Hey Everyone New from Michigan

holts13 · 06-21-2013, 06:19 PM

Well, my wife and I are trying to become live a boards, but keep running into road blocks. Thought we would join TF and hope for some answers. Sold our home but haven't closed yet. Insurance company telling me I will loose our liability insurance as soon as we close unless we rent, or buy another home.

We haven't bought our boat yet and can't until I have cash in hand from selling of our home. Trying to find out what others have done to get or keep their liability while looking for a boat.
So far, I have read many post etc, and find everyone very interesting. We are Glad to be part of your forum. In the mean time, we will keep looking for answers. Thanks everyone,

Mark and Sandee

meridian · 06-21-2013, 10:12 PM

We just went through this. We sold our house in Kalamazoo but already own our boat. We moved aboard full time last week and will start the Loop in 3 weeks. We purchased liveaboard insurance with 1 mil general liability. We went about 3 weeks with no general liability.

swampu · 06-22-2013, 09:32 AM

You can buy a seperate general liability policy. I had one for years for my contracting business. Talk to your insurance guy.

holts13 · 06-22-2013, 01:41 PM

Thanks guys. I know this sounds crazy but I was told she has never heard of liability insurance without owning a home or renting. Can you give me the company that you bought from? I wonder if Michigan has different laws or something. Thanks again for your help.

dhmeissner · 06-23-2013, 08:39 AM

Hi and welcome! If you sell your house and don't have a boat yet what do you need liability for? When you buy your boat then insure it. What am I missing? Call Boats US maybe?

Good luck!

Sent from my iPad using Trawler

holts13 · 06-23-2013, 11:30 AM

Hi dhmeissner,
My agent told me that liability insurance is received through our home owners policy or a renters policy. She informs me that once we sell or don't rent we no longer have liability insurance covering us from being sued. For instance, if someone were to trip over my leg and smash their face of something, I could be sued and they could go after everything I own and or any money coming in in the future as well. I know life is about taking risks, but it does sort of scare me even for a short time. I don't know if what she's telling me is all true, or if it's just in Michigan or if it's just one company. That's one of the reason's I join here to find out if anyone else has had a similar situation.
Thank you for responding. I hope that I can still get more answers.

Mark

Moonstruck · 06-23-2013, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holts13

Hi dhmeissner,
My agent told me that liability insurance is received through our home owners policy or a renters policy. She informs me that once we sell or don't rent we no longer have liability insurance covering us from being sued. For instance, if someone were to trip over my leg and smash their face of something, I could be sued and they could go after everything I own and or any money coming in in the future as well. I know life is about taking risks, but it does sort of scare me even for a short time. I don't know if what she's telling me is all true, or if it's just in Michigan or if it's just one company. That's one of the reason's I join here to find out if anyone else has had a similar situation.
Thank you for responding. I hope that I can still get more answers.

Mark

Don't know if your agent works for one company, or is an independent agent. Liability insurance can be written for all kinds of circumstances. I would think that a good independent agent could cover your risk even if they have to go to the Lloyds market. You do not want to be without liability coverage. In our society where people suit for everything, it is a must to be covered. You could have a wreck in your or a rental car and wind up in bankruptcy. There are agents on this list. Maybe they will chime in on how you could be covered. You will just have to convince an underwriter that you are a good risk. A good agent can help with that.

holts13 · 06-23-2013, 12:53 PM

Thank you Moonstruck, you are absolutely right about law suits today. My agent is independent and I think is working on this for me. She is good, however I don't think our community has a lot of people who have asked about these kind of things, so I think this is new to her. Thank you again for your input. I hope you're right about others chiming in on this. I am feeling better all ready about all of this just with the input you and others are making so far.

Mark

Moonstruck · 06-23-2013, 01:44 PM

I think the fact that you have been continuously covered and probably no losses can go a long way in convincing an underwriter. Loss ratios are the key to being covered by insurance. Good luck.

dhmeissner · 06-24-2013, 02:31 PM

Holts, I hear you. But honestly I've never heard of the need for insurance to just walk around in the world. Best of luck to you.

Sent from my iPad using Trawler

meridian · 06-24-2013, 09:59 PM

So, you step off the curb, a car swerves to miss you and runs head on into another car. Thats what liability ins is for.

Pineapple Girl · 06-24-2013, 10:07 PM

How about a personal umbrella policy (PUP)?

meridian · 06-24-2013, 10:24 PM

I believe you need an underlying policy first.

Moonstruck · 06-24-2013, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holts13

Thank you Moonstruck, you are absolutely right about law suits today. My agent is independent and I think is working on this for me. She is good, however I don't think our community has a lot of people who have asked about these kind of things, so I think this is new to her. Thank you again for your input. I hope you're right about others chiming in on this. I am feeling better all ready about all of this just with the input you and others are making so far.

Mark

Mark, when trying to get a none standard risk covered, it helps if the agency is a major producer for an insurance company. They have worked with them long enough to build trust. They also swing a pretty big stick with the company. An agency that pushes whatever company is offering a trip to Hawaii, or an extra bonus may not have the influence needed to get this done. It's not good to break your chain of continuous coverage.

Pineapple Girl · 06-25-2013, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meridian

I believe you need an underlying policy first.

Do you have Car insurance? For our pup, we had to have a certain amount of liability on all the underlying policies.

meridian · 06-25-2013, 01:00 PM

For ours we needed real estate for an umbrella.

Pineapple Girl · 06-26-2013, 12:31 AM

I saw my agent tonight and asked him. He said you'll need some kind of underlying possession (trying to say, beyond a car) policy to have an umbrella. So a renters policy or if you are living with relatives if you could show their policy covers you. He doubted his company would write an umbrella without a homeowner or renters policy. He also suggested you might want to make sure you have a live aboard policy lined up as they can be hard to come by.