Insurance for Windsurfing Equipment
Will Howard
I rent an apartment and have equipment that I reckon would cost ~$3000 to
replace new (everything). First I got some propaganda from my auto insurance
company(whom I'm otherwise happy with) offering "renters' insurance. This type
of policy covered everything but sailboards, which it considers boats, and they
offered me a boat policy. The renters' policy covered "watercraft" up to $1000
but doesn't consider sailboards in this category. So this option isn't really
attractive to me. Then more propaganda from USWA (U.S. Windsurfing Assoc.)
offered insurance, at $50 per $2500 of equipment value (as one option). Then I
called the company USWA was dealing withand was told the USWA info. was updated
- the premeiums have gone up considerably. So boardsailors, any suggestions?
-Will "Oh please don't let anything happen to my stuff" Howard
Payman Khalili
>I'm looking for ideas for how to make sure my windsurfing equipment is insured.
>I rent an apartment and have equipment that I reckon would cost ~$3000 to
>replace new (everything). First I got some propaganda from my auto insurance
>company(whom I'm otherwise happy with) offering "renters' insurance. This type
>of policy covered everything but sailboards, which it considers boats, and they
>offered me a boat policy.
It seems funny... You got totally different responses than what I got...
I was looking for insurance for my gear last year. My State Farm agent
told me that boat insurance does not consider windsurfers as boats. They
are just toys... And, they said that renter's insurance would cover
everything, including other belongings I had.
I guess my agent did not consider a windsurfer as a real "watercraft".
Nevertheless, I did not get the insurance cuz I was too lazy. But, it
seemed like a good deal (about $110 for a year).
I have not been back there in some time. So, maybe now they don't cover
windsurfers anymore.
-Payman
peter boardhead dahl
I have all my stuff insured with Farmer's Insurance. Here the deal. Farmer's
considers windsurfers as sailboats and so a "windsurfer" consists of one hull,
one mast, one sail, one boom, one fin, etc... Not that useful. I had my agent
list of all my sails, booms, masts as "accessories" under the basic policy. If
I buy another board I have to add a second boat to the policy (the second one
is cheaper than the first, mainly because you have to list the most expensive
one first and you list all the accessories with the first). My agent has an
itemized list of all my stuff but all the insurance company has is a policy for
a sailboat with an awful lot of accessories :-) The rate is 1% of the insured
value so $5000 of stuff costs $50 per year. Cool. (There is some lower minimum
like $35.) I forget the deductible, but I think it's $50 or $100.
Everything is fine, except they don't cover clothing, for example wetsuits!
Living in Minnesota, I have a serious amount invested in wetsuits and there are
days when they all are in my car. This is covered under your homeowner's or
renter's policy just like other clothing (and incidentally SCUBA equipment).
Specifically, Farmer's will cover 10% of the value of your renter's policy
when you are "on the road". For a $15,000 renter's policy, $1500 of non-boat
stuff is covered while in your car.
BTW: The best insurance is a big lock and don't leave your stuff on your car.
Sails don't have serial numbers and I bet the police will not be much help.
Good Luck,
--
peter da...@ee.umn.edu
Screamer (9'2"), Gaastra Slalomfoil 6.2, Gaastra PowerSpeed 5.7,
Gaastra Speedfoil 5.0, Gaastra Slalomfoil 4.2, Gaastra Wavefoil 3.7
54626-RebmanTM(DR1867)000
|> In article <1992Sep21.1...@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu> who...@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (Will Howard) writes:
|> >I'm looking for ideas for how to make sure my windsurfing equipment is insured.
|> >I rent an apartment and have equipment that I reckon would cost ~$3000 to
|> >replace new (everything). First I got some propaganda from my auto insurance
|> >company(whom I'm otherwise happy with) offering "renters' insurance. This type
|> >of policy covered everything but sailboards, which it considers boats, and they
|> >offered me a boat policy.
|>
|> It seems funny... You got totally different responses than what I got...
|> I was looking for insurance for my gear last year. My State Farm agent
|> told me that boat insurance does not consider windsurfers as boats. They
I have had Prudential both as a renter and homeowner. I have verified
with my agent under
both types of policies that my windsurfing stuff would not be considered
watercraft but just sports equipment. I believe them but don't have
any experience making a claim. It's probably advisable to get them to
state it in writing, but I haven't done it yet.
