Marine renewal guide
Your boat insurance went up. Here is what moved.
A marine policy is priced on things a car policy never asks about: what the hull is agreed to be worth, how recently a surveyor looked at it, where you are allowed to take it, and what you have undertaken to do when a storm is named. Any of them can move a renewal on its own.
Written by the AiM Insurance negotiation deskLast updated
The short answer
Almost every marine renewal increase is one of five things: the filed rate moved, the hull got a year older, the survey went stale, the storm exposure of your cruising area was repriced, or something on the policy quietly changed — a lay-up period dropped, a deductible restructured, a settlement basis switched. They have completely different fixes, so the first job is working out which one you are looking at.
The five things that move a marine renewal
Read this table against your own renewal notice and last year’s declarations page side by side. Most owners can identify their cause in one pass, because the marine causes leave a visible trace on the document in a way a rate filing does not.
| Cause | Who controls it | Where you see it | What works |
|---|---|---|---|
| The filed rate or reinsurance cost moved | The carrier and its reinsurers | Nothing on the policy changed; only the premium did | Shop it. This one is not argued down, it is priced against. |
| The hull aged into a different band | Time | Same vessel, same everything, higher premium — and sometimes a changed settlement basis | Check whether agreed value survived the renewal. |
| The survey went stale or has open recommendations | You | A survey condition on the renewal, or a refusal to quote elsewhere | Get the survey done and close the recommendations in writing. |
| Storm exposure for your area was repriced | The carrier | A larger named-windstorm deductible, a new hurricane plan clause, or tighter dates | Compare the storm clauses, not just the premium. |
| Something on the policy changed | The carrier, usually at renewal | A dropped lay-up credit, altered navigational limits, a restructured deductible | Line-by-line comparison against last year's dec page. |
No figures here on purpose. A marine premium depends on hull value, age, build, cruising area, storm exposure and use, and any “average” across that spread would tell you nothing about your own policy. The causes are general; the numbers are yours.
Diagnosing yours, in order
Put the two declarations pages side by side
This year's and last year's. Not the renewal offer summary — the declarations pages, which are the documents that actually state the terms. Most marine changes are visible on the page if you know which lines to read.Check the settlement basis first
Agreed value or actual cash value. This is the largest single difference between two marine policies and it can change at a renewal without the premium changing much at all.Check the declared hull value and the deductibles
Marine deductibles are often expressed as a percentage of the insured hull value rather than as a flat sum, which means the dollar deductible moves whenever the value does — in both directions, without anyone deciding anything.Check the lay-up dates and the navigational limits
Both are conditions of cover rather than features of it. A lay-up period that no longer matches how you use the boat, or limits that no longer match where you take it, are worth more attention than the premium line.Check the survey requirement and any open recommendations
If a surveyor raised recommendations and they are not closed out in writing, that is a known defect on file. It affects what you will be quoted everywhere, not just here.Then price the same terms across the market
Same settlement basis, same hull value, same deductible structure, same limits, same cruising area. A marine quote that is cheaper on different terms is not a cheaper quote.
Check it yourselfCoverage terms, survey requirements and storm clauses vary by carrier, by vessel and by state. Everything on this page is general information about how marine policies are structured — your own policy wording is the authority on what yours says.
The four clauses worth reading properly
Each of these is a place where two marine policies that look identical on premium are materially different products. They are also, in our experience, the four questions owners most often discover the answer to at claim time.
Marine cover, clause by clause
- Agreed value vs ACVThe clause that decides what a total loss pays, and how to tell in ten seconds which one you have.
- The marine surveyWhy a carrier asks for a survey, what the recommendations obligate you to do, and how survey age moves a quote.
- Navigation limitsThe two geographic clauses that can suspend cover, and the storm plan most owners never read until a warning is issued.
- Lay-up periodsWhat a lay-up warranty actually restricts, what it credits, and the mistake that voids it in one afternoon.
Is a yacht different?
In degree rather than in kind. The same five causes move a yacht renewal, but three things scale with the vessel: the settlement basis matters more because the sum at stake is larger, protection and indemnity exposure grows once there is paid crew aboard, and the survey becomes a bigger piece of the underwriting conversation rather than a box to tick. If that is your situation, the yacht insurance page describes what we do with a yacht policy specifically.
What about boats on a home policy?
Small craft are sometimes covered by an endorsement on a homeowners policy, usually with a low limit and a narrow definition of what counts. If that is your arrangement, read the endorsement before you assume it is cover: liability on the water, salvage and wreck removal, and pollution liability are the three things such endorsements most often leave out. The wider picture on the property side is in why homeowners premiums are rising.
