Below are the email exchanges on the topic of insurance for an L-36.

L-36 owners, As a result of the Eventide incident I have been looking at my insurance. I have Allstate insurance for a value up to $30,000 for which I pay $180 a year. It is the "up to" that has me wondering as they say it is up to the market value. With an L-36 on Craigs list for $1 and another one in a lien sale unsold for $1500 I shutter to think what they would say the market value is after something happens. I talked to Hagerty insurance (they insure my car) and they would use an out of water survey value as the agreed value. I am happy with the $30,000 number I have on my policy but would not be happy with a $1 market value. The other question I had was answered in that racing is not excluded with Allstate. I am seeking advice and experience on insurance companies. What company is good and what is the value of the insurance and is it an agreed upon value or like mine? Any experience on claims would be great. If I get enough inputs, I will write up a page on L-36.com as a reference so everyone can see the result of this little survey. Allen

A $30,000 is a fair price...I have mine at the same price and cost in Acapulco

We have Winsome insured for $40,000 this was based on an out of water survey. No where near what we have into her. Right now there is an L 36 for sale here in Vancouver asking price 49,000 if I remember correctly.

I nailed Harding Rock several years ago during the MMBA regatta. The bow was badly damaged, seams were sprung back to the chainplates and the mast was cracked from the deck to 12 feet up. Allstate came through for the full $50K of the policy. But it wasn't straight forward.

After the collision we went straight back to the dock. Knowing that the boat would be in the yard for quite a while, we got a storage locker (it was shipping container) and stripped the boat down to the floors and frames. Allstate engaged a surveyor who was more familiar with commercial fish boats that vintage wooden yachts. With a stripped interior, it was also hard for him to visualize how the boat looked. He had no idea what to make of a Sitka spruce mast. I think his valuation came in at about $20K - it was a lot less than the policy amount.

I ended up sending Allstate pfd pictures of Ole - interior and exterior - a poster for the Wooden Boat Show and the "best in show" award that Ole had won. A fairly recent Kent Parker survey attesting to the condition and value of the boat and a lot of polite but persistent follow up finally persuaded Allstate to pay. Relying only on the inappropriately appointed surveyor would have left us badly damaged.

I also had the full replacement, not depreciated value coverage. That's real important and it's usually buried in the boilerplate. I think it's called "TT" coverage.

Key lessons:

Recent Photos
Recent, knowledgeable survey
TT coverage
Persistence