Good or bad?

Got our boat insurance bill from Boat US/ Geico. Is the merger a good thing?

Maybe the prices will be more competitive. This October I found insurance for nearly 50% less than quoted by Boat US.

ancora, there's a lot more to buying insurance than the price. I'd check with a yacht insurance broker and ask them what a yacht policy covers above and beyond what a boat policy covers. There's a helluva difference between the two.


I'm a cheapskate but insurance is one thing I don't want to cheap out on.

Since I already had GEICO insurance on my cars, the merger brought me a 10% discount on both. On my older boat (40 years!), the BoatUS quote was 1/3 of my prior Zurich yacht policy with similar coverage, except for parts depreciation. Also, the folks at BoatUS accepted my 4-5 year old pre-purchase survey when transferring my policy, so no added cost there.

Took a look at the policy and it's titled: "Marine Insurance."

ancora said:

Got our boat insurance bill from Boat US/ Geico. Is the merger a good thing?

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The merger may be a good thing in reducing the middle man profit a little, or it may not be.

As to your bill, no one can say whether the price is good or not, without knowing all the details of the coverage.

FlyWright mentions parts depreciation. Well, that can be a big thing, Coverage of secondary damage is an issue, if a non-covered event leads secondarily to a normally covered loss. Seaworthiness clauses and implied guarantees of it are a huge issue. Then environmental and salvage. Add in cruising area and named storm clauses.

We had been insured with Seaworthy, a Berkshire Hathaway Company before the merger. Our rates actually went down including our deductible for a named storm and no change in the wording other than some state requirements. At the end of the day, it's in the coverage, though.

Larry M said:

We had been insured with Seaworthy, a Berkshire Hathaway Company before the merger. Our rates actually went down including our deductible for a named storm and no change in the wording other than some state requirements. At the end of the day, it's in the coverage, though.

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Seaworthy was Geico at a higher price for Boat US.

GFC said:

ancora, there's a lot more to buying insurance than the price. I'd check with a yacht insurance broker and ask them what a yacht policy covers above and beyond what a boat policy covers. There's a helluva difference between the two.

I'm a cheapskate but insurance is one thing I don't want to cheap out on.

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I would definitely agree. I've been dealing with major issues with my 6-71 over the last two seasons. Turns out the issue goes back to when the yard installed my new alternator. In order to make it fit they removed a crankcase breather. Next thing I knew I've dumped 90 percent of the oil into the bilge. Thought I caught it in time. Turns out I didn't. Cooked two cylinders.
My yacht policy is picking up a total rebuild and dealing with the yard on their own.
Now that's a good policy.

Russell Clifton said:

Maybe the prices will be more competitive. This October I found insurance for nearly 50% less than quoted by Boat US.

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Be careful, there are typically two 'marine' policies. One covers inland lakes and rivers (freshwater), then other covers coastal waters (Tidal, saltwater). They are very different policies. One major difference is 'salvage'.

I was mistakenly quoted and sold a freshwater policy for a boat in saltwater. There are other differences worth noting. Maybe that doesn't apply to you or you got a great deal on a saltwater policy. I'm just saying it is worth looking closely at the policy and the navigation limitations.