Uninsured Boaters Coverage - Make Sure You Have It!

[fishheadbarandgrill]

some of you may have seen my posting on the Tugnuts Facebook Group. Here's a quick summary.

Hit by an uninsured boater (crabber) in a 20' Carolina Skiff on plane. GA doesn't require insurance. We were at anchor after sunrise. It was cold and he said that he wasn't looking because he was huddled behind his wind break putting on gloves. He hit us in the stern near the shore power receptacles. I carried my inflatable dinghy on the swim platform. Remarkably no one was injured. The dinghy probably prevented him from launching through my cockpit into the back of the salon.

The boat is now at Thunderbolt Marine in Savannah for repairs. Only a 9 hour tow from the incident location 🙂. If I didn't have uninsured boater coverage I would be looking at a $50K repair bill (estimated based on preliminary survey). My deductible is 1% of agreed hull value so my cost will be relatively little compared to the overall cost.

I recommend that you review your coverage and ensure you have uninsured boater coverage. We've owned the boat for 6 weeks and were on our fist trip with the boat to the Keys. Trip over. Everyone safe. We will get her back mid to late April in excellent shape. I'm very confident in the yard, as is my carrier.

 

[NorthernFocus]

My bet is that his "gloves" were wrapped around a cell phone. I've nearly been run down by a couple of commercial fishing boat that got close enough for me to see the helmsman looking down at "something".

 

[yorangerjim]

some of you may have seen my posting on the Tugnuts Facebook Group. Here's a quick summary.

Hit by an uninsured boater (crabber) in a 20' Carolina Skiff on plane. GA doesn't require insurance. We were at anchor after sunrise. It was cold and he said that he wasn't looking because he was huddled behind his wind break putting on gloves. He hit us in the stern near the shore power receptacles. I carried my inflatable dinghy on the swim platform. Remarkably no one was injured. The dinghy probably prevented him from launching through my cockpit into the back of the salon.

The boat is now at Thunderbolt Marine in Savannah for repairs. Only a 9 hour tow from the incident location 🙂. If I didn't have uninsured boater coverage I would be looking at a $50K repair bill (estimated based on preliminary survey). My deductible is 1% of agreed hull value so my cost will be relatively little compared to the overall cost.

I recommend that you review your coverage and ensure you have uninsured boater coverage. We've owned the boat for 6 weeks and were on our fist trip with the boat to the Keys. Trip over. Everyone safe. We will get her back mid to late April in excellent shape. I'm very confident in the yard, as is my carrier.

thanks for the reminder I will call my insurance company to just check on my policy

 

[yorangerjim]

My bet is that his "gloves" were wrapped around a cell phone. I've nearly been run down by a couple of commercial fishing boat that got close enough for me to see the helmsman looking down at "something".

I would put $100 bucks on that.....

 

[LongHaul]

As a new ranger tug Owner, I appreciate this advice. Makes total sense, thanks for sharing . Good luck with your speedy fixes for your own boat.

 

[knotflying]

Sorry to hear about your incident. And besides the pain of the repair, the fact that you had to abort your trip is even more of a disappointment. The first ding on a boat is always the most painful, but this one really hurts! Glad no one got hurt. And thanks for the heads up on carrying uninsured boater insurance. One can always sue the culprit, but if he was negligent enough not to have insurance he probably has little assets and it would be a hollow win.

 

[fishheadbarandgrill]

Sorry to hear about your incident. And besides the pain of the repair, the fact that you had to abort your trip is even more of a disappointment. The first ding on a boat is always the most painful, but this one really hurts! Glad no one got hurt. And thanks for the heads up on carrying uninsured boater insurance. One can always sue the culprit, but if he was negligent enough not to have insurance he probably has little assets and it would be a hollow win.

I'll be lucky if I get anything from him let alone my deductible.

 

[Martin610]

My brother got hit by a jet skit down in Florida some years ago. Uninsured. He never got any compensation.

I have had Boat US for a long time, like twenty years. Yes, the carriers change but Boat US provides the parameters. I have uninsured coverage in my policy. I never even thought to ask about it until now.

Good heads up though.

-martin