-- Tom Rebman (t...@drutx.att.com)
Edward Wilson
> with my agent under
> both types of policies that my windsurfing stuff would not be considered
> watercraft but just sports equipment. I believe them but don't have
> any experience making a claim. It's probably advisable to get them to
> state it in writing, but I haven't done it yet.
>
> -- Tom Rebman (t...@drutx.att.com)
I originally tried to get boatowners insurance through my insurance company
(USAA), but they told me a windsurfer was not a boat and I'd need renter's
insurance.
For renter's insurance, there is a $1000 limit (per loss) on watercraft, but
the agent said this would not apply to the windsurfing equipment. I said
OK, sign me up, but could you please put in writing that the windsurfing
equipment is exempt from the $1000 limit.
When he got back to me, he said the $1000 limit DID apply, but it could all
be covered under a boatowner's policy similar to the Farmers one in
Article 7552.
My boatowners policy costs $45 to cover ~$5600 of equipment from loss (theft,
sinking, fire, sails while racing, ...), $13 for liability coverage up to
$100K (in case I crash and injure someone or damage their equipment), and
$15 for coverage of Wetsuits and emergency services (getting towed in - by
the way, does anyone know for sure whether the Coast Guard (in general, or
specifically in the SF Bay area) charges for this? How much?).
So Tom, I'd be sure to get it in writing - sometimes the agents don't really
know, but to get something in writing, they have to find someone that does.
It turned out to be cheaper for me this way. It would have cost $165 for the
minimum renter's insurance (I don't really own anything other than my
windsurfing equipment, I don't ordinarily have renter's insurance).
Ed Wilson
Stanford Aerospace Robotics Lab
Mistral Energy + Hi-Tech 8'6" + WindWings + misc = $5600
Andy Wolfsberg
>In article <1992Sep23....@leland.Stanford.EDU> e...@northstar.Stanford.EDU (Edward Wilson) writes:
>>
>> - by the way, does anyone know for sure whether the Coast Guard (in general, or
>>specifically in the SF Bay area) charges for this? How much?).
>>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>If you call the Coast Guard the first question they will ask is "Is anybody
>in immediate danger of being hurt". They are generally talking to a BOAT
>via VHF not a windsurfer. If the answer is NO (we are just out of gas. etc)
>the Coast Guard will offer to contact a "Commercial Assist" vessal to tow
>you in. If you are on a windsurfer, you probably don't have a VHF (or phone).
>If you are in trouble on a windsurfer and the Coast Guard happens to be
>present, they will probably offer to take you aboard.
>
>joel clark
>
I'm not sure if this is a "rule" or not but, in fact, they do. I was on a
sail boat moored on the east side of Angel Island in SF bay. All of a sudden, we
heard a kathunk as the keel hit the bottom. The tide had dropped during our dinner.
Then to make matters worse, the boat's engine was not strong enough to pull us off.
And finally, in some confusion, the anchor cable got wrapped up in the propellor as
an attempt was made to pull us adrift using both the anchor and the motor. We were screwed
and the tide was still dropping. THen it started to rain. As much as we hated
to, we had to call the Coast Guard (Triple A of the Bay)
You are right about them asking if anyone was in imediate danger (no), but they did come
within 15 minutes. Then they took all 8 passengers including myself aboard their ship while
leaving our skipper on ours. These guys were great. We were really feeling like a bunch of
idiots and they treated us very kindly and with a lot of respect. Never did they infer
what dorks we were for getting in this situation.
Then they started dicussing calling in a private service to pull us off and tow the boat
back to Sausilito. Instead, they decided to try it themselves. Two young fellows
wearing full weather protection took the ZODIAK and a rope and after many tries, mannaged
to yank ou boat free. Then, they hooked the tow rope up to their ship and they towed us all
the way back (~1 hour at towing speed).
During the ride back, they told us how often they rescue people (very) and that often they
just tow them to the closest port. It would have been Berkley or St. Francis for us
but because of the nasty weather, they were more than happy to tow us to our "home"
port. We had a nice time talking with them all the way home and we were in a lot better
spirits than when we first discovered that we were stuck. The only bummer is that
our skipper had to man the wheel of our boat all the way home and it poured rain the
whole time. We on the other hand were toasty warm on the GC vessle.
They also said that they do rescue windsurfers occasionally, but that the windsurfers
are usually picked up by other boats. When I was at Crissy Field a few weeks ago, I noticed
that at dusk the C.G. made a few patroling sweeps.
Andy
Joel Clark
>sinking, fire, sails while racing, ...), $13 for liability coverage up to
>$100K (in case I crash and injure someone or damage their equipment), and
>$15 for coverage of Wetsuits and emergency services (getting towed in - by
>the way, does anyone know for sure whether the Coast Guard (in general, or
>specifically in the SF Bay area) charges for this? How much?).
>
>
>Stanford Aerospace Robotics Lab
>Mistral Energy + Hi-Tech 8'6" + WindWings + misc = $5600
The Coast Guard does not charge for towing boats because they don't do it.
gb0...@vm.tcs.tulane.edu
>If you call the Coast Guard the first question they will ask is "Is anybody
>in immediate danger of being hurt". They are generally talking to a BOAT
>via VHF not a windsurfer. If the answer is NO (we are just out of gas. etc)
>the Coast Guard will offer to contact a "Commercial Assist" vessal to tow
>you in. If you are on a windsurfer, you probably don't have a VHF (or phone).
>If you are in trouble on a windsurfer and the Coast Guard happens to be
>present, they will probably offer to take you aboard.
>
>joel clark
the privatization of gov't services movement struck. It was decided that the
CG would only rescue when there was some danger to life and/or limb. If they
do otherwise, frequently any commercial towing services in the area will
protest to the local commander, etc. and the rescue vessel crew will get in
trouble. Since everyone monitors VHF 16 they all can listen to any boat in
trouble. All so at the time of this ruling I remember the CG was concerned
about liability.
With all this talk lately of breaking masts, fins, does anyone ever carry a
handheld VHF if they know they're sailing alone etc.? Rick
George Skillman x2921
>Sails don't have serial numbers and I bet the police will not be much help.
I bought an engraver (about $12) and engraved all my boards and aluminum
masts with my driver's license number. I then wrote my license number
on all my sails with a laundry marker. I also have an inventory at home
of all my valuables. From the discussion about insurance, I should
update my inventory, give my insurance rep a copy and ask him about
this issue. I'm sure I won't like what he has to say. Oh well.
Anyone have a good suggestion about how to mark a carbon mast?
I doubt engraving would work well. Perhaps white paint would do the
trick.
--
=============================================================
George Skillman (408) 433-2921
bra...@tdd.sj.nec.com
NEC America
Andy Wolfsberg
>
>Anyone have a good suggestion about how to mark a carbon mast?
>I doubt engraving would work well. Perhaps white paint would do the
>trick.
I used a black grease pen and it hasn't faded at all this summer.
AW
Alan Noble
>
>I have all my stuff insured with Farmer's Insurance. Here the deal. Farmer's
>considers windsurfers as sailboats and so a "windsurfer" consists of one hull,
>one mast, one sail, one boom, one fin, etc... Not that useful. I had my agent
>list of all my sails, booms, masts as "accessories" under the basic policy. If
>I buy another board I have to add a second boat to the policy (the second one
>is cheaper than the first, mainly because you have to list the most expensive
>one first and you list all the accessories with the first). My agent has an
>itemized list of all my stuff but all the insurance company has is a policy for
>a sailboat with an awful lot of accessories :-) The rate is 1% of the insured
>value so $5000 of stuff costs $50 per year. Cool.
Itemizing your property as above, or so-called "scheduling", is the
only way to insure your property against ALL risks, including
breakage. The trouble is most insurance companies, don't let you
schedule windsurfing equipment. According to an Allstate underwriter,
they are "not in the business of equipment maintenance". At any rate
scheduling is not particularly cheap--at Allstate it costs $3.45 per
$100. The upside is that, unlike Farmers, Allstate considers
windsurfing equipment "personal property" and not "watercraft". This
is an important distinction since there is a ridicuously low
limit--$1000--on the amount watercraft are covered. As personal
property, you determine the limit as part of your homeowners or
renters coverage. Further, you can decrease your deductible by
increasing your premimum slightly. For example, I brought my
deductible down from $1000 to $250 for an additional $77 a year, and
that covers EVERYTHING (3 boards, 3 wetsuits, etc., etc.). So that's
another option.
Alan
PS Thanks to Francois & Patrice who miraculously recovered my mast and
sail from the mud of SF Bay (after I ditched it 3 weeks earlier).
gb0...@vm.tcs.tulane.edu
Noble) writes:
>
>PS Thanks to Francois & Patrice who miraculously recovered my mast and
>sail from the mud of SF Bay (after I ditched it 3 weeks earlier).
>