Insurance - It's that time

I know insurance has been talked about before. I looked through as many threads as I could before opening this one. I have some quotes that I will share. I am trying to compare apples to apples and I think I have some orange peals thrown in. My question is, after looking at these quotes, which one is best? I have never used any of these companies and would like to hear others thoughts on these companies as well as these quotes...

Have you looked at your company that you have your cars and homeowners policy with?

I use Boat US and am very happy with them. While I've never had a claim, they have a good reputation in that area as well as others.

Originally Posted by tyler97217

Have you looked at your company that you have your cars and homeowners policy with?

I have USAA for all of my other insurance, but they use Progressive for boat insurance.

Boat US only insures boats. They are good to have when things go wrong. I see you declined the freeze insurance where do you live.

BOAT U.S. is the only choice IMO. VERY reasonable rate (the best I found when shopping), about $400 plus all the extras of being a BOAT U.S. member. Declared value with a deductible of 10% of value.

I had a pretty big claim within about a month of starting coverage (smashed rock, pretty ugly). I can't say enough good things about the customer service and response time. I was back on the water in 3 weeks with most of the delay due to hunting for back-ordered parts. With all parts in stock it would have been 15 days probably. It only cost my $280 out of pocket for a $12k repair. They had a boat surveyor inspect the damage before the claim started and also inspect the repairs on completion. I got to choose where the work was done.

My rate went up maybe $50 the next year. Not to hate, but I can't see that level of service from progressive. Plus, look at all the extra coverage in the BOAT U.S. quote for Cole too. $25K medical payments per family members, god forbid but...

^ I'm remembering more on Boat US coverage (without looking it up). For each year that goes by without a claim, they reduce your deductible by 20% I believe. After 5 years with no claim, you have $0 deductible.

Because of this thread I just sent an online quote to Boat US. I have State Farm and think I'm paying too much. 2001 Sunsetter VLX, I think I insured it to 28k with the trailer. Married, multi-car, house, wife and I are both in our 30's and perfect driving records for 5+ years yet I'm paying $560ish/year.

Originally Posted by kmayotte

BOAT U.S. is the only choice IMO. VERY reasonable rate (the best I found when shopping), about $400 plus all the extras of being a BOAT U.S. member. Declared value with a deductible of 10% of value.

I had a pretty big claim within about a month of starting coverage (smashed rock, pretty ugly). I can't say enough good things about the customer service and response time. I was back on the water in 3 weeks with most of the delay due to hunting for back-ordered parts. With all parts in stock it would have been 15 days probably. It only cost my $280 out of pocket for a $12k repair. They had a boat surveyor inspect the damage before the claim started and also inspect the repairs on completion. I got to choose where the work was done.

My rate went up maybe $50 the next year. Not to hate, but I can't see that level of service from progressive. Plus, look at all the extra coverage in the BOAT U.S. quote for Cole too. $25K medical payments per family members, god forbid but...

His quote shows a 1% deductible. Is it actually 10%?

No my bad 1%.

do any of the insurers exclude coverage for foiling?

Originally Posted by mhunter

Boat US only insures boats. They are good to have when things go wrong. I see you declined the freeze insurance where do you live.

Phoenix, AZ.

Originally Posted by nitrousbird

Because of this thread I just sent an online quote to Boat US. I have State Farm and think I'm paying too much. 2001 Sunsetter VLX, I think I insured it to 28k with the trailer. Married, multi-car, house, wife and I are both in our 30's and perfect driving records for 5+ years yet I'm paying $560ish/year.

I got rid of State Farm a few years ago. They only raised my rates year after year and I never had a claim. I saved 50% by switching to USAA with all of my policies. I know USAA isn't available to all, but if you have it available, I highly suggest you look into it.

Originally Posted by ottog1979

^ I'm remembering more on Boat US coverage (without looking it up). For each year that goes by without a claim, they reduce your deductible by 20% I believe. After 5 years with no claim, you have $0 deductible.

I wasn't aware of that. I know Progressive said they have that program.

Don't forget Ski Safe. I just ran a quote on Tuesday for a 2012 X-2 and it came back at $329. Boat $68k trailer $7.5K

You said you have all your insurances through USAA, and that they use progressive for boat. If you have all your items ensured by one company you can get a big umbrella policy as well to protect you and your assets God forbid something major happens on the water and people end up suing you and your assets. Highly recommend getting one!

Originally Posted by shawndoggy

do any of the insurers exclude coverage for foiling?

I have no idea. I have never heard of anything like that. I don't know why it would matter what you are doing. You can get just as hurt riding in the boat as you can wakeboarding or foiling. Have you heard of insurance companies excluding other boating activities?

Boat U S looks like the best deal.I'm dumping State Farm after 30 years. I'm saving 200 a year on my boat alone.

Global Marine Insurance has coverage that has fewer exclusions for towed watersports than anyone else. This includes tournament use. As far as cost, I switched from Progressive and saved a bit on my 08 X2. State Farm, my company for home, auto, and umbrella, can't match the coverage terms that Global offers. Carefully check the exclusions, not just the numbers. The lawyers will...

I have had Boat US insurance for about 12 years on 3 boats and never made a claim and my rate goes up every year and then they ride your butt to spend another $50 on membership crap, I called last year and asked if I could get a better rate and they said no, so I think I will be shopping around this year, mine renews next month. I have the yacht policy with a declared 50K value on my Sanger and whatever the limits that were necessary for my umbrella policy and I think it is around $550, I think thats too much.

I have USAA and used the Progressive option through them and it's been good. That being said no claims (crossing my fingers)...

