Your Boat Insurance - Key Considerations

Sailing off into the distant blue, has the favorable effect of blowing away your life's strains and cares with the blowing wind. Yet, before you voyage off in your attractive boat, take five and think about the merits of these questions. Do you have marine or boat insurance in place? Even when the response that that is 'Yes' at that point are you confident your insurance essentials are being fulfilled?

Marine insurance groups crafts according to a kind of dimensions. "Boats" are described as measuring anywhere between 16 feet and 25 feet 11 inches in length. Under that size then you are catalogued as small boat namely dinghies, personal watercraft and so forth. If your boat is 26 feet and above in size then you may most likely need expert insurance. Right now let's check out some of the ins and outs as applied to regular boat insurance policies.

Physical damage insurance coverage

The insurance company reimburses you for the replacement or recondition of your boat, resulting from the following conditions: boating mishap, vandalism, fire, burglary, lightning, hurricanes or tornadoes. Incorporated in this policy are the watercraft itself, its power train or outboard motor and your trailer. Normally the following items are omitted from the dinghy insurance coverage, as they are not thought of as being a part of your boat's operations: clothes, video or camera equipment, precious jewelry or fashion adornments, cell phones, beverages and food items, diving gear and portable electronics such as TV set, hi-fi equipment or laptops. You may discover they are included on your normal house insurance coverage or you may ask for separate insurance coverage for some of these.

Tip: I know it's a pain but - always study the fine print at the bottom. Then you will realize what restrictions have been placed on your protection. Can you boat be kept at your home? Otherwise, should the boat be at your vacation place? Where does the protection start and end on the waters you can make use of? A few policies specifically list the assumptions and restrict the use of your craft.

Individual Liability Coverage

We hope you will never ever need to find out how important this coverage is. Typical marine boat insurance cover here ranges upwards from $ 3 million and may compensate you when there's a collision and your boat is held responsible for harming another property, boat or injury.

Uninsured Boat Protection

This is known as the marine insurance equivalent to the road vehicle's uninsured motorist insurance coverage. For instance, in the circumstance that the proprietor of a boat who damages yours has run out insurance coverage or worse yet, does not have the money, your boat's repairs will certainly nonetheless be paid for.

Passenger Health Insurance coverage

This insurance coverage will pay for the medical expenses sustained by any people carried on your boat. You will definitely discover that generally there is one more provision on your policy regulating the quantity of individuals who can be aboard at any one time-- make sure you do not bring more as the insurance will at that point be invalid.

Help & Towing Protection

This component of your insurance coverage will recompense you for the costs sustained should you have the requirement to call on the emergency services. You might have motor breakdown or additional mechanical failure or damage your boat on stones requiring a tow back to dock.

What's the base line to all of this? Be insurance conscious in advance of you start your boating season. Take a while to get hands-on and acquaint yourself with understanding so you can easily decide on the right insurance option, terms and coverage which your boat insurance should include. Then you can set off into the blue knowing you are effectively prepared for any scenario.

To Your Boating Enjoyment!

Boat Insurance: Best Choices in Boat Owners Insurance

If new to owning a boat, you might be hoping that an existing homeowner's insurance plan will feature an extension for boat coverage. Sadly, this is not the case in most instances. A minimal amount of coverage might exist for small-sized boats, often the paddle powered boats with no engine, a very small dinghy or sailboat for instance. In most cases, taking out a specialized boat owner's insurance plan is a necessity to guarantee the right level of protection is in place for all-risks at sea, on the road, or on moorings.

Boat insurance (also referred to as marine insurance) covers a wide variety of watercrafts, such as the Jon boats, ski boats, center consoles, pontoon boats, houseboats, bass boats, deck boats, cruisers, and personal watercraft (PWC). Boat coverage includes physical damage to a vessel should it strike another object or run aground, damage to a third parties property - inflicting damage on other boats or dock structures for instance, as well as body injury to passengers on board or elsewhere.

An all-risks or comprehensive insurance plan offers the highest level of coverage, with such benefits as fire, theft, and vandalism protection. Cover for items of a personal nature, such as fishing gear or similar items used most in conjunction with the boat, protection against un-insured boaters, and even marine assistance for those occasions where a tow back to 'home' moorings is required.

One important factor to note with marine insurance policies is the method claims are dealt with in the event of loss. A preferred choice is those policies written with an 'agreed value' statement - this means that the insurable values are agreed at the time of the initial quotation. If unfortunate to suffer a total loss, the agreed value, as noted on the insurance schedule, is the amount paid out for a claim. Other options include the 'actual cash value' policies, and for those insurance schemes, claims are calculated on the market value of craft at the time of the incident, which can make a huge difference in claim payouts.

