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Insurance USA

I have now talked on the phone to 20+ insurers. Either the Boat is too old or they don't insure wood or they don't insure cats. Who in the hell do you all get insurance through?

I need to insure a Wharram Narai 42' all wood 1990. In the United States.

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Permalink Reply by Ian R on June 6, 2023 at 4:48pm

It must be tough having 20 outfits telling you to GFY!!!! Never mind, you will get used to it if you have a widebeam catamaran/Wharram. If you are 3rd Party in the UK BasicBoat insures without survey. I don't know if there is a US equivalent.

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Permalink Reply by Axel Grease on June 30, 2023 at 7:40am

Kelvin, I have had a very similar experience with insurers in the US for my recently launched Tiki 38. In my case the ostensible reason for not providing insurance is that my boat was homebuilt. I was greeted warmly over and over until I told them I built the boat... I was only trying to get liability, not full coverage. I did eventually find some through a broker a friend suggested but I'm not sure if it's going to be approved beyond a 30 day trial period. I think it's pretty expensive too but unfortunately in the Texas Gulf post-Harvey, no-one will let you in without liability. The insurers want a HIN (hull ID number) which of course the boat does not have. Legally a home built boat doesn't need one which makes me think the perhaps they didn't take the homebuilt status into account. And you can't just make a HIN up because it's all tied into manufacturer and is kept on the Federal (USCG) database.

I'm currently looking into getting a State HIN which apparently does work but I'm not from Texas and the process would require me to bring in all my material receipts to prove I paid sales tax on them or have to pay sales tax on the assessed value of the boat. So, in summary it's probably possible but is expensive. Full coverage for my boat would have been over $3500/year. If you would like the name of the broker and a couple of other leads I was given, let me know.

BTW I have been a member of this group for years, though not active lately but lost my email and had to re-up. I'm wondering if someone like BudgetBoater who is a professional builder can chime in with any ideas about getting or making a HIN?