How Could This Be (State Farm Quote)
 

Just called agent today and asked about coverage for 99 Fountain 47 Lightning with Trip 500's.
Agent had to call underwriter to get exact quote.
$1080.00/yr
Is this posible. She double checked and states it is currect.
I have 93' 357 Formula with 502's at $1200/yr.

What are others paying for 47 Lightning? I was afraid to ask what it would be if it had 525's.

I have read State Farm has limits on speed and HP. Does 85-90mph or >1500hp matter on this size boat?

When it goes to underwritng on paper, they will most likely try to cancel the policy. They tried to cancel my 32 AT with 502mpi's within few weeks of getting coverage but my agent got it pushed through. I've never heard of a max speed, but I have heard up to twin 500's and 100k. I think Sydways said he has his 37 AT through with State Farm as well. A lot will depend on your agent.

I have state farm and was told 75mph was the limit...HP wasn't a major concern with my agent. I asked them ALOT of what-if senarios regarding coverage and aparently didn't scare them off either.

I would make DAMN SURE that I had everything clear. I know you said they double checked but it would sure be a bi tch if you had to file a claim and State Farm denied it! I'll tell you this, if it goes through and everything is good, let us know. I'm going to call your agent and have him/her talk to my SF agent and get the same coverage. My coverage on my TG would make you shudder compared to that figure and I've got 500hp carbed motors.

A buddy called MY S.F. agent for a 93 TG with 500EFI's right after I got coverage....they wouldn't write him because of the type of boat. (I think it was because he had a recent claim for a totalled boat)

I think having a history with them makes a difference.

We have State Farm insured for 3 years now with the 42 500's I think we pay 1200 per year. Never had a claim but it still is insured.

What's the difference in the "type of boat" from a TG to the 47 Fountain listed at the top of this thread? I know you don't have the answer I'm just asking rhetorically. Sometimes the answers you get from the agents are a little........confusing.:D

I have State Farm for my Cafe' Racer with carbed 500's and pay $1000 a year or so. I was told 500hp per motor was the cutoff between affordable and real expensive. With 525's it would have almost doubled. At least that is what I was told.

SD & Satisfied, I may send you guys a PM and get your agent's names/numbers if you don't mind. As I said, we have been with SF forever with homes and cars. If I could get premiums in the range that you guys have, that would sure help. Hell, I'm only three feet longer with the same power as you SD, shouldn't be an issue. The wife handled all of the financing and insurance on the boat so I'm going to talk to her first about it. It may be that Key Bank is requiring some "over the top" coverage, IDK.

I think the higher premium is because where we live. Florida and the gulf coast are going to be high.

Jlay, I don't know what you're paying but mine is in the neighborhood of 3 times what those guys are paying. I can understand it being a little higher in our area but.....

I had to fill out a form when I got mine. Asked a bunch of basic questions. 500 HP per engine is a cutoff point, as well as 75MPH. However, if it's a bass boat the cutoff was higher (80 or 85 MPH) that pretty much blew my mind.

State farm insured my Cafe Racer for about 2 weeks - until it got to underwriters. Then they cancelled it. My family has been with them for over 3 decades, NO major claims, I have never had a ticket or accident, between the two of us we had two houses and countless cars insured through them and they wouldn't do it. Then I find out on here about all the other HP boats that are insured through them. Luckily I got married at the end of last summer and immediately canceled EVERYTHING with them and went with USAA. I'll never regret severing that relationship and I will never give them one minute of my time again - worse thing was, they cancelled the coverage effective July 3rd; day before one of the biggest boating days of the year - Screw them.....

some anwsers to a couple questions.

