Personal liability insurance: opitions,recommendations, experiences?

hello all! been a lurker for quite sometime, figured it was time to step up!
so, first question…

100 ton cap working on supply boats GOM. on my time off i occasionally do deliveries of smaller private sailboats and the occasional powerboat.

i am wondering about some kind of personal insurance for a worst case scenario. what is out there?
what kind of prices are we looking at for say 500,000 to a mil of coverage? what about stuff like fuel spills or any other problems one might run across??
it really sucks that it has come to this but these days we all need to CYA!!

Thanks in advance for any recommendations or experiences!!

Best insurance in that case would be to start an LLC if you ask me

[QUOTE=SailorDaniel;30637]Best insurance in that case would be to start an LLC if you ask me[/QUOTE]

good advice…also consider “bonding”??

Surprised at the lack of responses!! none of the licensed people out there has any kind of liability insurance?!!?
What about MOPS??

[QUOTE=imonthewater;30751]Surprised at the lack of responses!! none of the licensed people out there has any kind of liability insurance?!!?
What about MOPS??[/QUOTE]

Me too! Here’s some more on this topic

Marine License Insurance? Does anyone have it?

and

Marine License Insurance – An Interview With Admiralty Attorney Ralph J. Mellusi

[QUOTE=imonthewater;30751]Surprised at the lack of responses!! none of the licensed people out there has any kind of liability insurance?!!?
What about MOPS??[/QUOTE]

IMHO…this is a good topic…for most of us with “lower level” licenses it has never been a priority…don’t know how that attitude prevails in an LLC enviroment…as explained to me by a “DESK pilot”…in the past because you were deemed competent and licensed by the USCG and the company hired you based on that fact that under that approval you were “more or less covered” by the underwriters regarding civil matters…also believe there have been cases where the underwriters have “went after the operator” in order to recover…never heard of any resulting outcome??it is a “can of worms” anyway you “slice it”!!

In a former life, I was a Vice President of a liability insurance company.

An LLC might provide some help, but since YOU PERSONALLY are the Captain, it will not completly shield you form your actions should you commit an error. MOPS usually EXCLUDES coverage for yacht deliveries and other activities not specifically mentioned when you apply. MOPS is primarily for License coverage or in other words to provide legal representation for actions the USCG might take against your license thereby depriving you of the income from your license. They do have optional endorsements that may cover some civil liability, but those are priced according to your proposed covered activities.

One of the BEST things you can do on deliveries is to REQUIRE the Owner to list you as an additional named insured on his policy, this prevents the insurance company from suing YOU and adds your actions to his liability coverage. You would want to get a CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE from the owners insurance agent showing that this coverage has been issued.

Hope this helps.

[QUOTE=imonthewater;30635]hello all! been a lurker for quite sometime, figured it was time to step up!
so, first question…

100 ton cap working on supply boats GOM. on my time off i occasionally do deliveries of smaller private sailboats and the occasional powerboat.

i am wondering about some kind of personal insurance for a worst case scenario. what is out there?
what kind of prices are we looking at for say 500,000 to a mil of coverage? what about stuff like fuel spills or any other problems one might run across??
it really sucks that it has come to this but these days we all need to CYA!!

Thanks in advance for any recommendations or experiences!![/QUOTE]

One of the BEST things you can do on deliveries is to REQUIRE the Owner to list you as an additional named insured on his policy, this prevents the insurance company from suing YOU and adds your actions to his liability coverage. You would want to get a CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE from the owners insurance agent showing that this coverage has been issued.
Hope this helps.

Very good advice. COI are easily obtained free for the asking. I have gotten them many times in a past profession.