Insurance for storage ONLY?
 

Hey all,

Hope you all are having a great start to your new year. So things are getting pretty dry here in Austin, TX. My local ramp was pretty sketchy last year and the water has only continued to decline. I am fully anticipating not being able to use my boat without having to make extra effort with marinas etc. The icing on the cake is some new personal things have come up that don't lend themselves to a ton of boating. I love my Donzi 35 ZR...I think the opportunity cost of selling it to sit out a year outweighs just buttoning it up in storage for a year.

I am curious, are there any insurance policies that cover it to simply sit in my enclosed shop? The full policy is obviously not super cheap with any carrier I've got quotes from. I'm sure I'm not the first guy to want to wait out a year but not spend a good chunk of change.

You can probably just carry "Comprehensive Coverage" only IF you own the boat. If you have it financed, you probably can't get away with that as the Bank will raise questions.

I was able to save close to 50% by changing coverage to storage only while i have the 37 in my warehouse for upgrades / maintenance.
Covers transport too if i need to move to a specialized shop.
Only risk is if i drop it in for a test or to run it not covered for accident or liability.
Call your broker and ask

I have even been doing the same thing with my vehicles. Because we aren't driving due to the pandemic, I called my agent and put them in storage, saved me a ton.

You have a few options, in which some have been mentioned above. Depending on your insurance company, because each handles this type of request differently, you can either ask for; A) extend or max-out the lay-up period. Lay-up period is when the boat is stored away and no on-water coverage, B) Ask to remove Collision coverage. However, most insurance companies don't split this coverage. Plus, as mentioned, if there is an outstanding loan, you may not be able to remove collision coverage, C) Ask if all other coverages can be lowered to the minimum level for the next year, and until you call back to increase them back up since the boat will be out of commission. D) Ask for a "Port-Risk" policy, which allows for storage & transport only. Not all companies allow this, but an option with some.

My 2 cents.

Devin Wozencraft

interesting idea

Devin

Just change the risk factor!

I recently purchased a Cat (3rd Skater of recent times) and insurance costs is off the hook due to risk!. I haved owned boats now for 54 years and never saw these rates.and .I'd say I probably owned close to 25-30 boats easily and never had a collision, injury or harm done to me or passengers. So now risk with Catamaran's is due to recent events and all the hoopla. My personal belief is if you are going to participate in something where the risk is high and a negative outcome is possibly fatal then insurance underwriters should not be liable.
So how about writing a policy that covers everything but claims around this risk? Write a policy thats covers the investment for normal collision, comprehensive, and liability .I realize a policy like this can not have a leinholder for obvious reasons which is okay,.I own the boat outright.

Thank you for you time in advance and please let me know your thoughts..

Thanks
Paul

Yup. I got back into boating last year after a 3-4 year break. Last boat I had was a 29 Fever cost me about 400 a year. Now have a Boss 302 it cost me 1300 a year. No claims on a boat ever, clean record, good credit etc. Ive called around and called around, so many companies got out of boats or will just ensure small boats, etc. Crazy.

I get what you saying, but I dont see how they write a policy like that, because boating basically comes down to liability at the end of the day, the person they could possibly OMIT is yourself in that manner, reaslitcally they have to cover everybody else and anything else you might damage.

But with that said insurance is a rip up north, I am in watertown and boating season is 90 days long maybe 120 if you are lucky. Why am I paying the same rates as boaters who can boat 365.