GEICO update

[Shaunc]

Geico dropping boats over 40 years without advanced warning in illegal in the State of Florida.


The fact they have left so many boat owners scrambling to find insurance is a violation of the State Statutes and if enough ex Geico policy holders complain to the State, Geico will have to answer to the state and face consequences.

 

[Group9]

Geico dropping boats over 40 years without advanced warning in illegal in the State of Florida.


The fact they have left so many boat owners scrambling to find insurance is a violation of the State Statutes and if enough ex Geico policy holders complain to the State, Geico will have to answer to the state and face consequences.

Geico/Boat US sent us our renewal letter in January, 2021, three months before the policy expired. I would have thought that would be the way they handled non-renewals as well.

 

[Shaunc]

My broker called me frantic on 6/2 that they had just got notice of non renewal on 6/1


Any suggestions of where to turn for coverage in Florida?


They are talking double my regular payment.

 

[STB]

My broker called me frantic on 6/2 that they had just got notice of non renewal on 6/1


Any suggestions of where to turn for coverage in Florida?


They are talking double my regular payment.

I have all of my policies with State Farm. They cover me in Florida and have been easy and had a very competitive quote with very few limits on use. But, they don't have the support infrastructure of GEICO with respect to integrating with BoatUS, etc. They just write checks. And, I've never tested their ability to do that on a marine policy.

A neighbor has SkiSafe, which gave him a really good price and me a relatively low quote, enough below others that it scared me, but maybe shouldn't have. I didn't read the details of the policy, just decided to stay with what I had. Both of our boats are 1981.

 

[Shaunc]

Thanks


Any State Farm agent you deal with?

 

[twistedtree]

My broker called me frantic on 6/2 that they had just got notice of non renewal on 6/1


Any suggestions of where to turn for coverage in Florida?


They are talking double my regular payment.

Can you quote it direct with Geico? Or is you policy one of the types they are no longer issuing, even direct?

 

[STB]

The person that has my boat policy is...

Jenny Martin
727-527-0200
1638 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr St N, St. Petersburg, FL 33704
https://www.statefarm.com/agent/us/fl/st-petersburg/jenny-martin-877fj40m000

I think I was asked wood or fiberglass, power or sail, for the make, model, year, length, and HID of the boat as well as the fuel type, number, make, model, HP, and serial number of the engines; whether or not I'd taken a boaters safety course; if the boat was anchored, moored, or in a marina; and if the marina had a lockable gate. They needed a survey within some amount of time for over ~$40k of coverage. I got discounts for being diesel, for the boaters safety course, related to my history with them on other policies, and for being at a marina with a locking gate (technically, that was not a discount but part of rating).

I have policies for various things in different states, but they require a boat policy be handled by an agent in the same state as the boat's home port, so she has the boat policy and someone else the rest of the policies. She was just someone that happened to be nearby where the boat was at the time, Ive moved it since (but she still has the policy as the home port is still Florida).

But, when I asked, they were able to integrate everything, coordinating liability coverage across policies, wrapping everything together into the same billing plan so I get one quarterly bill for all policies, etc.

 

[Shaunc]

I just called the local State Farm here in south Tampa and they are over 5k more than I was paying.

Surely it can’t be this hard. There are many older boats out there.

 

[Shaunc]

I tried to go direct and they are not writing boats over 40 years old now with the new changes

 

[STB]

I just called the local State Farm here in south Tampa and they are over 5k more than I was paying.

Surely it can’t be this hard. There are many older boats out there.

Have you tried reaching out to Peter?

These are the folks my neighbors uses...they came in /half/ of BoatUS for him and not far from that for the quote I got:
https://www.skisafe.com/

I know nothing about them beyond that and what you see on the Web page.

 

[Shaunc]

Thanks I tried skisafe and they dont do older boats over 50ft

 

[BandB]

Thanks I tried skisafe and they dont do older boats over 50ft

Find a good marine broker. Let them do the work.

