Insuring Your Boat

When I bought my first boat, a friend asked me if I knew that a boat was defined as a hole in the water, into which I would be throwing a lot of money.  I chuckled and muttered: “…good one.”  Well that statement hasn’t been exactly true, although I realize now that I have become addicted to a hobby that is not exactly the cheapest choice on the block.  But I don’t really mind spending money if I consider it to be well spent – and for the most part, I consider the money spent on my boat and on fishing to be very well spent!

Perhaps the only reason that I say “for the most part” is because in the last couple of years, the cost of insuring my hole in the water has seemed to have sky-rocketed.  Now, in order for you to make some comparisons between your boat and mine, consider that my first boat was a little 16-foot Lund with a 15-horse Johnson that I later upgraded to a 30-horse.  About 5 years ago, I sold that boat and bought a Lund Mr. Pike Anniversary Edition with a 90-horse Yamaha.  This boat – for me, at least – is a dream-come-true.  I love everything about it, from fishing to water-skiing to just cruising the lake… but I digress.

My full-time job currently keeps me from spending as much time on the water as I would like, so I am pretty much confined to the months of June, July and August to enjoy my addiction.  The boat is stored in a garage the rest of the year.  Now here is the part of the article for which you have suffered through all of my babbling: last year I paid $373 for the privilege of insuring that beautiful “hole in the water” and for using it for such a short time.  I don’t know about you, but I thought that to be absolutely outrageous!  I have my home and two cars insured with one of the major companies, so it had seemed natural – not to mention easier – to insure my boat with the same company.  This year I was determined to find a cheaper policy.

I started searching the other big name companies and got nowhere.  I finally logged on to the Internet and checked out BoatUS.  I was unaware that they even had boat insurance.  Their original quote to me was less than half of the cost of my other policy.  The short version of the story is that even after I boosted some of the coverage to mirror what the “big guys” offered, I now have a policy that is not only cheaper than my previous policy by over $100, but it actually exceeds the quality and offers better coverage.

I know it may not sound like it, but this is an unsolicited article; I am not getting paid by Boat U.S. to tell you this story… but it is something that you should know if you own a boat.  And whether your boat is bigger or smaller than the one that I own, I think that you owe it to yourself to at least get a quote from these guys.  They were very helpful and courteous on the phone and really earned my business.  Get an on-line quote and let me know what you think.  The only “catch” is a $14 membership fee; I thought it a small price to pay to save some big money on my boat insurance.  

R. Karl
rkarl@onthelake.net