage. But as you also now know, short of it sinking or burning up, you can repair it yourself for not a ton of money, so maybe you shouldn't have physical damage coverage.

(10 years as a insurance industry auto damage appraiser.)

 

[Pez Vela]

Re: Boat insurance questions

Maybe it's not the boat, maybe it's you. Insurance for older boats is problematic, moreso for owners with a significant claims history. Perhaps the insurer thought that the nature of your accident demonstrated that you presented them with a higher degree of risk than they wished to assume. I would ask these questions when you make your inquiries.

 

[yelmrap]

Re: Boat insurance questions

Maybe it's not the boat, maybe it's you. Insurance for older boats is problematic, moreso for owners with a significant claims history. Perhaps the insurer thought that the nature of your accident demonstrated that you presented them with a higher degree of risk than they wished to assume. I would ask these questions when you make your inquiries.

I have had insurance with SF for 15 years. Multiple cars, snowmobiles and trailers along with home owners and life policies. The only claim ever was in 2005 for hail damage on a vehicle and the home.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Boat insurance questions

Maybe it's not the boat, maybe it's you. Insurance for older boats is problematic, moreso for owners with a significant claims history. Perhaps the insurer thought that the nature of your accident demonstrated that you presented them with a higher degree of risk than they wished to assume. I would ask these questions when you make your inquiries.

having worked in insurance for quite a few years, that is my thought also. Its very likely they are just scared of insuring you now that you more or less totaled a boat out after the first year of ownership. They may not insure ANY boat from you anymore, at least without a couple years experience first. Yes, they are basically saying they lost money on you, and there is no chance of getting it back on boat insurance by cancelling it. Their statistics also say that you would cost them more money if you stayed on as a policy holder, so the cheapest thing for them to do is cancel.

If that is true though, I'd be somewhat surprised given your claims history. That usually plays a huge part in decisions like this, at least it did where I worked.

 

[yelmrap]

Re: Boat insurance questions

If that is true though, I'd be somewhat surprised given your claims history. That usually plays a huge part in decisions like this, at least it did where I worked.[/QUOTE]

Why would I not tell the truth about my claims history? This is why I'm here asking opinions. The cancellation came to a surprise to me because I have never been canceled ever.

 

[truckermatt]

Re: Boat insurance questions

on a related note, Progressive paid 2K for my claim on my 1990 boat when I hit bottom... And on the renewal I got a discount also.

Was the State farm policy a separate boat policy? or was it attached to home owners.?

 

[yelmrap]

Re: Boat insurance questions

on a related note, Progressive paid 2K for my claim on my 1990 boat when I hit bottom... And on the renewal I got a discount also.

Was the State farm policy a separate boat policy? or was it attached to home owners.?

The policy was separate.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Boat insurance questions

I would wait and talk to the agent, and may be cancel him. Their thousands of agents that want your business.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Boat insurance questions

I have had insurance with SF for 15 years. Multiple cars, snowmobiles and trailers along with home owners and life policies. The only claim ever was in 2005 for hail damage on a vehicle and the home.

So you've had 3 claims in 7 years now. And the boat claim was within the first year of ownership. I'll also guess that all three claims were pretty high dollar, especially the homeowner's claim. Then your boat claim (which is a "chargeable" claim) was $3000. The writing was on the wall my friend.

But so what? You've got a repaired boat (and house and car). Go insure it with someone else. As pointed out, there might be PLENTY of agents/companies that want your business. While you're having boat insurance quotes, take your "Declarations Page" from your homeowner's and auto policies (black out the premium $$$ charged) and have them quote that too. You might be surprised.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Boat insurance questions

Why would I not tell the truth about my claims history? This is why I'm here asking opinions. The cancellation came to a surprise to me because I have never been canceled ever.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, mis-worded... My comment was questioning the fact if that is why they cancelled you, wasn't doubting your claim record. Right now we are all just speculating as to why the insurance company did that, and even though its plausible, I have a hard time believing the company would cancel for a single claim.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Boat insurance questions

...I have a hard time believing the company would cancel for a single claim.

They didn't. He's had 3 claims in 7 years. And this one was chargeable, and in the first year of ownership. Plus they paid out nearly the whole value of the boat (their mistake). Sounds like an acuary (spelling?) crunched the numbers.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Boat insurance questions

They didn't. He's had 3 claims in 7 years. And this one was chargeable, and in the first year of ownership. Plus they paid out nearly the whole value of the boat (their mistake). Sounds like an acuary (spelling?) crunched the numbers.

I only counted two. Did I miscount?

 

[Another retired guy]

Re: Boat insurance questions

I only counted two. Did I miscount?

Car plus house (hail damage) plus boat.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Boat insurance questions

I only counted two. Did I miscount?

Yes, you did, Mr. Coop. :facepalm:
1) Hail damage to car
2) Hail damage to house
3) Lower unit of boat vs submerged log.

(Actually, I had to go back and figure it out, so you are not alone! )

 

[r.j.dawg]

Re: Boat insurance questions

Last August, while exiting a lock, we struck something underwater with our Chaparral 240. (we had only owned the boat for 4 months) We called the insurance and they sent out a surveyor who confirmed that the drive (Bravo III) needed to be replaced along with the engine coupler. Total cost just a hair over 11K. We sold the boat this spring when we bought our current boat and the insurance company never batted an eye.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Boat insurance questions

...sent out a surveyor who confirmed that the drive (Bravo III) needed to be replaced along with the engine coupler. Total cost just a hair over 11K. We sold the boat this spring when we bought our current boat and the insurance company never batted an eye.

And that right there is why insurance costs so much, everybody. A Bravo 3 can be bought easily on e-bay for $5300. A coupler is what, another $300? At $100/hr labore, you're trying to tell me that there was 60 hours of labor? Hogwash. Your company got shafted. And the rest of us are too.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Boat insurance questions

Yes, you did, Mr. Coop. :facepalm:
1) Hail damage to car
2) Hail damage to house
3) Lower unit of boat vs submerged log.

(Actually, I had to go back and figure it out, so you are not alone! )

What can I say? Math was never my strong suit. Guess that's why I ended up in finance.:facepalm:

 

[jbetzelb]

Re: Boat insurance questions

You might ask your agent if they are going to cancel the rest of your policies as they come due. You might get the same letter for the car and the house when they get close to their next billing cycle.