[Rhodes22-list] Boat Insurance Question

[DCLewis1 at aol.com]

Mark,
 
I just faced a very similar problem, we're getting an '89 refurbished boat,  
hopefully this weekend.  I needed $500K liability to park our boat in  the 
marina - a marina requirement.  The policy had to be in place before I  could use 
the slip, so I went looking.  USAA won't touch a hull older than  10 years 
without a survey - I figure that paying a surveyor to go to Edenton  would cost 
a bunch so I crossed off USAA.  They referred me to Progressive,  who will 
offer JUST liability for what started as $160/yr, but wound  up at $188/yr by the 
time I added my wife - no hull coverage, a little medical  coverage as I 
recall. Before signing with Progressive I tried BoatsUS, my  experience was 
similar to yours, they don't understand refurbished, new boat  warranty, etc.  To 
BoatsUS it's an 89 hull and the Blue Book value is  the Blue Book value.  But 
the hitch with BoatUS was that they wanted  pictures of the boat, hull, etc for 
their underwriters before they would write a  policy even for the reduced hull 
coverage.  I figured Stan wasn't going to  have our boat together until the 
night before delivery, so I wouldn't be  able to get pictures etc before 
delivery.  Besides, I've asked Stan  for pictures before, and I don't think he has a 
digital camera - he offered  to shoot up a disposable camera and mail it to 
me - so I figured I'd  have to drive to Edenton to get any pictures before 
delivery.   Ultimately, I felt I had to go with Progressive, they required nothing 
but a  signed check.   The bottom line here is:
- No insurer I talked to understood refurbished.  To them, an old hull  is an 
old hull.  I'm interested that State Farm and Chubb will insure to a  higher 
level, but do they need a survey for that higher  coverage?  
- The need to have a policy in place before I could park the boat in a  
marina, coupled with the boat not really being "together" until very shortly  
before delivery, really put me in a bind.  I felt I had to go with whatever  
insurer would agree to almost no documentation.
 
I understand the insurers position, but I think it's a real glitch to those  
of us getting refurbished boats.  There's a huge disparity between the Blue  
Book value and the price we're paying.  We think the disparity is worth it,  
but the insurers I talked to had no way to recognize it.
 
Dave