I am seeking first-hand, experience based opinions on GEICO yacht insurance. We have a quote in hand from a reputable broker that is less than we pay now for PrimeTime through Atlass. My concern is that GEICO seems to me to be a small-boat underwriter, and I'm not sure how well equipped they are to underwrite coverage for a blue water cruising yacht on international voyages. I know they've been buying up other marine carriers so perhaps this has changed and my impressions are out of date. Any concrete information would be appreciated. -Sean m/y Vector lying Vilano Beach, FL http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

I just changed my insurance from Lloyd’s to Geico (aka Seaworthy) Much lower cost, same stated coverage. Includes offshore and Bahamas. Got it thru Jon Horton at Jack Martin Assoc; the insurer that is the recommended source for MTOA. You are a member of MTOA, correct? The previous insurance agent that I had been with for over 40 years could come up with no issue on their coverage or reputation. Seaworthy / Geico is a Berkshire Hathaway company, so probably has adequate resources behind it. Chet Defever 49 CPMY, Cygnet Daytona Beach, FL

GEICO is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway Group. Seaworthy Insurance, another member of the group, very recently changed their name to GEICO Marine. After several years of establishing a great name and reputation in the industry I thought that this was a stupid move, and made my thoughts known directly to Warren Buffett. You can imagine how much good that did, but I did receive a call from the President of the company attempting to explain their board's reasoning. We agreed to disagree, and here we are... Actually their claims are handled by the Boat/US staff (also a member of the group) so you shouldn't have a worry in that regard. Al Golden International Marine Insurance Services 410-827-3757 This email, including any attachments, is intended for the designated recipient(s) only and may be confidential or privileged. Unauthorized reading, distribution, copying or other use of this communication is prohibited and may be unlawful. Receipt by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) should not be deemed a waiver of any privilege or protection. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you believe that you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete all copies from your computer system without reading, saving, or using it in any manner. Also, insurance coverage cannot be bound or changed merely by requesting it via e-mail, voice mail, fax, or online via the IMIS website; such requests are not effective until explicitly confirmed by an IMIS agent.

Geico has a reputation in the personal lines insurance industry for being very difficult when paying claims. Low premiums,high advertising costs, and good claims service, just doesn't add up. Carriers who advertise a lot have a big disincentive not to pay claims eagerly. Add low premiums to that equation and the disincentive is even greater. Plus as you suggested, not much experience with larger boats. Oh yeah, there's also a 10-20% broker commission. Phil de l'Etoile West Sacramento, CA On Tuesday, January 5, 2016, Sean Welsh via Trawlers-and-Trawlering < trawlers@lists.trawlering.com> wrote: > I am seeking first-hand, experience based opinions on GEICO yacht > insurance. We have a quote in hand from a reputable broker that is less > than we pay now for PrimeTime through Atlass. > > My concern is that GEICO seems to me to be a small-boat underwriter, and > I'm not sure how well equipped they are to underwrite coverage for a blue > water cruising yacht. >

Boat/US, then Seaworthy, now GEICO. Different names, but same personnel, right? All acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in recent years. Thanks, Bob __________________________ Robert Calhoun Smith, Jr. *M/V MARY KATHRYN Hatteras 58 LRC MTOA #4861Annapolis, Maryland* On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 10:50 AM, Sean Welsh via Trawlers-and-Trawlering < trawlers@lists.trawlering.com> wrote: > I am seeking first-hand, experience based opinions on GEICO yacht > insurance.

