BobnLesley
Well-known member
Perhaps not such a major issue for those sailing in the Med/EU, but once you look at crossing the ocean, this becomes a regular topic of conversation amongst the Cruising Community: Do you pay the premiums or take the risk? If you choose to insure, then who with?
We've been insured with Bluefin/Bishop Skinner for the last three or four years and when anyone's enquired about our experience with them, my response has always been along the lines of: The premium cost seems (to us) reasonable, the policy reads well, they've invariably been good/helpful to deal with, but I've never had to make a claim and don't know anyone who has, so can’t really comment on that.
That changed on Good-Friday morning, when I woke-up in boondocks, Bahamas to the fun and excitement of what we discovered was a detached and badly torn retina; oh what joy! We contacted the medical clinic on the nearest island and Bluefin too, both were absolutely awesome: Despite being advised that there were 'no seats available to the USA for the next four days - it's Easter you know.’ They had me on the afternoon flight to Miami and delivered to one of the USA's top eye hospitals which is located there within seven hours of my original call and the hospital's surgery department opened up especially to operate on my eye at 07:30 the following morning. I'm back in the Bahamas for now and things are looking ‘promising’, but Bluefin are flying me across to Miami and back for the first follow-up consultation/check-up at the end of the month.
When we (or I certainly) do the risk/reward calculation on whether to pay the premium or carry the risk ourselves, we really just contemplate the financial aspect of that equation, but when next it's your turn to do the same, I'd suggest that you to also consider the contacts/support that having a good insurer on your team provides. For my problem, time was as I discovered a very critical issue and despite having several healthy ‘emergency-money’ credit cards to wave around, I now suspect that irrespective of that, working as an individual, I very much doubt that I could’ve got myself treated in time to save the eye.
Thank you Bluefin/Bishop Skinner, I would heartily recommend them to you all: Their premium cost seems reasonable, the policy reads well, they've invariably been good/helpful to deal with and when I made a claim, their service and support was ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!
We've been insured with Bluefin/Bishop Skinner for the last three or four years and when anyone's enquired about our experience with them, my response has always been along the lines of: The premium cost seems (to us) reasonable, the policy reads well, they've invariably been good/helpful to deal with, but I've never had to make a claim and don't know anyone who has, so can’t really comment on that.
That changed on Good-Friday morning, when I woke-up in boondocks, Bahamas to the fun and excitement of what we discovered was a detached and badly torn retina; oh what joy! We contacted the medical clinic on the nearest island and Bluefin too, both were absolutely awesome: Despite being advised that there were 'no seats available to the USA for the next four days - it's Easter you know.’ They had me on the afternoon flight to Miami and delivered to one of the USA's top eye hospitals which is located there within seven hours of my original call and the hospital's surgery department opened up especially to operate on my eye at 07:30 the following morning. I'm back in the Bahamas for now and things are looking ‘promising’, but Bluefin are flying me across to Miami and back for the first follow-up consultation/check-up at the end of the month.
When we (or I certainly) do the risk/reward calculation on whether to pay the premium or carry the risk ourselves, we really just contemplate the financial aspect of that equation, but when next it's your turn to do the same, I'd suggest that you to also consider the contacts/support that having a good insurer on your team provides. For my problem, time was as I discovered a very critical issue and despite having several healthy ‘emergency-money’ credit cards to wave around, I now suspect that irrespective of that, working as an individual, I very much doubt that I could’ve got myself treated in time to save the eye.
Thank you Bluefin/Bishop Skinner, I would heartily recommend them to you all: Their premium cost seems reasonable, the policy reads well, they've invariably been good/helpful to deal with and when I made a claim, their service and support was ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!