Also, make certain that the policy offers the flexibility to adjust the insurance as and when required. Flexible navigational limits are often desired, a cruising range often includes local coastal and inland waters, with the option to extend the navigation limits for a one-off trip. Also, look for such features as a reduced deductible for the small-itemized items, such as the tender dinghy, outboard motor, electronics, life raft, road trailer, etc. The ability to extend the insurance for occasion charters or racing events might also be desirable.

It is possible to purchase an all-risks or liability only plan from a variety of general or specialized insurance companies, with the extent of coverage, premiums, and benefits varying greatly with each provider, so be certain to shop around to find the most beneficial coverage to suit a boat owners personal circumstances.

The Cost of Sailboat Insurance for Cruising

This was one hot topic for us over the last couple of weeks. What does it cost to have proper insurance for your sailboat? Since we are planning to do extended off-shore cruising, the perfect insurance for our boat should not only be a general liability insurance but we also wanted a full comprehensive yacht insurance that would cover any damage on our boat, no matter what would happen. Tough task.

From my experience with my previous 37 foot sailboat, which I sailed for one year in Florida I know that there are a lot of variables to look at when it comes to get insurance for your boat. Such as hurricane season, region and or country you are sailing, ocean passages, single handing, charter business and so forth.

One thing was very obvious from the very beginning: We wouldn't go for the cheapest boat insurance and neither did we like to sign some sort of online boat insurance with a broker or company that we wouldn't know. A lot of research showed that this isn't working out for most of the cruisers out there. Pretty cool to pay less if nothing happens, but if the worst comes to the worst you are most likely lost with one of the budget insurers.

Well, what does it actually cost to get the perfect insurance for your sailboat? The following quotes that I have received are tailor-made for our particular boat.

The first company I was looking at was the one the previous owner had her insured with. The cost for one year with general liability insurance and a full comprehensive coverage was EUR 1,500. Not bad I thought. The covered area was Northern Europe including the UK and down to France. They were asking the same amount for anything south of France including the Western Med and off-shore to Madeira, the Azores and Canary Islands. This was a large insurance company specialized in yacht insurance.

My internet search on topics like boat insurance, yacht insurance quotes, average cost of boat insurance or boat insurance companies returned a lot of search results and I spent the better half of a day on the phone to get even more quotes. I turned those down, who wouldn't give me a price indication over the phone straight away. I have spoken to boat insurance companies in the US, the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Prices for a combined package with general liability (+/- EUR 2 Mill coverage for the liability part) and full comprehensive coverage brought back offers in the region of EUR 1,200 up to EUR 1,900 for the European region.

Funny enough these so called specialized boat insurance companies were the most expensive ones with the most exceptions on the part of the comprehensive coverage.

Now comes the fun part. Over the last couple of weeks I was also trying to remember the name of the yacht insurance broker that I had for my boat back in Florida. I remember them as a small German-based company with global reach, which tailor their boat insurance offers to the specific needs of long-term cruisers.

Last week I finally remembered the name and called that lady straight away. Guess what? She remembered me. I found this very impressive as our last contact was like 6 years ago. Within an hour I had a comprehensive offer in my inbox, which covered everything I wanted for the price of EUR 960. A week later I signed the papers.

The best part is their reputation among the cruisers. Something happens in a remote place? No problem, you call them, drop them an email and they immediately take over with no worries left over for you. Those examples have been reported more than once by fellow cruisers all over the world.

I don't want to drop names here and I am not related to this company at all... but if you are interested in a contact, please let me know and I would be happy to give you more details.

Basic Of Motor Cruiser Insurance

Motor cruisers are basically recreational boats. There are different varieties of motor cruisers. At one end there is the simple motor boat which looks like a dingy and is usually powered by a very small motor, while at the other end there are the large ocean cruisers which are exclusively built to provide the Utmost pleasurable sailing experience to its passengers. People tend to buy these motor boats either for their personal use or for renting purpose. If you were buy a motor boat, irrelevant of its size and its purpose you need to consider buying motor cruiser insurance.

One of the main reasons why you should always buy motor cruiser insurance before taking the vessel into the water is because not only are you financially covered for your investment but also you can avail a very low quote on the insurance policy which you intend to buy. Getting your vessel insured means having peace of mind which will allow you to completely enjoy the joy of owning your very own motor cruiser.

