NOYB wrote:
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"NOYB" wrote in message
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"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
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NOYB wrote:
It's insurance! Or lack thereof. In Florida, it is now
impossible to
insure a boat over 30' long valued at more than $100,000 if the
boat:

a) doesn't have a trailer

and/or

b) is more than 5 model years old (2001 and older are uninsurable
if they're
over 30 feet and valued at more than $100,000)


I just applied for quotes from NBOA, Boater's Choice,
Progressive, and 2 or
three others. All said the same thing: no dice.

Progressive was willing to write my boat for $100,000 coverage
(it's valued
at $113k though) to the tune of $4500/year.

I'm with Boat/US, and insured for $113,000 for just under
$3000/year. I was
looking to save some money, and it's apparent that that isn't
going to
happen.


Read this thread on thehulltruth.com to understand how bad it is
in Florida
now:

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/t...114956&start=1


Guys cannot get financing on boats because they can't insure
them.

Sorry to hear about your insurance difficulties. Nothing similar
is
happening in this area of the country- so I'm willing to bet it
has a
lot to do with the $$$$$$$$$ in losses the boat insurance
companies
suffer whenever your several hurricanes per year blow through.
Sort of like trying to buy fire insurance on a house 50-feet from
a
blast furnace.

Those rates sound astronomical to insure a $100k boat, but it
makes
some sense to evaluate local risk rather than just "average" it
out
against everybody in the country- whether they live in a hurricane
zone
or not.
Yup. Sounds fair. Just like the rest of the country's tax
dollars shouldn't have to pay for security against terrorist
attacks in cities like NY, Seattle, LA, Chicago, etc.

There is no comparison between people choosing to live in hurricane
alley and folks living in large cities that terrorists chose to
target.

Sure there is. I have a much lower chance of being the victim of a
terrorist attack than someone living in NY...and NY'ers have a lower
chance of getting hit by a Cat 3 or higher hurricane. And guess
what? The risks are directly related to where we each chose to live.



And folks living in Hawaii have a lower chance of seeing snow in
January than those living in Alaska. And guess what, the risks are
directly related to where we choose to live.

So what does snow have to do with insurance? Nothing, just like
insurance has nothing to do with taxes.

BTW: How many terrorist attacks were there in New York last year?
How many hurricanes were there in Florida last year? How about 2004?
2003? 2002?
How many Cat 3 or greater Hurricanes hit Naples since 1960? One. How
many terrorist attacks occurred in NY in the same 46 year period?



I did not know that we have limited our discussion to Cat 3+ hurricanes
only.

Here is a very interesting link for you Doc:

http://www.collierem.org/never.htm
===================================
In 1960, when hurricane 'Donna' struck, there were approximately 15,500
people living full time in Collier County. Today there is nearly 300,000
residents, most of whom have never been through a severe land-falling
hurricane, even though they lived through the 2004 hurricane season. We
have come to southwest Florida from all over the country and around the
world, and we would all like to believe that we are safe from the
ravages of hurricanes.
After all, how often is Collier County struck by tropical weather?
Records kept by the National Weather Service date back to 1851, or 153
years as this is written. In that time 73 tropical storms and hurricanes
have passed within 75 nautical miles of Naples, or one nearly every 2.1
years! Of those, 40 have been tropical storms with winds of less than 74
miles per hour. That also means at 33 have been hurricanes, or one about
every 4.7 years!

Ah, but they're all small hurricanes aren't they? Let's take a look:

a.. Sixteen major hurricanes in 153 years averages out to 1 every 7.7
years!
b.. 14 have been category three, one has been category four and one was
a category five.
Now THAT Was a Close Call!
(Center Less Than 20 Miles From Naples)

Tropical Storms: 1861, 1878, 1891, 1899, 1907, 1932, 1936, 1945, 1953,
1969 (Jenny),
1985 (Bob), 1994 (Gordon), 1998 (Mitch), 1999 (Harvey)

Hurricanes: 1870,1894, 1910, 1926, 1929, 1941, 1947, 1960 (Donna)
('Andrew' passed 35 miles south of Naples in 1992)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hang on To Your Hat!
Winds Greater Than 96 mph (Category 2+) within 75 nautical miles of
Naples

1865 (100 mph), 1873 (115 mph), 1876 (104 mph), 1888 (113 mph), 1894
(104 mph), 1910 (126 mph), 1924 (104mph), 1926 (130 mph.), 1929 (115
mph), 1935 (146 mph.), 1941 (121mph), 1944 (127 mph), 1945 (127 mph),
1946 (113 mph), 1947 (147 mph), 1948 (115 mph), 1950 (115 mph), 1950
(107 mph) 1960 (Donna, 129 mph), 1964 (Isbell, 115 mph), 1965 (Betsy,
124 mph), 1966 (Alma, 120 mph), 1992 (144 mph, Andrew's winds were less
than 95 mph at Naples, but higher on Marco Island and in Everglades
City), 2004 (Charley, 145mph), & 2004 (Jeanne, 120 mph)

================



And you were saying? ;-)
My boat made it through all of them unscathed...which is why I stated
"Cat 3 or higher". It would take a storm stronger than Charley to damage
my boat...and that hasn't happened in 46 years.



And my house has never caught on fire either.

Why were all the boats damaged in previous tropical storms and cat 1 and 2
hurricanes? Are you some sort of magician that you can make a statement
that it would take a storm stronger than Charley to damage your boat?

All it takes is a tree or large chunk of building falling on the boat, or
someone else's boat (if it is in the water) blowing into it.

Did you read the article I posted a link to?

I haven't had time yet.

I wasn't looking for sympathy with this thread. In fact, I was playing
Devil's advocate. I live in an area that deserves to have higher insurance
rates on boats. But the fact that all of the boat insurance companies
completely pulled out of the state needs to be addressed.

As long as each state sets their own insurance regulations, companies will
continue to cherry-pick the states that it's cheapest and easiest to do
business in. But considering all of the special treatment that insurance
companies get via Congress (ie--McCarron-Ferguson Act, special tax
consideration, etc), they ought to be regulated to some degree at the
Federal level. And they should be forced to offer coverage no matter which
state someone lives in (albeit at a higher rate if warranted).



NYOB,

I agree, rates should be risk adjusted, but they should not be allowed
to just pull out of a market and cherry pick the low risk states.
The idea is of insurance is the risk is spread among the insured, but
you and those in high risk areas should pay substantially higher rates
following risk assessment and risk management based upon actual claims.