Replacement rudder for Mull 28

Anything that doesn't fit into the other Physical Systems categories
Lionel7
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 12:12 pm

Re: Replacement rudder for Mull 28

Post by Lionel7 »

What was the final total cost and did insurance cover it ? Mine was about $12,500 total including installation and shipping. State Farm paid for it all.

walterg
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2016 6:48 am
Contact:

Re: Replacement rudder for Mull 28

Post by walterg »

The rudder was a little under $5K all in with shipping duty, etc. I did all of the installation work myself. The total cost to me of the incident including towing, storage, haulout and relaunch, etc. was about $7500.

Insurance (Geico/Boat US) paid out $2700 to me.

I'm not very knowledgeable about insurance but I think that the main difference between my rudder loss and yours, was that yours happened much earlier in the life of your boat. The insurance company sent out a surveyor and accepted all of my expenses, but my policy has a 80% deductible based on the age of the boat.

To be honest, I was happy to get anything from them. I really only have insurance to cover liability I might incur from an accident, sinking etc. and didn't have any expectations that I would get the money to put a $15K rudder into what is now a $15K boat.
Walter Gotham
Salem MA USA
'87 Freedom 28-Mull #33 "Nova Vita"

RonR
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 7:03 am

Re: Replacement rudder for Mull 28

Post by RonR »

The insurance payout you got is because of a Boat US policy change, after they switched underwriting to Geico a few years back. It’s in the policy language, but long time customers with older boats were not notified of this significant change- unless of course they read their policies, which we all should do. A representative confirmed that they will now only cover repair bills subject to a depreciation schedule- after 20 years they will pay 10% less of any repair claims per year for every year of the boat's age, and at 28 and over they will cover a maximum of 20% of the cost of any repairs, less the dedcutible.

So if you have an older boat insured with Boat US, you effectively have only liability coverage and coverage for a total loss. It matters not if your boat has just been completely updated and restored, the only factor is the age of the hull. I get depreciation of things like sails, upholstery, outboards, and electronics, but to my mind it doesn’t entirely make sense for cruising sailboats.

It might be OK with you if the boat is not very valuable, but as the owner of an older, but still valuable boat I dropped Boat US/ Geico as soon as I clarified this policy with Boat US. I confirmed with them that if my boat suffered significant damage, but short of a total loss, the most they would pay would be 20% of the cost of repairs, less my deductible. I believe they have since added the possibility of a rider that will increase older boat coverage to a limited extent.

I went with State Farm, which had better coverage at almost half the price. State Farm- and other insurance companies so far as I could tell- would pay for the repair, less deductible, so long as it was less than the agreed value of the boat.

walterg
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2016 6:48 am
Contact:

Re: Replacement rudder for Mull 28

Post by walterg »

Thank you Ron, that clearly explains what happened to me. I will add that to my long list of lessons learned the hard way :lol:
Walter Gotham
Salem MA USA
'87 Freedom 28-Mull #33 "Nova Vita"

Post Reply