Sean, Let me add to my previous comments. First, it's been about 20 years since I retired from the insurance business, and as with most other financial industries, there have been many changes in recent years. In order to update my understanding of what's going on with BoatUS and Geico currently, I spoke to one the senior executives at BoatUS. Essentially what Al Golden previously covered is correct, and all of the policies placed with Geico Marine are handled by the BoatUS people. So in that regard there should be no problems in terms of claims handling. The point that I brought up about Agent/Broker commissions is not correct. While the premiums for brokered business are the same as business written directly with BoatUS, the commissions are deducted from the premiums, not added to them. So how you buy your policy makes no difference in terms of premiums, other than to say that I would expect any questions or complaints that you might have would have to be handled through the Agent or Broker if that's how your policy was purchased. Presently non-brokered policies are apparently a very small part of BoatUS' total book of business, but if that changes, it's certainly possible that the way commissions are handled could also change. At this point it makes no difference to the insured. My comments about the high costs of advertising expenses impacting the willingness of carriers to pay claims, basically still holds true I believe. In the case of Geico marine however, The Geico advertising that we see only is a function of the personal lines auto division and is separately accounted for. Bear in mind, most of us do not normally have enough exposure to accurately evaluate an insurance carrier. In the case of a bad experience however, that really doesn't matter. Phil de l'Etoile West Sacramento, CA ------------------------------------------------------ On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 7:50 AM, Sean Welsh via Trawlers-and-Trawlering < trawlers@lists.trawlering.com> wrote: > I am seeking first-hand, experience based opinions on GEICO yacht > insurance. We have a quote in hand from a reputable broker that is less > than we pay now for PrimeTime through Atlass. > > > -Sean > m/y Vector > lying Vilano Beach, FL > >

I have had my policy through Seaworthy which through mergers and acquisitions is now Geico and I have been with them for the last 3 years. My renewal is in February this year and I just received the new premium which is 20% higher than last year. I do live in South Florida and was told that they are raising premiums down here to manage the risk. Current boat is a 36 Sabre MKII, seems to me that a 20% increase in 1 year is a bit too much. Stuart > On Jan 7, 2016, at 7:26 PM, Phil de l'Etoile via Trawlers-and-Trawlering <trawlers@lists.trawlering.com> wrote: > > Sean, > > Let me add to my previous comments. > > First, it's been about 20 years since I retired from the insurance > business, and as with most other financial industries, there have been > many changes in recent years. > In order to update my understanding of what's going on with BoatUS and > Geico currently, I spoke to one the senior executives at BoatUS. > > Essentially what Al Golden previously covered is correct, and all of the > policies placed with Geico Marine are handled by the BoatUS people. So in > that regard there should be no problems in terms of claims handling. > > The point that I brought up about Agent/Broker commissions is not correct. > While the premiums for brokered business are the same as business written > directly with BoatUS, the commissions are deducted from the premiums, not > added to them. So how you buy your policy makes no difference in terms of > premiums, other than to say that I would expect any questions or complaints > that you might have would have to be handled through the Agent or Broker if > that's how your policy was purchased. > > Presently non-brokered policies are apparently a very small part of BoatUS' > total book of business, but if that changes, it's certainly possible that > the way commissions are handled could also change. At this point it makes > no difference to the insured. > > My comments about the high costs of advertising expenses impacting the > willingness of carriers to pay claims, basically still holds true I > believe. In the case of Geico marine however, The Geico advertising that > we see only is a function of the personal lines auto division and is > separately accounted for. > > Bear in mind, most of us do not normally have enough exposure to accurately > evaluate an insurance carrier. In the case of a bad experience however, > that really doesn't matter. > > Phil de l'Etoile > West Sacramento, CA > ------------------------------------------------------ > > On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 7:50 AM, Sean Welsh via Trawlers-and-Trawlering < > trawlers@lists.trawlering.com> wrote: > >> I am seeking first-hand, experience based opinions on GEICO yacht >> insurance. We have a quote in hand from a reputable broker that is less >> than we pay now for PrimeTime through Atlass. >> >> >> -Sean >> m/y Vector >> lying Vilano Beach, FL >> >> > _______________________________________________ > http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers_lists.trawlering.com > > To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options (get password, change email address, etc) go to: http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers_lists.trawlering.com > Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World > Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited.