Looking for Captain's Insurance Advice

[waterblue]

Thank you all for your input and suggestions. It has provided me with great perspective though for a bit it seemed as though I almost started a war, lol.

I'll elaborate my situation a bit more. I currently work on day tour boats and am about to enter into my first job as a captain. We carry a large number of tourist passengers, a majority of whom are often elderly and without "boat sense." During my years on tour boats I have seen many tourists do a lot really dumb things on boats and a lot of unexpected things like allergic reactions, tripping injuries, heart attacks, etc. take place. Fortunately with well trained crews we have so far in my time prevented any major mishaps. However, as a number of you mentioned, you can't predict the future and accidents can happen regardless of one's degree of preparation and I feel as though the likelyhood of people related incidents and thereby possible legal action can be increased in the passenger vessel sector of the industry.

This is my motivation for considering the insurance.

Thanks again for the insurance suggestions. I have a place to start now.

[Ea$y Money]

The question of wether or not license insurance is a good investment is probably not going to be a unanamous consensus in this forum or any other for that manner. I would suggest you visit a maritime attorney and get some legal advice then make your decision.

[Kennebec Captain]

The question of wether or not license insurance is a good investment is probably not going to be a unanamous consensus in this forum or any other for that manner. I would suggest you visit a maritime attorney and get some legal advice then make your decision.

Well, just to belabor the point the question was not if insurance was a good investment or not. The first question was did anyone have a recommendation? I use MOPS. That's a statement of fact not of opinion.

The second subject was is insurance like betting? - I think the answer is no, it's more like taking precautions like putting out extra lines.

Now the third question is should waterblue purchase insurance? I have no idea if he should or not and would not attempt to answer that.. That is something he has to decide. When I called I was surprised to find out how expensive it was but I went ahead anyway. This was about the time they hauled the master of the Cosco Busan off the ship after a pilot steered his ship into a bridge.

I think your advice to talk to an attorney is sound but you can call the insurance and get a quote for free.

K.C.

[john]

There is one more consideration.... simplicity.

When an accident happens the last thing I want to be doing is looking up lawyers and filling out forms. Rather I want someone to do the leg work for me without asking 100 questions. I also own a small sailboat. If it sank at its mooring I'd be ok financially because it's not worth too much money. I don't need to insure it but I do because if it sinks then the city is going to want me salvage it and that's a problem I don't want to deal with.

[DeckApe]

This thread is crazy. License insurance is like health insurance. Sure, you can eat well, exercise regularly and live a healthy lifestyle. But if something goes bad you could loose everything... house, retirement, savings, education for the kids. Why would anyone opt to risk everything to save a little monthly money?

Same thing goes for license insurance. You cans loose it all in the blink of an eye.

[cmjeff]

What does MOPS (or any of the insurers) do to help you if your license renewal get's rejected by the NMC?

I'm asking because one of the mates I works with is worried about his medical.

[Louis]

Just throwing this out take it like you want i got my first license in 1979 here we are almost out of 2011 I never had it and i never needed it. but to each his own

[c.captain]

Just throwing this out take it like you want i got my first license in 1979 here we are almost out of 2011 I never had it and i never needed it. but to each his own

I've also likewise been licensed for almost 30 years and have never carried it. Similarly, I have never had cause to need it or regret not having it but that of course does not negate its potential value. I have had a car accident where I was at fault and my carrier paid to replace my car and that of the other driver so I do know that being insured is important. Maybe someone can enlighten me how the premiums are calculated and levels of insurance are offered? Legal fees, income loss, etc... At my old age maybe it's time I looked at getting it. My big suspicion is that the underwriters will weasel out of paying a claim when it was needed. Seems like that they would be able to find loopholes just about anywhere if they really wanted to. Remember, insurance companies are only profitable by NOT paying the insured. That is probably the biggest reason I never have bought a policy.

[Towboater]

I have had MOPS Insurance for a number of years and it's like my credit card, I don't leave home without it. I have used it a few times as well, just last trip I was sitting still, shoved into the bank and was hit by another tow. There was no damage at all, but since we had red flag tow, the USCG was notified. Just as soon as I was informed the boys in blue were involved, I called MOPS and let them know. Within 15 minutes I was on the phone with a MOPS attorney and explained it all to him. Once the USCG got onboard, I got the atty back on the phone and put him on speaker phone and let him handle it all. I did not even say anything. The atty got in contact with my company and informed them he was in charge of everything and would handle all the paperwork for the USCG, all my company said was to send them copies of the file. And all this happened around 0200. I also made a claim a few years ago when we had a bad power surge on the boat and it fried most of the electronics in the wheelhouse including my laptop. I made a claim and had a check in the mail within 10 days to replace my laptop. I have personal and professional equipment replacement insurance, lost wage insurance, legal consultation and an attorney working for me at all times.
If you ever have an action taken against your license, and you have to hire an attorney to represent you, better mortagage the house quickly, because they are expensive. But with MOPS, no worry no hassle. NO, I do not work for MOPS, just happy with their service.

[Kennebec Captain]

For the record I am not arguing that mariners ought to have insurance. It is up to the individual. For most mariners it likely is not worthwhile.

I do however think it should be recognized that when you chose not to have insurance you are choosing to be self-insured. For example when I purchase electronics I turn down the loss/damage insurance they offer because I am willing to accept the potential loss. Same thing with my car. I only carry the required liability. If it gets totaled I will be out about $4000. I am a careful driver so over my lifetime I can come out ahead by not having it covered. Same with my house. I have big deductibles as I can absorb some of the lost. Not so however if the house was a total loss in which case I am covered. It's like dougpine pointed out, it a matter of knowing how much you have at risk.

I Remember, insurance companies are only profitable by NOT paying the insured.

Insurance is in some ways similar to a lottery. In both cases a very large number of people pay in a small amount and a very small number of people receive a large payout. In each case all that is required to make a profit is to take in more then they pay out.

The difference between a lottery and insurance is that the lottery picks payouts at random and insurance picks payouts in accordance with a contract. Profits could be increased by trying to cheat but an insurance company can, in principle, meet contractual obligations and still make a profit. It is essential a math problem involving statistics and probability.

K.C.

[dougpine]

Some good answers here: http://gcaptain.com/license-insurance?4036