 

[gene max]

Insurance question

Thanks for all this information on TF.
I've been boating in NJ for 22 years, owned (2) 28 ft express cruisers and we are now purchasing a 39 ft Trawler and we want to travel. I've used Boat US and Geico for all past needs. I knew Sea Tow or Tow Boat US was always available in my cruising area.
Now, being retired, we will start out traveling the Chesapeake, Hudson river and Erie Canal to start.
My questions, 1) When traveling and need towing help on the water, What help is available when your out of your normal cruising area?
2) If i go with Progressive Insurance, Do i call progressive and tell them i need help or do i just contact Sea tow and hope they accept my insurance.

Hope you guys can shed some light on general towing and insurance information.
Thanks in advance, Gene

 

[rslifkin]

Thanks for all this information on TF.
I've been boating in NJ for 22 years, owned (2) 28 ft express cruisers and we are now purchasing a 39 ft Trawler and we want to travel. I've used Boat US and Geico for all past needs. I knew Sea Tow or Tow Boat US was always available in my cruising area.
Now, being retired, we will start out traveling the Chesapeake, Hudson river and Erie Canal to start.
My questions, 1) When traveling and need towing help on the water, What help is available when your out of your normal cruising area?
2) If i go with Progressive Insurance, Do i call progressive and tell them i need help or do i just contact Sea tow and hope they accept my insurance.

Hope you guys can shed some light on general towing and insurance information.
Thanks in advance, Gene

Regardless of who you get insurance through, I'd go for the TowBoatUS and/or SeaTow membership rather than relying on towing coverage through your insurance (one or both depending on where you're traveling, as sometimes one is better than the other in a given area). In the NY canals and great lakes, SeaTow just doesn't exist.

 

[psneeld]

Call Progressive first, but your insurance policy should clearly spell out your insurance covering towing and proper procedure.


Generally the tow companies still make you pay out of pocket for the tow and you have to claim to be reimbursed.


Extensive cruisers usually have at least one tow company membership if not both for whichever company can respond first.


The question also beg you have to know what membership entails and the difference between what these companies offer as membership and as a paid service (like salvage). Look on their websites for more info.


Having worked for a towing company...insurance companies that my boss would really want to work with were far and few between. For salvage yes, towing not so much..... cash up front was usually demanded.


Sea Tow and BoatUS cover you out of area..with their boats or will pay up to a certain amount for other towers to help.

 

[Pau Hana]

Thanks for all this information on TF.
I've been boating in NJ for 22 years, owned (2) 28 ft express cruisers and we are now purchasing a 39 ft Trawler and we want to travel. I've used Boat US and Geico for all past needs. I knew Sea Tow or Tow Boat US was always available in my cruising area.
Now, being retired, we will start out traveling the Chesapeake, Hudson river and Erie Canal to start.
My questions, 1) When traveling and need towing help on the water, What help is available when your out of your normal cruising area?
2) If i go with Progressive Insurance, Do i call progressive and tell them i need help or do i just contact Sea tow and hope they accept my insurance.

Hope you guys can shed some light on general towing and insurance information.
Thanks in advance, Gene

Hi, Gene,

To your questions:

1) Any marine insurance policy should have towing/emergency services as part of the base policy. This is a reimbursement type of coverage in that you pay for the service at time of use, then you are reimbursed 100% from your policy up to the policy limit. This is regardless of who provides the tow.

Of note- any tow that is a result of a claim (as in striking a submerged object) is wrapped into the larger claim.

2) With Progressive, you must call their service center and Progressive will dispatch a provider to your location.

 

[stubones99]

Pau Hana is my broker. Gieco is owned by Berkshire Hathaway (warren buffe) and I have a sizable investment in BH. I was just at our annual shareholder convention. As always The Gieco presentation was about reducing costs by streamlining and using a cookie cutter approach. When Gieco talks about boat insurance, and that is what they say to shareholders not marine or yacht, they talk about bass boats and ski boats, with an occasional small sail boat. They don’t talk yachts. I suspect that larger boats is not a focus for them going forward.

I wonder which group represents greater risks over rewards? With a lots yacht, they could have a large payout, compared to swamping a bass boat... I suspect the premiums are not equal across the size range, with yachts probably being cheaper per dollar of value. Plus there are thousands of bass boats to every yacht...