JoLin
Vice Admiral
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2007
- Messages
- 5,146
I've carried insurance through BoatUS for 4 years, based solely on what I perceived to be positive feedback on several forums. General consensus was always that their insurance is reasonably priced (it is), and 'they know boats' when it comes time to file a claim.
On 10/20 a wind storm ripped through this area with gusts to 50 mph. I wasn't very concerned as my boat is well secured and had weathered Hurricane Irene okay. I went down to the dock late in the afternoon to fine that my stern mooring whip had pulled out from its base, allowing the stern quarter to rub and bang against the pilings all day. Ouch! There wasn't any structural damage, but the starboard quarter looked like someone had taken a file to the glecoat from the gunnel down to the rubrail, which was also pretty banged up.
The following Friday I ran the boat over to its winter marina and asked the owner to work up an estimate for the gelcoat repair and to replace the rubrail all around the boat (it was kinda ratty in a few places anyway). He called me a week later with an estimate of $1500 for the gelcoat and '$200 plus a couple hours labor' to replace the rubrail.
I don't know why the estimate surprised me, but for some reason I had grossly underestimated what it would cost to fix. I called BoatUS. They never questioned why it took me over 3 weeks after the event to file the claim. The agent was friendly and businesslike. They had me e-mail the details of what happened and where the boat was located. They contacted a local adjuster to inspect the damage, and my marina guy worked up a detailed estimate. I didn't need to get involved at all. Yesterday I received a check for the full amount minus my deductible ($270).
No fuss, no muss, no drama. Unless they screw me on next year's renewal, I have nothing but good to say about them.
My .02
On 10/20 a wind storm ripped through this area with gusts to 50 mph. I wasn't very concerned as my boat is well secured and had weathered Hurricane Irene okay. I went down to the dock late in the afternoon to fine that my stern mooring whip had pulled out from its base, allowing the stern quarter to rub and bang against the pilings all day. Ouch! There wasn't any structural damage, but the starboard quarter looked like someone had taken a file to the glecoat from the gunnel down to the rubrail, which was also pretty banged up.
The following Friday I ran the boat over to its winter marina and asked the owner to work up an estimate for the gelcoat repair and to replace the rubrail all around the boat (it was kinda ratty in a few places anyway). He called me a week later with an estimate of $1500 for the gelcoat and '$200 plus a couple hours labor' to replace the rubrail.
I don't know why the estimate surprised me, but for some reason I had grossly underestimated what it would cost to fix. I called BoatUS. They never questioned why it took me over 3 weeks after the event to file the claim. The agent was friendly and businesslike. They had me e-mail the details of what happened and where the boat was located. They contacted a local adjuster to inspect the damage, and my marina guy worked up a detailed estimate. I didn't need to get involved at all. Yesterday I received a check for the full amount minus my deductible ($270).
No fuss, no muss, no drama. Unless they screw me on next year's renewal, I have nothing but good to say about them.
My .02
