Boat insurance question/s

[FNQCairns]

How does the trailer work into boat insurance? If say the trailer was T boned at an intersection and damaged the boat and trailer under what insurance does this fall under? pretty silly if I cannot get a mate to tow the boat without first checking that all of his vehicle insurance is up to date - privacy laws will not allow it anyway, hope I have it wrong.

Also one disclosure statement I have been reading states that in the event of an agreed value claim the new hull must be bought within 14 days or the policy is canceled???-what the!

So far only looked at NRMA still working toward understanding it all.

cheers fnq

[Reef_fisher]

Don't know how it works if someone else is towing your rig. My insurance has a seperate value for hull, trailer and motor. The insurance has nothing to do with the tow vehicle BUT knowing these companies they will try to wriggle out of a claim if they can. Best bet is to get on to a insurance broker, there are not too many that do boat insurance but they will get you the best deal. Ask all the questions you can think of when doing the deal. They will answer all of it and if they don't know they will find out.

[FNQCairns]

Yes thanks reef fisher, I consider the boat and trailer my responsibility regardless of who or how it is being towed therefore my insurance should follow.
But if the trailer was being towed minus boat then the vehicles insurance unless it was at the ramp and the trailer got flogged in the course of boating??? think I better ring around and see what does make sense for today.

cheers fnq

[Getout]

The tow vehicle's compulsory 3rd party insurance covers personal injury caused by the trailer.
Damage to the boat and trailer would be covered by the boat insurance if the mate had your permission to tow the trailer and his vehicle was legally up to the task.

[PADDLES]

on our racq policy the boat/trailer/outboard are listed as seperate items/values. electronics are built into the hull value but listed seperately. i was always of the understanding that what getout has described above would apply in the case of an accident. i should probably check this with racq.

[FNQCairns]

Yeah Ok thanks it is getting clearer, so now my problem is agreed or market value, since there is no market value that is lookupable/testable (due to me building up the boat myself, it is an individual) then I need to go agreed which I pay for a professional to assume BUT! then in the event of a claim I still need to prove each and every portion of the agreed value with reciepts before settlement (i have 100 of them some lost for sure and some from Ebay without reciept) , this is getting dodgee, although I may have it wrong somewhere.

Thanks for clearing up the boat/trailer towing deal fella's.

Can anyone set me straight on the market V agreed in my instance?

cheers fnq

[PADDLES]

i can only comment on the response i got from racq on the market value issue. i rang them because their policies only pay market value and they don't state that value on their marine policies (but they used to do it for motor vehicle policies) and so i wanted to know how they came up with a market value. the other scary thing is that they had to go a few steps up the food chain at their call centre to answer the question because no-one knew the answer. essentially, in the event of a total loss claim they do the rounds of the boat yards in your local area and determine a value to offer you and i guess the negotiations start (these are words from their mouth here). i know that this sounds a little dodgy and may not reflect the true value of your rig, ie. if you paid more for something in better condition then in the event of a total loss it'll be given the same value as something in worse condition. in our instance we didn't exactly pay top dollar for our boat so it's not such a concern for us. hope this helps fnq.

ps. i'd be getting as many photos of your boat as you possibly can so that you have a heap of evidence of it's condition to try and justify the highest payout possible in the event of a total loss. you know how insurance companies work, they will try to get away with the minimum payout that they can.

[FNQCairns]

Just in case my rabmblings are of interest to someone looking at insurance.

I am getting further it seems that if I was towing my insured boat and trailer and cut someone off (my fault) and they collided with the boat and trailer only, the boat insurance will only cover the damage done by the boat to the other vehicle, my vehicle cover will deal with the damage the traile caused!!

Also if my car and trailer rolled into the water while I was out fishing in the boat, the boat insurance will not cover all of the trailer only a percentage forget how much. But if the trailer got stolen from back of the car then the whole amount would be covered by boat insurance, why not the car insurance? does a person need specific trailer insurance for trailers, though that was covered regardless of type.

cheers fnq

[FNQCairns]

Thanks Paddles, yes photo's will be the go I suspect, they did tell me that once I got market value assumed for insurance then depreciation would come in to play for 2 years then renegotiate again I guess.