Went with the Boat US policy. Same price as my quote above. I did have a few problems when I went back onto their website though. When I looked again (after I logged on to my last quote), I selected a few other items just to see what the cost difference was, I couldn't go back to my original quote. I got different numbers depending on which option I selected. I had to select premier and then decline it to reset the package, then select sports package. Any other way I did it, I would get a higher price. Be careful if you use their website to order and make sure you try a few different options to see if the price goes down for the same options. Strange website glitch.

I just got my online quote for my boat.

The quote is $400/year less than what I pay with State Farm...that's a nice chunk of change. That said, they also decided to lower the value of my boat/trailer to a point that I couldn't buy an equal boat for the same money...if they can find me one for that price, please point me to it as I'll buy another and flip it.

I will probably give them a call today and see what they can do for me with the proper values. But seeing how much less I can pay, I have to get away from State Farm.

If you ever plan on taking the boat to a sanctioned USHA event, you should go with ACE (Global Marine). They have the coverage that you need to bring it to an event. Also, up the value on the trailer, I doubt $2500 will cover it.

I used ACE on my 2010 Wakesetter, as well as my old Supra. They are very easy to work with. Just tell them the values you want it insured at. I never had any claims, but I've heard they are good to work withon claims too.

State Farm always charge me roughly $400 for a brand new boat every year. They tried to jack me up last year only cause I had 3 tickets on my record. I used Westmar last year based upon recomendations on here and will probably use them again. I have had no claims, but they were easy to work with the the price was good.

Barry Paulsen
Yacht Underwriter
Westmar Marine Insurance Services
Norman-Spencer
4226 Coronado Avenue
P.O. Box 208016
Stockton, Ca. 95208-9016
800-252-9597 ext.1338
Fax 209-466-4515
Fast Fax 888-219-7367
Cell 916-712-7500

My BoatUS quote with better coverages was $200 a year cheaper this year with my new to me boat. The rates on my previous boat I had were only 25-40yr cheaper so I stayed w State Farm. Not anymore on the 08 VTX, 200 bucks is worth the switch. Sure hope there claims service is just as good tho, had only one claim on some accidental damage but they were great.

I believe Boat US is a CNA company. CNA is a great company in my opinion. I know they blew away USAA/Progressive and Allied on quotes for me. Like others have said I just hope the claims service is good if anything does happen.

Just switched to BoatUS today.

I didn't save as much as the online quote showed since I had them match the policy I currently have with State Farm. But I also went from paying $524/year to paying $285/year. Saving $239/year sounds fine by me! Now I'm going to start looking to change out my other polices, as I think I am paying too much. I think State Farm is good with claims and such, but they aren't the only game in town that's good at that.

Those quotes are cheaper than my boat which is insured for 1/4 the value... Except the Progressive quote. I have Progressive and have never had to make a claim. Regardless, I think it's time I shop for a better rate as Progressive seems to be expensive. For comparison, I have my truck with AllState and saved $400/yr switching that from Progressive. AllState quoted me about $30/yr more for boat and $1/yr more for my bike... So I kept boat and bike with Progressive when I switched the truck.

Also, when I first insured my boat years ago I went through Boat US and they acted as a broker and set me up with Progressive. Boat US screwed up the billing resulting in cancelling my policy so I just reinstated it directly with Progressive who did it for a few bucks a year cheaper than Boat US. So it seems Boat US is just a broker.

Make sure you are asking about layup policies too. Many of these companies require you to layup your boat for 3 months of the year to get a rate and if you take it out during that time you are not covered. Other policies to not cover underwater running gear. For example you hit a rock and ruin your prop, drive shaft, etc.....

Using Boat US here too. Had them for 3 years and no complaints. Havent had a claim luckily, but they seem to have a good rep. I pay 550 a year for agreed value of 55k and trailer value of 4k

I'm using SkiSafe (I use Geico who put me in touch via their non-affiliated insurance recommendations) for my 2011 Supreme V226 @ $494/year with no previous claims on my record. I went with $55k coverage on the boat, plus $5k on the trailer with $500 deductible. I believe the deductible goes up if you want to value over $55k? I'm gonna check out BoatUS for comparison!

+1 for Ski Safe

Another USAA member that uses them for everything except the boat. The Progressive option for boats is too high in my opinion. I use Ski Safe and it's around 400 year for our new 210.

If you don't ride year round make sure you specify your mooring period as this lowers the cost.

Progressive charged me 950 for my 2011 epic 23v with 70k coverage ... Checked boat us ... Paying 600 now ... Sweet ;-)

Skisafe looks like $100/yr savings. I may switch to them pending no toher good prices from reputable companies.

Progressive concerns me as I've heard from other over the winter that they won't pay out easily for claims or want to use junk Chinese parts instead of good quality parts for repairs. Of course to pay a higher price for a company with that reputation is no good either.

I just went with a BoatUS agreed hull value policy of $68k and trailer value of $6k. The total premium for the year was $644.

I quoted pretty much the same coverages with Progressive and it came out to $1973 for the year including the 'pay in full discount'! Obviously there is a problem with their online quoting tool. I didn't even call them as I have heard great things about BoatUS. It's kind of a shame though that they are spending all that money advertising their boat and motorcycle insurance and they have a problem with their online quoting system!

Originally Posted by Houstonshark

I just went with a BoatUS agreed hull value policy of $68k and trailer value of $6k. The total premium for the year was $644.

I quoted pretty much the same coverages with Progressive and it came out to $1973 for the year including the 'pay in full discount'! Obviously there is a problem with their online quoting tool. I didn't even call them as I have heard great things about BoatUS. It's kind of a shame though that they are spending all that money advertising their boat and motorcycle insurance and they have a problem with their online quoting system!

I have BoatUS as well and they are great!

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