What we would do with it
The same thing we do with a car or home renewal, starting from the policy you already hold. We read the declarations page, price the identical terms — settlement basis, hull value, deductible structure, navigational limits and lay-up dates all matched — across the market, and take that result back to your current carrier before anyone suggests moving. The what is actually negotiable page sets out the general method; marine differs mainly in how much of the price sits in clauses rather than in the rate.
25% of first-year savings · $149 flat fee for new-policy placement · $0 if we find no savings
Common questions
Why did my boat insurance go up when I did not make a claim?
For the same structural reason a car or home renewal does, plus two that are specific to marine. The structural one is that your carrier's filed rates and its reinsurance costs changed, which affects everyone in your class at once. The marine-specific ones are that your hull is a year older — which can move both the premium and the settlement basis — and that your cruising area's storm exposure is repriced far more often than a home in the same state. None of those has anything to do with how you handled the boat.
Does the age of my marine survey affect my premium?
Frequently, yes. Many carriers will not quote an older vessel at all without a condition and valuation survey inside a stated age, and a stale survey can mean a declined quote rather than a higher one. Outstanding recommendations from the last survey matter as much as the date: a carrier that knows a recommendation was raised and not completed is pricing a known defect. Ask what your carrier's survey age requirement is before you shop, because it determines whether you are able to shop at all.
What is the difference between agreed value and actual cash value on a boat policy?
Agreed value pays the figure written on the policy if the vessel is a total loss, with no deduction for depreciation. Actual cash value pays what the vessel was worth at the moment of the loss, which is the market value less depreciation, and it is the carrier's valuation that governs. Two quotes at the same premium can be completely different products on this one line. Check which one your declarations page names before you compare anything else.
What are navigational limits and why do they matter?
They are the geographic area the policy covers, written into the policy itself — a stretch of coast, a distance offshore, a set of inland waters, or a named region with seasonal boundaries. Taking the vessel outside them can suspend cover for the duration, which is a different and much larger problem than a claim being reduced. If your plans for the season have changed, the limits are the first clause to reread and usually the easiest thing to have amended.
What is a lay-up period?
A stated period each year when the vessel is not in use — typically ashore or in a berth, unmanned and not navigating. In exchange for that restriction the policy is priced lower for those months. The warranty is a condition, not a suggestion: using the vessel during the declared lay-up can leave you without cover for anything that happens, so the credit is only worth taking if the dates match how you actually use the boat.
Is a named storm deductible different from my ordinary deductible?
Usually, and usually larger. Marine policies in storm-exposed areas commonly carry a separate deductible for named windstorm losses, and many carry a hurricane plan clause requiring specified action — hauling out, moving to a named refuge, doubling lines — once a warning is issued for your area. Read what the plan obligates you to do while the weather is still calm, because the clause is written to be acted on before a storm, not after.
Should I bundle my boat with my home and auto?
Sometimes, and it is worth pricing both ways rather than assuming. A bundle is priced by a generalist carrier and a standalone marine policy is priced by a marine underwriter, and the two are not just different prices — they are different wordings, with different treatment of hull settlement, salvage, wreck removal and pollution liability. Compare the policy language as well as the premium before you decide the bundle is cheaper.
Can a boat insurance renewal be negotiated?
The filed rate cannot be argued down, but almost every input feeding it can be revisited: the declared hull value, the lay-up dates, the navigational limits, the deductible structure, the survey and its outstanding recommendations, and the operator experience on file. That is the same shape as a car renewal — the price is a decision made from inputs, and the inputs are frequently out of date.
If you are shopping it yourself
- Get the survey question answered first. It decides whether you can shop at all, and a stale survey wastes every quote you request.
- Ask every quote for the settlement basis in writing. Agreed value and actual cash value are not comparable, whatever the premiums say.
- Ask for the named-windstorm deductible in dollars at your hull value, not as a percentage.
- Read the hurricane plan clause and check you can actually comply with it where the boat is kept.
- Match the lay-up dates to your real season. A credit for months you intend to use the boat is not a saving.
- Confirm the navigational limits cover everywhere you plan to go this year, including the delivery trip.
Send the declarations page and we will read the clauses
We price the same coverage across 50+ providers with the settlement basis, deductible structure and navigational limits all matched, then take the result back to your current carrier first. An answer either way within 24 hours.
Takes 5 minutes · No card · $0 if no savings
Related
- Boat insurance negotiationHow we run the process on a boat policy, end to end.
- Yacht insurance negotiationOver 65 feet, or with paid crew aboard, the schedule is negotiated line by line.
- Why renewals riseThe line-agnostic version: filed rates, aging factors, expired discounts.
- Declarations page checklistOne printable page for reading a policy properly. Free, no email.