the reason the 99 fountain is cheaper than the 93 formula is because the fountain is not over 10 years of age yet (expect a slight jump when that happens and this also may be why some of the listed boats that are over ten years they wont write....ask them if a curent survey on your 10 year old or older boats would help) ten years or older gets a surcharge ( a simple on-line boaters safety coarse or anything superior should net you a 10% discount witha any of the big 3

another reason is based on credit score and driving record they will place you with one of their 3 internal companies at State Farm (or any of the big 3 for that matter). The better the record the better the company placed with (meaning broader underwriting guidelines and better rates)

as much as we may or may not like it the big insurance companies are not boat experts... and Cigarette is an instant red flag just because of the stereo type. The companies have a length, horspower, age, and sometimes weight formula that gets calcualted and the computer/underwriter gives a yes, however when the picture of the vessel or even worse a claim comes in that is when you find out what type of coverage you really have, also loss history and time on the books with the respective company also play a major role in exceptions through underwriting and ease of settling claims.

another thing to keep in mind when you are giving the information on the boat....things like generator and air conditioning are generally not in most performance boats and the computer/underwriter maybe considering it more of a cruiser scenerio than what it actually is...just my .02

Like others have said, I am sure location has a lot to do with it as well. I am in Oklahoma and Hurricanes are not an issue at all.

I am also financed through Key Bank so I don't think that has anything to do with it. I think boat value might. State Farm would not insure my parent's Carver because of the value of the boat.

SD, price/location may well be the issue. Don't know for sure but I would think tornados in Oklahoma could be just as much of a risk. I dunno.

Jesse, as far as the age of the boat, I don't quite follow the logic on the older, smaller boat being more expensive to insure. I'm sure in the event of a claim/loss it would cost significantly more to replace that 99 42' Fountain w/trips than the '93 Formula. Unless they had an agreed value on the Formula which was extremely high. I would imagine the Fountain with 1500hp is a wee bit faster than the Formula as well - i.e. higher risk. My boat is less than 10 years old, had a survey and is in impeccable condition. Don't let me find out that an insurance company is singling me out because of the name brand of my boat (Cigarette).

State Farm insures my 2008 39TG w/700's...includes Florida usage. I am the only insured driver and had to provide my certificate from the Tres Martin School.

I have State Farm for everything, Before I got the 382 I was looking at a Flat Deck . My agent told me that a Cigarette was not a problem with 500 hp and under . $1079 a year for a 96 382 with HP 500'S.

I questioned the underwriter as well on older being more money....the fear is old equipment is more prone to problems like transom rot which could lead to sinking, faulty fuel tank, leading to fire or fuel spill contamination....etc...etc.....but in a nut shell I think it is there way of saying we dont want to do it...

Yep, now I'll buy that! I know this, I'm going to hammer my SF agent about it until I get an answer that I'm satisfied with. If they can insure Omerta with a new TS TG w/700's............ If it takes attending Tres's course that's cool too. Additional operator education can't be a bad thing.

I also have statefarm coverage. I believe it has more to do with the agent than anything. I had a previous agent (state farm as well) that told me he couldn't get me insurance on a 35' Sonic. This same agent also sent me to an insurance broker for a couple of my rental properties because he said state farm couldn't offer home owners on them.

Come to find out the Sonic in question was insured with SF and my agent was full of BS and cherry picking what he would and wouldn't write regardless of underwriting.

Bad move for him because I found an agent that wanted to be a member of my team and do his job. I moved the vehicles, Primary residence, rental properties, places @ the lake, Jewelery, Condo contents, life insurance, contractors policy, etc. etc.

As a side note: I took the Missouri boater safety course which gave me a discount on the premium and then I inquired about an additional break if I took Tres course as well and they said no. I still want to take Tres Course, but was shocked that SF didn't see the value in an intensive course like his rather than answering some common sense questions on the computer.

state farm gave me a good quote but they wouldn't bind it. they sent it to underwriting and they wouldn't write the policy.

ended up having to go to progressive.

i have SF on 5 cars, 2 motorcycles and my home.. i have been with them for years.. they cover my Baja with a rate under 400 bucks a year.. i went in and asked about coverage on a 35-38 Fountain.. as soon as i stated FOUNTAIN, he was like NOPE sorry.. he didn't even want to know HP numbers..

