Insurance

[Fintan Murphy]

As launch day draws ever nearer, I've been turning my mind to insurance. I've checked and the boat is insured when being towed (under the car insurance), in that if I hit anything I'm covered, but damage to the boat is not (3rd party cover on the boat and trailer).

I can also get the boat insured as part of the house insurance, which includes a figure for damage or theft of the boat, and collision insurance when sailing (which is what I am really after - that would be the costly one if I ram some expensive boat). However, the problem with that is that I have to raise the contents cover of the house to 50% - presumably to cover the cost of the boat being stolen when it's in the bathtub ).

This adds an extra €540 ($670) to the premium - more than doubling it.

And it appears to me that I am paying for stuff I don't need, after all, I can take the hit on the boat if necessary, it's the possibility of damage to third parties or passengers that I am worried about.

So, what are y'all doing? Who is insured, and for what?

[JMetzner]

Hmmm, insurance......What a concept?!?! I hadn't really thought about insurance. I just figured I built this boat, I build (or rebuild) another one. Hadn't really thought about liabilty insurance in case I ram another boat either.

Geeze, Fintan! You're just gonna take all the fun right out of this ain't ya'!

--John M.

Fairbanks, AK

[Florin {VACATIONER}]

We bought insurance for our boat last year even though it isn't finished yet. We really don't want to take a loss in case it burns down with the house...

We have all risk insurance and it is a rider on our house insurance policy. Costs about $600CDN per year. We don't really want to take the chance of losing the boat after all this money and time invested in it. And if we do, we want to be compensated.

And then there's the liability....

Cheers

Florin

[Frank Hagan]

My homeowner's insurance covers damage to another boat if I'm sailing a boat under 16' (the Weekender is 15'9"!)

If I buy a bigger boat I'll have to get a separate liability insurance policy, but they can be had here in the states pretty economically. Since you have assets to protect, you might want to check with someone at one of the yacht clubs to see how they handle their insurance. I'll bet there are companies specializing in boater's insurance.

[MikeStevenson]

Alright Frank! I'm glad you noticed that; I'll have to check ours as well. I've always gone by the I-can-build-another concept.

Over-litigationhas crippled the fun in modern life. Bring back personal responsibility (responsible for yourself but not much else!)

Mike

[Frank Hagan]

The fear I always had was getting up to ramming speed and punching a hole in the side of one of those fancy yachts in the harbor. I figure I would have to take responsibility for that kind of damage, and insurance helps me still provide for my family (I doubt we could actually live on the Weekender if we had to sell our house to pay for fancy yacht damage!)

[Fintan Murphy]

I'm with Frank on this one. I agree that I can build another one, it's the thought of ramming some of the other yachts in the harbour that worries me. That bowsprit would do a good job on the side of someones penile extension.

By the way, I was wrong on the cost, it will actually bring the insurance up to €540, not add €540 to it. This only adds about another €100 to the cost, which is not bad at all.

Cheaper than having to sell the house to pay for somebodies boat repairs.