Insuring boats and watercraft
Insuring boats and watercraft
Like much of the rest of the insurance business, competition is strong in
the boating and watercraft marketplace. "Pricing remains very competitive,"
says Beachley. Park concurs. "We are seeing tweaks to policies," he
explains. "More carriers are offering disappearing deductibles and they're
enhancing coverages, such as personal property and towing coverage, to attract more customers."
There's been some shuffling of carriers in the boat and watercraft insurance space. "We have seen a few companies exit the market," says Beachley, "and a couple of new players have entered." Semler, who describes current
competition as aggressive, sees some markets growing while others are shrinking. "There are fewer markets for yachts-boats 26 feet and
greater-than there were, say, three years ago," he says. "At the same time, there are more small boat writers. A lot of the direct writers are getting
into it big time."
Semler recently encountered one such carrier at a local boat show. "I stopped by their booth and asked some questions, and the people there really
didn't have a lot of answers," he explains. "I looked at the premiums they were charging, and I suspect they're subsidizing the premiums they are
illustrating with their homeowners, auto and umbrella policies, because at the rate levels they showed, they can't possibly have losses on the
watercraft side and be profitable." Burke is observing underwriting changes as competition intensifies in some segments of the market. "Insurance scoring is becoming more prevalent in
pricing," she explains. "Also, standard carriers are enhancing their boat endorsements to offer more coverage."
Some think the boating and watercraft market may be living on borrowed time
when it comes to weather-related losses. "We're fortunate that we have not
had hurricanes like we did back in '05 and '06," says Park. "We have really
dodged a bullet." Park says most carriers-especially those with a long
history in the market-are well positioned to withstand such storms.
"Deductibles are higher for named or numbered storms," he explains, "and
some carriers have reduced exposure in hurricane-prone areas and for older
vessels, which are harder to repair. Some carriers, particularly newer
entrants, may not be as well prepared."
Like much of the rest of the insurance business, competition is strong in the boating and watercraft marketplace. "Pricing remains very competitive," says Beachley. Park concurs. "We are seeing tweaks to policies," he explains. "More carriers are offering disappearing deductibles and they're enhancing coverages, such as personal property and towing coverage, to attract more customers."
There's been some shuffling of carriers in the boat and watercraft insurance space. "We have seen a few companies exit the market," says Beachley, "and a couple of new players have entered." Semler, who describes current competition as aggressive, sees some markets growing while others are shrinking. "There are fewer markets for yachts-boats 26 feet and greater-than there were, say, three years ago," he says. "At the same time, there are more small boat writers. A lot of the direct writers are getting into it big time."
Semler recently encountered one such carrier at a local boat show. "I stopped by their booth and asked some questions, and the people there really didn't have a lot of answers," he explains. "I looked at the premiums they were charging, and I suspect they're subsidizing the premiums they are illustrating with their homeowners, auto and umbrella policies, because at the rate levels they showed, they can't possibly have losses on the watercraft side and be profitable." Burke is observing underwriting changes as competition intensifies in some segments of the market. "Insurance scoring is becoming more prevalent in pricing," she explains. "Also, standard carriers are enhancing their boat endorsements to offer more coverage."
There's been some shuffling of carriers in the boat and watercraft insurance space. "We have seen a few companies exit the market," says Beachley, "and a couple of new players have entered." Semler, who describes current competition as aggressive, sees some markets growing while others are shrinking. "There are fewer markets for yachts-boats 26 feet and greater-than there were, say, three years ago," he says. "At the same time, there are more small boat writers. A lot of the direct writers are getting into it big time."
Semler recently encountered one such carrier at a local boat show. "I stopped by their booth and asked some questions, and the people there really didn't have a lot of answers," he explains. "I looked at the premiums they were charging, and I suspect they're subsidizing the premiums they are illustrating with their homeowners, auto and umbrella policies, because at the rate levels they showed, they can't possibly have losses on the watercraft side and be profitable." Burke is observing underwriting changes as competition intensifies in some segments of the market. "Insurance scoring is becoming more prevalent in pricing," she explains. "Also, standard carriers are enhancing their boat endorsements to offer more coverage."
Some think the boating and watercraft market may be living on borrowed time when it comes to weather-related losses. "We're fortunate that we have not had hurricanes like we did back in '05 and '06," says Park. "We have really dodged a bullet." Park says most carriers-especially those with a long history in the market-are well positioned to withstand such storms. "Deductibles are higher for named or numbered storms," he explains, "and some carriers have reduced exposure in hurricane-prone areas and for older vessels, which are harder to repair. Some carriers, particularly newer entrants, may not be as well prepared."
