[casey1999]

There was a recent thread about insurance covering engine damage. I have a few questions about what your marine insurance might cover:

1. If you do not winterize your engine, or maybe you use it year round, and your block freezes- will insurance pay?

2. Say you forget to check oil level and you only have a oil pressure gauge- miss seeing the low pressure and engine siezes- will insurance pay?

3. Your engine your water pump fails and you only have a temp gauge that you fail to notice is overheating, the engine warps a head- will your insurance pay?

4. Your sea water cooled engine fails due to plugged cooling passages- will your insurace pay?

I do not think auto insurace would cover the above (but maybe I am wrong), and it seems many marine policies would cover items 1-3 above (again maybe I am wrong). So if marine policies do cover and not auto, why the differece? And it seems if you want a new $15k engine for your boat, you would just abuse it and get insurance to cover.

Would be interested in any real life occurances.

 

[Minnewaska]

Could be a different answer from policy to policy and from carrier to carrier. Even when the answer is grey, there is a difference in which carriers squeeze claims more than others. This is why I always recommend an independent agent who knows the difference. All too often, people simple shop price with no understanding of what's covered or who they are doing business with. All states have their own insurance laws, so even dealing with the same carrier in a different State means nothing.

 

[Faster]

From what I've understood over the years it definitely depends on the carrier and even the adjuster.

We had a friend who's W32 sank one winter. We winter afloat here, but many of us put some heat on, and even in a cold snap usually the water temp is well above freezing, meaning the inner bowels of the boat are normally relatively warm.

One year we had a particularly long cold snap, -10-12C for a week or so, to the point that the water began to freeze. At the same time a wind storm took the power out for a day or two, and our friend's boat was visible in its slip only by the top ten feet of the mast.

Insurance brought in a crane and refloated the boat, pumped it out, but upon inspection it was discovered that his glass RW strainer had frozen/burst and when things thawed out down she went. Further coverage was denied since the through hull had been left open. Things froze and burst when the power went out for so long.

The owner was not billed for the recovery, but was on his own for any subsequent repairs. It took a while but he did bring the boat back to usable form, and, as far as I know still owns and sails her.

To me one of the major problems with insurance is this... we look for the 'best deal' premium-wise and most of us have no intention or at least hope we'll never have to submit a claim. And indeed most never do. However you'll never 'know' how good your coverage is until you're forced to make that claim. Best you can do, I suppose, is go by anecdotal information and others' experiences.

 

[casey1999]

Agree faster. I have read my policy concerning things like salvage and it is very confusing. One thing to be concerned about in Hawaii is that if you run aground or sink, or even just anchor on a reef and damage coral, state can fine you in the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

[JimsCAL]

In general, hull insurance is similar to collision insurance on a car. If the car is in an accident and the engine is damaged, you're covered. If you just have a mechanical problem and the engine needs work, you pay (unless you the car is still under warranty).

 

[Don L]

In general, hull insurance is similar to collision insurance on a car. If the car is in an accident and the engine is damaged, you're covered. If you just have a mechanical problem and the engine needs work, you pay (unless you the car is still under warranty).

That's the way I've always looked at it.