Houseboat Insurance - The Who, What, Where, and How Much?

by Dawn
(Ontario, Canada)

We're looking for houseboat insurance and we're having problems finding someone who will insure us, what information they need, where to find leads for insurance companies, and how much it costs for a marine survey?

I live in Ontario, Canada, and I'm trying to find houseboat insurance for my 32 foot, 1982 houseboat. Some insurance companies will not insure us, and one insurance agent asked us for a marine survey.

We have two questions about getting our house boat insured:

1) Do you have any leads to an insurance company that could insure our houseboat?

2) What is a ballpark figure for a "in water" marine survey cost in Ontario? One marine surveyor fellow just quoted us $450.00, does the price sound reasonable to do a survey on a 32 ft houseboat.

Thanks so much for your time, Dawn.

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Reply - Answer
Well Dawn, congratulations on your 32 ft houseboat, and don't worry, we'll find an insurance company that will insure your houseboat.

Generally speaking, all insurance companies have slightly different requirements or criteria when it comes to insuring a houseboat.

Some won't insure houseboats, and others will insure your house boat as an addition to your home policy. Then there are the companies that specialize in only marine insurance.

To answer your question, you should visit CAA Insurance, as they insure all kinds of pleasure craft, and they also insure houseboats as part of their marine policies.

As another alternative, you should look at our house boat insurance page, as it has tips, information, and insurance company names, as well as questions to ask the insurance agent about certain policy conditions.

Now, going from houseboat insurance to marine surveys, you will find that rates can vary from one surveyor to another. To give you a "ballpark" figure, you can go from $10 a foot, to over $30 foot depending on the extent or degree of detail needed.

Now about houseboat marine surveyors, I would rather pay a little more for someone who is qualified and knowledgeable, that can find the true condition, value, and repairs needed on a houseboat, than to save a few bucks on someone who just recently printed business cards, and wants to survey boats as a part time hobby, or second source of income.

So, if the surveyor fellow you mentioned, quoted you $450 dollars to survey your houseboat "in-water", than the cost appears to be within the going rates. To do it properly, it does take time, and is well worth the price in the long run.



Lastly, hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about their houseboat insurance and survey experiences.


Thanks again for sharing, IAN from all-about-houseboats

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