Re: boat insurance
Heres a few suggestions I have in regards to boat insurance after being in the insurance business a few years.
1. Even if it isnt required in the state you live in-get it! Insurance rates are derived from statistics and loss history on a grand scale. The fact of the matter is that boat rates are reasonable due to the fact that A) it isnt your every day means of transportation, like a car is B) as a whole, serious boating accidents are not very common.
2. Keep your coverage in force(dont stop and start). States that have winter seasons rate their boat policies accordingly knowing it will be garaged for 5 months or more. My policy here in MN is written thru Foremost(a sister company to Farmers) and my yearly premium is 157 for 300K in combined liability and 500 comp and collision deductibles. That covers me all year for 13.08 per month from fire, theft, acts of god, collisions, tornadoes and the like. If you cancel your boat policy in the winter when the boat is in storage and your garage burns down, you wont be getting a new boat as your homeowners policy wont cover it unless you specifically list it. Which brings me to my next point-
3. Keep your boat off of your homeowners policy. Keeping the liability seperate is always a good idea-plus your homeowners policy likely has a higher deductible and you are subject to a rate increase in the event you submit a claim. Homeowners increases can get expensive real fast.
4. Look close at the policy details. Have a new bass boat with all the options? You may want to explore a Agreed value policy vs an Actual Cash value policy so you dont find yourself upside down.