They wouldn't insure my 1990 29' Fountain either and it only had 365hp 454's. I was shocked they covered the Cig with 500's.

All I can say is be prepared for the day it makes it accross the audit desk.

gentleman, I had SF on my previous Fountain ('92 29' w/ 502's) The rate was reasonable, and they didn't ask about speeds... Then it sank, due to rotted caulk around the Thru-hull exhaust. All of the sudden I was treated like a criminal, they tried to deny the claim, saying I sank it on purpose, and then they refused to total it, even though it was underwater for a day... Boat was worth $50K at the time, bringing it back to life cost $60k, and it took a year of my life to resove.
THE POLICIES ARE CHEAP, BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO INTENTION ON PAYING A CLAIM WITHOUT LITIGATION !!
Look elsewhere, and run away as fast as possible.
Carder

Just FYI State Farm, has insured me for 30 years +/-. My agent is great and he has virtually all my insurance; business, homes, cars, my boys cars, boats, jewelry, etc. It probably doesn't hurt that I'm AARP eligible either.

Thanks for all the response on this topic which seems to always stir up alot of controversy.
I have decided that I am not going to purchase the Fountain that I was looking at until I sell my Formula, but I am going to definatly do some more research with my agent to be sure they don't drop me as soon as they see a picture of it.

I did find it ironic although, that underwriting did ask my agent if the boat was a Quote "cigar or cigarette" type of boat. I did explain to the agent that it was not a "Cigarette Boat" but was in the class of performance boats.

Then asked about some of the eupipment that was on the boat (generator, full galley amdenties, etc.)
Thats when she called underwriting back and they told agent that this boat falls under performance cruiser, not High Performance.

As we can see there is alot of things that State Farm, and other insurance companies look at and may say yes today and no tomorrow.
The last thing I want is to have approved coverage, buy a boat and find out 2wks later they changed there mind.
I discussed this with my agent who I have had all my stuff with for the past 7yrs and been with SF total 25yrs.
She reasured me this would not happen to me as long as she was my agent.
From what I read on here, the agent does seem to be the influancing factor with SF.

One more thing I should add.
I did file a claim of $4500.00 last yr for a stero that was stolen out of my Formula last yr.
I was only going to file if my agent asured me that my premiums would not go up and/or I would not be dropped.

I filed, even with out police report. No appraiser came out and look at the boat. Basically took my word for it and sent me a check.
Still with SF 8mo later and premium is still the same.

i hope your agent doesn't retire anytime soon.. good luck :)

I had SF for over 30 years. The insured my 272 Formula, 311 Formula, 28 Sonic, and my 43 Black Thunder. I went to them when I was doing a repower on the Black Thunder and gave them all the specs. Their answer was to notify me of impending cancellation. I had not had a claim in over 20 years. I got to checking my actual policy that the agent had turned in on original powered BT. He listed twin 205HP engines. A typo, I don't think so. I think he lied on purpose to keep my business. I moved all my insurance to American National Property and Casualty. They are out of Springfield MO. but have local agents. The were very reasonable for better coverage. I had a truck wreck about 18 months ago (my fault) and they did not penalize me and were very responsive on handling the claim. I will never do business with SF again.

Last year when I got my 353 with 500EFIs, the SF underwriter came back saying they wouldn't write it because the hull was considered unsafe. Knowing that was total BS I told my agent if he didn't want me to pull my life, house, and five vehicle policies he ought to talk to them again. 24 hours later I was covered for around $875 a year.

all I can say is... be prepared for the service on the loss end that those cheap rates on the front end bought you.

there is no free lunch and you get what you pay for.

