The difference between pleasure craft insurers. What your insurer doesn’t offer!

Agreed Fixed Value essentially means your boat is insured for a set value and in the event of a total loss, that is the value which you would be paid out. Be wary of the conditions your policy may have on it, we have seen many policies with small fine print which states that the insured (you) must confirm the agreed fixed value of your boat annually or the insurer will revert the policy to a market value policy. This means many boat owners are paying the agreed fixed price while getting a market value product, all without their awareness! Pantaenius does not have those conditions, the vessel price on your policy schedule is the price it is insured for, no questions asked.

Market Value on the other hand is as the name suggests, an insurance policy based off the current replacement value of a vessel. This means, while you are still insured for a certain amount as the boats maximum value, in the event of a total loss, if a replacement boat which is a match to yours is available, insurers may elect to pay you out on that cost or buy you that boat. If no match is found then the insured sum is paid out. Therefore, if you have a one off boat insured on a market value basis, your conditions would be more comparable to an agreed fixed value policy due to it being impossible to find a match on the market. Pantaenius began offering Market Value policies in recent years for older boats. We noticed a gap in the market and as such created a product which would allow older, unique boats to be insured which many other insurers refuse to touch.

New for Old

‘New for Old’ is an inclusion policies may have, it means that when your old parts require replacement as a part of a claim, they will replace with brand new. So if your 6 year old chart plotter is damaged by lightning, you will receive a new model replacement. The catch is that there is usually a depreciation applied to the costs of the new part based on its remaining service life. Insurers will generally depreciate by a certain percentage every year, all the way down to 0. There are usually also other conditions applied which affect the final payout so it is best to review your policy documents and PDS very carefully. Pantaenius is one of the only, or possibly even the only insurer which offers true ‘New for Old.’ Further, if the our policy covers ‘New for Old with Deduction’ it means that if a part is less than 2 years old then there is still no depreciation is applied, and following that a maximum of a 30% depreciation is applied to brand new parts which are a betterment to the vessel. Only after 10 years may we consider a larger depreciation, but most of the time the deduction remains capped at 30%.

Towing

Most insurance policies will cover required towing costs, whether it be in an emergency or to get you to the nearest repairer if you boat can’t move under its own power or sail. These costs still require you to pay the deductible, they are treated as a normal claim. Pantaenius however waves the deductible when you require a tow for safety reasons. Pantaenius offers free towing to a maximum of $ 5,000.00 when required to get a boat to safe harbor!

Live-a-boards

Do you live primarily on board your vessel, permanently cruising? It is best to check that your insurer definitely covers this, ideally you should obtain something from them in writing to confirm. A lot of insurance companies have been moving away from covering those that are always on board, the risk is generally higher the more a vessel is used. Pantaenius still offers full cover for those that live on board, a large portion of our clientele is permanently cruising, whether it’s in Australian or International waters.

Pro Rata Worldwide Cruising Areas

Cruising in Australia, your insurer would likely just cover you for Australian waters year round. This means you could be paying for a more extensive coverage than you need. Further, on the other side may also have restrictions for where cover can be provided. For example, a lot of insurers can’t cover boats in the far North of Australia. Alternatively, next to no insurers in Australia can cover cruising outside of Australian waters, they simply do not have a product for it. Pantaenius however can cover boats globally, we have multiple different cruising areas which cover different areas of the world.  In Australia we have Australia North and Australia South, internationally we have the South Pacific, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean… the list goes on. Each of these areas has different coverage requirement and different rates depending on the risk level of each area. Pantaenius policies cover you for the cruising area you need at a given time, and once you change areas to one of a lower rate we can offer a pro rata refund. This ensures that you only ever pay for what you need as well as allowing us to amend you cover to ensure adequate protection is in place in the different areas. The best way to describe it would be insurance cover tailored to your specific needs, not a blanket cover for the average range of requirements.