[Rhodes22-list] Boat Insurance Question

[Richard Smith]

On the ACV issue.

Please remember that in general the market for older, smaller, used
sailboats is very much a buyers market. A few years ago I had to sell a
beautiful Albin 28 foot diesel cruiser for $6,500 and only got that after a
six month wait!!  The boat had a lot of exposure because it was brokered
from a Brewers Yard in Connecticut.

The only small sailboats which are in demand are the high end luxury charter
boats built by boutique builders and (locally) established racing class
boats like the Marshall Cats and Pearson Ensigns.

 Can you imagine the powerful urge to get out of a financial drain that an
isolated seller feels after fruitlessly trying to sell for months?  Better
to simply total the boat (one way or the other) and collect the declared
value from the insurer.

In my opinion GB's policy of brokering/buying back their product is a deal
maker.  No other manufacturer offers anything like this.  However since
Stan's business model is so unique none of the marine insurance agents or
direct writing carriers are aware of it.

Because of that they have to restrict their exposure to whats published in
the Blue Book.

Richard Smith

PS:  I run the claim department for a small auto insurer.  What I write here
sets forth the general reality of the insurance causality business.