For beginners there are wide varieties of insurance policies covering motor boats. To completely insure your boat you need to consider buying at least 3 types of polices. The first type of policy is theft or accident insurance policy. This policy provides you with the complete financial support if your boat has been damaged due to an accident or vandalism. This policy also reimburses you if your boats was to be stolen or were to be lost due to an accident. This is considered as the primary type of policy that one needs to buy before getting the motor boat into water. The second type of policy which has become the most essential especially in recent days is the fire accident policy. In recent days the number of motor boat damage is attributed to fire accidents, hence many companies have come up with a unique Motor cruiser insurance which covers the boat from any fire related incident. The third type of insurance is the most important insurance policy if you were to charter your boat, this is known as the third party liability Motor cruiser insurance policy. Unlike other policies this covers you if someone else were to be injured by your boat or in your boat.

The best way to get decent quotes on all these insurance policies is to search online. There are many websites which allow you to compare the quotes form top insurance providers. Using their services will ensure that you get the best quotes on top Motor cruiser insurance policies.

Benefits of a Specialized Boat or Personal Watercraft Insurance Policy

Coverage that is not available when a boat or personal watercraft is added to a homeowner's policy is what can be offered along with competitive rates, broad acceptance and specialized coverage for boat and personal watercraft (PWC) owners.

These policies can include:

• Consequential sinking, explosion, burning o r collision caused by wear and tear, latent defect or mechanical breakdown.

• Subject to local customs as long as the boat is winterized according to the manufacturer's specifications, freeze damage to the boat and engine(s).

• No charges for betterment or depreciation. Example, a six-year-old bimini top is torn off during a windstorm; it will be replaced with a new one rather than pay a small percentage of its original value.

Policy Features:

Agreed Value - Available on any boat eligible for Physical Damage coverage. In the event of a total loss, this pays the rating base regardless of the Actual Cash Value. Optional for full coverage policies. Protects against depreciation.

Total Loss Replacement - Available on newly purchased boats up to one model year old. In the event of a total loss, replaces the insured boat with a new boat. For the boats over five model years old. They pay the purchase price. Protects against depreciation and inflation.

Navigation - Coverage applies to all inland waterways and all bodies of water within 75 miles of the U.S. and Canada; 125=miles navigational limit endorsement. Environmental damage - Fuel spill and wreckage removal coverage included with all policies.

Roadside Coverage - Covers breakdowns while the boat is in tow- even if the tow vehicle isn't the insured by the insurance carrier.

Watersports activities, waterskiing, wakeboarding - included with Liability and Med Pay coverages.

Replacement costs for the on-board items -Offers primary coverages for personal effects and fishing equipment.

Emergency on-water towing - Provides reimbursement for on-water towing and labor costs when the boat becomes disabled on the water.

Propulsion Plus - Provides coverage for the lower unit of an outboard motor and the upper and lower units of a stern drive motor, in the event of a mechanical breakdown, including those caused by wear and tear.

Disappearing Deductibles - Deductibles are reduced by 25 percent for each claim-free policy period. After four claim-free policy periods, the deductible is zero. Small Claim Forgiveness - Premium doesn't increase if a customer has one or more claims that require a payout of $500.00 or less.

Did you know that in the United States one in eight vehicle-owning households has a boat.

The median for PWC owners is 41 and for boat owners is 45to49.

The median income of PWC owners is $95,000.00 and for boat owners is $50,000 to $75,000.

Purchase of used boats make up 70 percent of the new boat policies.

Try to Get the Best Insurance Coverage for Your Yacht

Purchasing a yacht is very much an expensive task, so it is important that you take proper care of it. Getting proper insurance is also a very important task so you get maximum protection against any damage. It is important that you try and include insurance cost in your monthly expense and so looking around for affordable insurance company is also advisable. You just have to try and purchase one that offers you with customized features and is designed to cover any expense that is best suited for your boat type. In most cases the cost of insurance would cover personal liability, accident, vandalism and loss. It is better to be safe than sorry.

You certainly can select from different types of insurance packages that are designed best for your yachts. These types are designed to cover expense for luxury boats, bareboat charter, skipper and commercial boats. In case you are having high speed yacht then you might have to try to get different type of insurance coverage. These types of coverage' s are designed to meet different requirements of different individuals. Brokers always try and offer you with best coverage for different types of boats. You just have to try and collect quotations from different types of insurance companies. You also have to keep in mind that any insurance that you apply for should also be valid world wide.

You need to remember that yachts insurance coverage is something that is much more beyond the safety measures. It certainly does involve a lot more expenses like maintenance cost, cargo expenses, cost of equipments, sail cost and surveyors cost. So even if your boat is undergoing renovations still you can be sure to cover everything under insurance plan. At the same time you can also get insurance coverage against any type of physical damage or loss of your liabilities. Apart from this you can also try and get coverage against medical expense for each of the crew members.