Thanks and cheers fnq

[disorderly]

Hi FNQ,

I,m also looking at insuring my old stacer now that it has a new motor,but due to the apparent complexity(or my inability to absorb) this info,I have not yet got it sorted out yet.
So ,please let us know how you go,particularly in regards to valuing the rig.
Can you and should you overinsure the rig to be sure that you dont go backwards if you ever have to replace the boat?.

cheers Scott

[FNQCairns]

Hi Scott it's a shocker and hard to absorb I agree. I have finally worked out what was not gelling in my mind. They kept on calling the boat insurance comprehensive but it is not! When the boat is being towed by another vehicle (any) the insurance is no longer comprehensive as all liability for damage the trailer may do is wiped and reverts back to the towing car's comprehensive insurance's liability, if any exists.

So boat comprehensive insurance only stands as true comprehensive as a package while it is not attached to a vehicle or while the car and trailer minus boat is standing unoccupied or in the event of a no fault accident (probably could have said this better)

The above may be a common understanding to many but at least now I get it-I think!

Will let you know how I go Scott, the market value's is the next for me to understand.

cheers fnq

[Getout]

This is where the old "you get what you pay for" comes in.
Policies are not all the same. Some policies restrict the insurer's liability in certain situations.
I just checked the wording on my policy. It appears that my comprehensive policy totally covers my boat and trailer what ever, as long as I have not done ridiculous modifications. This policy is with a major company that only does marine insurance. I am even covered if I use someone elses boat (unless I stole it). In a motor accident, the vehicle insurance covers damage/injury caused by the boat/trailer to others. My boat insurance covers damage to my boat and trailer.
I understand that it can be difficult to even get insurance for a heavily modified/overpowered boat

[FNQCairns]

Hi Getout but can you tow with another vehicle in this scenario, you are driving a mates/whoever's vehicle towing your boat, privacy laws forbid you to check if it is comprehensively insured or whether this vehicles premium has been missed this month.

You round a corner and the trailer ONLY sideswipes a 200K vintage Ferrari parked on the side of the road! Are you covered for this liability? You are covered to get your trailer repaired but what about the Ferrari's costs?

So far still working on it proper but it looks like a person can only safely tow their compressively insured boat with their own comprehensively insured vehicle or risk absolute liability! After all why have the cover in the first place!

So far CM and NRMA have told me I am not covered in this instance for liability and Suncorp has said I am covered but couldn't back that claim up in any way.

Interested to know if you are covered in this instance and who that might be.

cheers fnq

[Getout]

Interesting scenario FNQ but I believe I am covered. I think the exerpt from the policy states it clearly:
We will cover you while your boat (meaning boat and trailer) is in transit on the trailer, by road, rail, ship, provided your boat is designed to be towed on the trailer and all statutes and laws regarding the towing of your boat on the trailer are complied with.

[Getout]

Actually, I just found something else:
We will not cover legal liability incurred while the boat is attached to or accidentally detached from a motor vehicle.
So I think you are right. If someone is towing your boat, they are responsible for any damage to other's property.

[snelly1971]

Another pit fall to be careful of is ...if you pull anything out of your boat...eg...sounders ...radios...ect then they might not be insured...it would pay to check your ins policy...I have had a theft and this happened to me...I was lucky...my house ins company which is different to my boat ins co payed for the items but not after alot of fighting with them...

When the gear was replaced I phoned my Boat ins co and asked the simple question...if gear that is easily stolen from my boat is stored in my house or shed is it insured and they said NO...They agreed that it is stupid..as I am only trying to deter thieves by removing easily removable items....???/

Cheers Mick

[Feral]

Biggest pitfall is that they will just not insure an older boat. Had a few mates look into insurance last year when it became apparent to enter a local comp, you had to prove you had insurance on your boat, one bloke with a 25 year old boat, the companies would not even quote on. So he could not enter the comp!

[FNQCairns]

Pitfalls everywhere! think I better talk to a broker.
Still amazed that it seems I cannot allow my brothers/fatherinlaws/mates/etc car to tow my comprehensively insured boat and share the driving on the trip without opening myself up to full liability.

thanks and cheers fnq