Corpusfishing.com

reallifetexan · Pony Mullet Joined: 08 Jun 2013 Posts: 77

Am about to switch my boat insurance over to BoatUS - they include a membership to TowBoatUS as part of the policy, and it seems to be pretty cost effective (if one wants such a membership). Am curious if anyone on the board has experience with this company and would like to share either positive or negative comments about their experiences with them. They're part of Geico, so should be reputable, but just wanted to make sure no one on the board had a particularly bad experience with them...

hillcountryfisherman · Pony Mullet Joined: 15 Dec 2017 Posts: 58

I have had from a 32 ' - to 20' boats, total of four boats with them.
Easy to work with, but have never had a claim with Boat USA.

MakoJJ · Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:23 pm Post subject:

They have always been easy to deal with over the phone and the internet, but I have never had a claim. Coverage seems good; can go with market value policy or agreed cash value policy. Seems like the cash policy is usually about 50% more premium.

As for Tow Boat US coverage, check the availability in Corpus. Had a friend who called them out of Marker 37 a few years ago and they never made it out because they "got busy." Ended up calling Sea Tow from my understanding. I have no firsthand knowledge but this is what I have heard.
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JJ

Rxfire · Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 2:37 pm Post subject:

I was going to switch to Boat US (from Progressive) until their "Agreed Value" was $6500 (for a 2002 24 ft El Pescador with a 150 Yamaha TRP). So I stayed with Progressive with a $20,000 Agreed Value. Progressive was cheaper, too, though their rates went up 20% from last year.

Also, Progressive has the "Sign and Glide" that provides free towing with a 1-800 number. They subcontract to SeaTow, as well as others, including Airboat towing if necessary (ask me how I know, re: Deadman's Hole).

BayFly · Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 3:38 pm Post subject:

I found that insuring my boat with my home insurer was the best way to go. I always keep a BoatUS Tow membership for boat and trailer. BoatUS was not anywhere near as good as using my home insurer.

Blast-n-Cast · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 1142

I have my boat insured with Charter Lakes and have an agreed value policy. Only had one claim (lower unit) but it went smooth and they paid with little to no hassle. I have towing on that policy, but I believe its a pay and then get reimbursed type of deal. I have not wanted to find out if thats a hassle or not so I double up on my towing and pay the yearly membership with BoatUS aka TowBoatUS and can say that it is well worth it in my experience. I have called them (BoatUS) twice. Once for the lower unit and they towed me back to Bluffs Landing from my cabin. The other time I ran my boat all the way to South Padre from Bluff Landing. Just on the other side of Port Mansfield I had an issue and had to call them. They came towed me to my destination in South Padre while I drank cold ones and burned zero fuel. Both times they showed up within an hour and got me where I needed to go without issue. There were no additional fees or upcharges other than the yearly membership. I would not hesitate to get towing through BoatUS.

Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 01 May 2008 Posts: 3961

Johninaustin · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 1104

This has me interested since I dumped SeaTow back in August. (long story, I would not open the back door to pee on them now)

My only concern about Towboat US is how much of a presence they have around Corpus/ Port A. I don't mind waiting in line but if they flat out won't come at all that's an issue.

I have towing reimbursement thru Progressive but I always like to have options.

MakoJJ · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 8:05 pm Post subject:

reallifetexan · Pony Mullet Joined: 08 Jun 2013 Posts: 77

Follow up to my inquiry:

I called BoatUS and was ready to sign up for their package deal of insurance plus TowboatUS membership, as it was a good deal, but realized in talking with them that they had the storage location wrong for the boat. I don't live down at the coast, but store my boat in Rockport, so when they changed the zip code of the storage place to the Rockport zip code, the insurance rate doubled. Naturally, I said "no thanks" and that was the end of that.

I do think I'm going to just pay the $149 for the TowboatUS membership, as it's a little cheaper than SeaTow per year, and I've heard both good and bad about both, which in my book makes it a toss-up. Might as well save a little money in that case.

MakoJJ · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:07 pm Post subject:

manuel9622 · Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 6:24 am Post subject:

I went with Charter Lakes. Setting up the policy and payments are easy.

Initially I used Allstate since I already use them for my homeowners. When I called Charter Lakes and told them to mirror what I have with Allstate they told me that I didn't have what boat insurance should be covering.

I now have towing reimbursment, lower unit coverage, environmental spillage coverage and all for the same low price.
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Shallow Sportn' it