Rip,
You get what you pay for with Insurance?????? You really don't understand what insurance is, do you? So, you base service on what you end up paying in premium? Obviously you're in a high risk pool. Maybe Tres Martin Driving school can get you a discount. All I'm saying is I have thirty years experience with State Farm, all good. If I ran an agency and you walked in, I'd probably jack your rates through the roof and make you feel good about it as you left too :D

Auto Insurers That Are Writing Hp Boats.
 

I've seen this happen many times and I would suggest that the person who got the bargain get a letter from the UNDERWRITING department of the carrier stating that they are covering this boat based on it being a HIGH PERFORMANCE BOAT and are willing to continue coverage based on that fact.

actually I do. My brother has been in the insurance industry for 35 years, from office boy in the early 70's, to chief underwriter, to CFO and then CEO of 2 of the largest entities in the country.

and actually if YOU understand what insurance is...you'd know that with comparable loss percentages across the industry...(do you know statistical math?)
SF either doesn't pay/underpays out, or has a pool of 3X any other marine division in the industry to offer those rates.
right.
when the in/out math is done, they are not losing money at the divisional/corporate level...to write you a boat policy.


all that was meant was that a too good to be true premium 90+% of the time will net you not so good/timely performance on the claim end, especially in a total loss or liability situation. I don't care if you now the agent or not, corporate can overule/sweep them under the rug in a single breath.

You better be sure SF knows EXACTLY what the boat/motors are and how fast It'll go.

Is that a real 'marine policy' and if so, what are the spill/environmental and salvage limits if she goes down?

and is that price agreed value or ACV?

That is odd, I pay the same exact price for my 1990 28 apache, twin 460hp. Its not in a coastal area either.

My marine policy with SF is fully aware of my boat and its equipment. If you're coverage cost is that far out of the box from mine either your brother doesn't like you as much as you would like to think....or you're one of those people that drops claims every 6 months and doesn't understand why your premiums are boosted...statistically speaking, you're a risk :snide:

#1 good for you.
I hope the hull truth that you bestowed upon your agent when you threatened to pull all your business is the same truth he passed on to the underwriters (and didn't do "what he had to do" to save your other policies with him).

#2 No need to attack me/my family there friend...who are you taking lessons from?
I don't have any insurance with my brother. Read posts more slooowly if you struggle with comprehension. Always the same...come too close to truth, calling out for facts, or calling out bu!!chit, and certian groups of people get a nasty demeanor in a hurry...

#3 far from a claim dropper, or a risk. Long term employment and credit scores consistantly in the high 700's/800. Violation free for at least 15 years (longer than that I think), and have filed one relatively small collision claim and one significant claim on vehicles in almost 20 years (a comp claim at that, the 99 GMC that inexplicabally went up in flames idling in the garage (though I did save the garage!).

Never a claim on homeowners, nor on boats/watercraft.

#4 I've watched you drive your boats...realistically speaking...

you're a risk :D

#5 I wouldn't touch SF for my boat insurance, as much like Progressive, the horror stories contained in this thread are by far not the first ones reported over the years about the typical experience come claim time.

I sincerely hope you're not telling one of those stories down the road...

you still didn't comment on wether that super cheap premium your so proud to toss out there is agreed or ACV, or was that because you don't know?

personal injury liability? Now we won't discuss numbers on a public forum, but I find it hard to believe you're at anything above minimums at that price.
Me? suffice to say I pay more annual premium for more coverage.

Now maybe you've got an umbrella... though most won't start paying out at a dollar above typical mins. so make sure they meet at the right place!

how 'bout those environmental/salvage limits? That's expensive stuff to have to pick up the rest of the tab out-of-pocket ...

doesn't it seem odd to you that you can insure a $100,000+ powerboat that operates in an inherently more dangerous environment, with no speed limit, more volatile potential for liability to property (other 100K boats, or more) and person (how many people could you have on your boat for the day on the water?) for the same kinda money (or less) annually it takes to insure a 40K vehicle?

and in a smaller pool of insured?

things that make 'ya go hmmmmm.....