Replacement Value of Restored Flatback

[Spot]

I am finishing the rigging and electric on my 1967 flatback and hope to splash it Saturday. In the process of calling to get the boat insured the underwriters have required a marine survey to be performed. I just passed the marine inspection with the boat being 95% complete. In talking with the marine surveyor he is trying to come up with comps for the value of the boat. He was thinking that since it was a rebuild that he could justify the materials that went into the boat, but had a hard time including the labor. My point is that regardless of a commercial marine shop doing the restore, the work was competently completed at a labor cost to me that was equal to or greater than what I would have had a to pay a shop to refurbish (as my wife reminds me daily, I could have been spending my spare time working to earn the money to pay to have the boat restored). In the end he agreed that my labor was worth including but he had no good comps to compare this to.

I am sure most of you that have completed boats have gone through this process as well. Do you mind providing me some market value numbers for your boats so I can inform the marine surveyor of what this style of boat is valued at? I appreciate the feedback.

Spot

[wingtime]

Your in a difficult position. Go look at what a new comparable boat would cost to buy.  The prices are shocking!

[Blue Agave]

IMO you should hire a different surveyor. Any marine surveyor worth his salt would know the average labor cost for a marine fiberglass fabricator and marine rigger.

[gran398]

Went through the same scenario insuring Miss D. The insurance rep said no company would insure it for the value I requested since it was titled as forty years old.

Finally, Geico was willing to provide coverage with the maximum value they'd approve, 40K. Not enough, but at least she's insured.

IMHO the agent may be shooting a line requiring a survey. Give the Geico rep a call, at least you'll be able to get the 40, no questions asked.

[Spot]

Thanks for the comments. I agree, it is shocking to see production boats going for as much as they are, but after taking 8 months to build in my spare time I do have a better understanding on why it costs so much for these toys.

I originally checked with my home owners who said no problem rolling into a multi-policy, I even gave them an estimated value to get a quote. They called back and informed me that the underwriters would not insure based on the age of the boat unless I conducted an out of water survey by a professional surveyor. I then called Gieco and the rep stated that she could not give a quote until we had a marine survey conducted.

It appears the surveyor I hired is at least willing to work with me, but we are on the east coast and there are not so many of these boats to provide reasonable comps. I think if I can provide him a few comps he will have something to hang his hat on.

So does anyone have an estimated value on their boat that I can provide to the surveyor?

Spot

[Spot]

Also, I did try to refer him to Dorado, Gause, Aeon, etc as these molds were from the AS or similar, but he said they are not comparable as they are production boats vs. a rebuild.

[RickK]

Look through the Classified forum and you'll find some FB for sale.

[Aswaff400]

one of my customers at work has a 1969 cuda craft that he fully restored himself. he said added up came up to just over 19K into the boat, had a survey done and the surveyor came up with a 32K replacement value. you bet he has it insured for 32K. ill have to see what insurance he has.

[Blue Agave]

Went through the same scenario insuring Miss D. The insurance rep said no company would insure it for the value I requested since it was titled as forty years old.

Finally, Geico was willing to provide coverage with the maximum value they'd approve, 40K. Not enough, but at least she's insured.

IMHO the agent is shooting you a line of crap requiring a survey. Give the Geico rep a call, at least you'll be able to get the 40, no questions asked.

Spot & Scotty
I speak from experience when I say that a marine survey is for the benefit of the boat owner. Lets say you are able to get it insured without the survey as in the scenario Scotty mentions above.  If the boat were to magically disappear and you file a claim the insurance company will say,
Insurance rep: "The hull is 40 years old its worth $1,500"
Boat owner: "The boat is completely rebuilt and is under insured at $40k and I am paying a premium for $40k of insurance!"
Insurance rep: "Do you have a marine survey?"

I found myself in this situation with my boat and I can tell you that the insurance company will do all it can not to pay. I highly recommend that anyone with a rebuild get a marine survey. There are plenty of surveyors out there, so if the one you have cannot come up with a value for the labor I would recommend getting another surveyor.

[gran398]

Nando, thanks, that is an excellent point.

I'll call the agent Monday and report.

Wonder if the individual state insurance commishes set the standards for situations such as this. As mentioned, no survey requirements here in NC.

[SaltH2OHokie]

I had an agreed value policy on my Correct Craft and when it "sank" on the trailer (NorEaster came out of left field and between debris and enormous volumes of rainwater, the bilge filled above the level of the motor), they "totaled" the boat and paid out the amount I was paying a premium on, which was well above the NADA or any other book value, with one visit from an adjuster and very little else.  

That was Allstate, I believe, but don't quote me on that...  I think the boat booked at like $7,500 as a package, boat/motor/trailer, and I had it insured at like $16,500 or whatever I calculated the components to add up were they to all end up on the bottom of the Atlantic.  So, granted, I'm not talking about the $40-50k y'all are, but it was still well above the book value with no survey on the front end, and no hassle when I actually made a claim.

Also, when making the claim, I was worried they'd put it on me for not running out there in the storm and clearing the garboard drain (wouldn't have been possible, I was in Blacksburg, boat was in Suffolk), but they said it happens all the time in big storms, and they cover it all the time.

[seabob4]

Funny about what they cover.  I was telling a Progressive rep that one of my customers hooked up his batts backwards, basically frying his wiring and causing a small electrical fire...which to me is just one dumba$$ owner.

She just shrugged, said, "Oh, we cover that..."


Huh???

[SaltH2OHokie]

You gotta figure nearly every loss is preventable to some degree...boat beats the dock during a storm and sinks: Shoulda pulled it.  Boat gets pulled before the next big storm, floats off of stands during storm surge...shoulda blocked it higher...so on and so forth.  

[cphilip]

I was messing around with quotes on the Progressive site the other night and noticed I could manipulate the value until it then read "agreed upon value" and find almost exactly the NADA mid range that way. And then I was able to generate costs for it at NADA "Market Value" level and then at the value I had into it above that And compare if the cost was worth it. It would vary about 10 bucks a year every time I went up $500 but it accepted it. At least to the extreme I went it did. Not sure this would work on larger amounts as I was only plugging in like 4 grand and 5 grand. Might be something to play with...