dockrocker

Of course, if you ever have a claim, as soon as they discover you've provided false speed informatin they'll disallow the claim faster than Oprah heading to the all-you-can-eat ice cream buffet.

"Boating" magazine just did a pretty neat write up on insurance fraud and how it is detected; the investigation methods were pretty thorough.

Havasu Cig

Exactly, you might as well not have insurance if you lie to get coverage. If your premiums sound to good to be true, which the above definitely do, then they probably are.

I have owned three cats and have checked every company out there, and there is not a cheap way to go and still get a good policy period IMO.

Hydrocruiser

I am going to give them a call and get a quote as I am leaning hard in the direction of a 36' Skater with T-525's. I have a 10 year clean record, never a claim on anything and married with kids. That should be worth .02? I'll bet the 100+ mph will do me in. I found out the place I was going to possibly store it at is closing so nothing is going together too quickly on this "what if project". If the rates are too high I may go with a pair of Promax's. The triples push it to about 105 mph twins should bring that down to 80-90 or so. I can live with that if they can. That boat would be ok with T- 496 Ho's probably too I would imagine.

BgBoost1

dockrocker and Havasu Cig - I never said anything about lying, or providing false information, just not disclosing your top speed. How does an insurance company know what you top speed is??? Unless you have an accurate GPS do you even know???

My insurance company has a Power to Length percentage that they underwrite you on, and when you give them the vin# of the boat and a vin# of a mercury racing engine, and a copy of the title that has the HP on it, there is no "Lying" or "providing false information" that is taking place. Just as my insurance underwriter told me: if you tell me your boat goes 100, then I underwrite you at 100, where as you tell me it goes 70mph, I will underwrite you at 70. They know the Horsepower, not the top speed.

I was just telling other CAT owners not to brag about top speed to there insurance company, just the local drunk guy with only 2-teeth on the dock staring at their boat saying "How Fast Is Dat Sum *****?"

Laveyman - Farm Bureau (Just look up your local Farm Bureau Office, I have a number but only to a guy that writes boats in MO, if you need that # let me know.
First Marine - 573-348-2743

Just Trying to Help other CAT owners get affordable insurance.

Hydrocruiser

Good point about top speed because it's not just the HP but pitch of the props as well that factor in along with passenger load and fuel onboard. All those factors can significantly reduce top end. I also have found my agent to write a policy by asking does it go over a "certain speed"? Said no because I didn't know and got a great rate. Some companies have a limit of only 45 mph though and then the shopping begins. Some friends have pre-engine modification policies but can be on thin ice if things are inspected and they find the equipment on it during the claim process.

Semper Fi

Are you kidding?? All they have to do is call the manufacturer to get the approx. speeds. If you have a 26-32' cat and you have 2x HP500's, you should be running close to or over 100mph. What are you going to tell your ins. company.......your boat runs 75mph???
It is crazy to lie about/give false info about your boat to your ins co. If you have a claim and it gets denied, then you are a$$ed out.

I have Total Dollar Marine Insurance (33' V-bottom) and they weren't "cheap", but I got EXCELLENT customer service and they are great to work with...AND I know I have a great company insuring my boat who I know will be there if/when I need them. You get what you pay for.

Havasu Cig

BB1,

Yes I do have an accurate GPS and I do know what the top speed on my boat is to date.

When getting insurance for my cats, as well as my Gun, I have found that most insurance companies that insure performance boats know what they are insuring. I have had them ask me what hull and what hp, and they knew about what the boat would run.

If it comes down to a claim they have experts they will use to determine what the approximate top speed of your boat was at the time of the accident. They are not as stupid as people think.

Not trying to be an a$$hole, just stating facts. My.02

rbtnt

My insurance agent told me the next tier was 120 mph. There are only a few companies that will insure a cat.

BgBoost1

I have been running Eliminator Cats since 1996, and Warlock's since 94 with First Marine Insuring all of them. While selling my 98 25' Eliminator I encountered a problem with the buyer getting their cheapest quote from Kaigler and Company (www.bestboatinsurance.com) at around $2,000 a year, then they denied him because it was his first cat, and he did not have any prior high performance boat experience. Since he was walking away from the deal, and had originally offered me a little more than I asked for, I was determined to make the sale.

Two weeks later, and after contacting over 50-different insurance offices, I came to the following conclusions: #1. CAT's are not easy to insure (although I have never had any problems). #2. Many insurance companies will just tell you that they do not insure a Cat or a Tunnel Hull at all. #3 Many companies will not insure any boat that goes over 65mph.

While not giving up I made my last phone call to a Farm Bureau office on behalf of my buyer, and actually got a insurance man off LOTO that runs a performance boat, and he structured the deal for us at less than $600 a year, how he did it.....I don't know he told my buyer what to say and he said it. I don't care it just helped me sell my boat. Now I am sure that everyone here can understand why I did it this way. Hell I even had a Progressive guy tell me "if you call back and tell me that it is a 25' deck boat I will insure it."

My insurance company (First Marine) knows how fast my boat is, they know the HP and the Top speed, and do not have a problem with anything because it is in a "Yacht" category, it does not matter to them.

Semper Fi - I had a claim back in 2000 when I hit a Log and my insurance company also gave me "EXCELLENT customer service and they were great to work with" they replaced the lower half of my drive with a brand new Mercury one, let me pick the shop to repair it, and even worked with me on the deductible. No one came out to estimate the speed that I was running, just an adjuster that was really cool, and told me that they would fix it no problem. Also within my 2-week excursion for insurance, I never once had anyone threaten to call a manufacturer, a builder, or anyone. Also if "Total Dollar" is so great, then why are you pumping "Worldwide Marine" at the beginning of this thread? Is it that Total Dollar will not insure cats?

Havasu Cig - It sounds like you are talking about smarter insurance companies than we have here in the Midwest. Remember I am in the middle of Missouri trying to get insurance on a Cat, and you are on the West Coast where all the Big Boat builders are, maybe that is why our experiences are so different.

I also am not trying to be an A$$ Hole, all I am doing is stating that I just went through HELL trying to find insurance for my buyer, and know what cat owners go through to find insurance. Although I never told anyone to "Lie, or provide false information" it seems that I am getting blamed for that.

It is as simple as this.....If you are buying a cat and want to pay a little less than 2-3K a year for Insurance, there is another alternative.....That is all I am saying.

Risk Taker

You hit the nail right on the head my friend.......