Boat Insurance
Posted: 17 August, 2023
Insurance doesn’t stop where the road ends! There is also insurance for watercraft, yachts, and Wave Runners. Personal watercraft is not required by law in most states, but it is highly recommended. A typical boat insurance policy may help cover if the watercraft is stolen, cover the motor on the boat, even emergency services such as a tow.
What is covered under a Boat Insurance policy?
There are many similar coverages on a boat insurance policy as an auto insurance. It is going to protect you from liability exposure, losses to physical damage to the boat, and more depending on the selected coverages. The cost for boat insurance may be more affordable than you think. Here are some of the primary coverages to look for on a boat policy.
- Liability: This is the coverage that protects you from being on the hook if someone is injured on the water and fault lies with you. This can be for people in other watercraft as well as friends who are riding in your boat. If someone is hurt, the owner of the boat can be left with the responsibility of paying to repair damage to others’ personal property or someone’s medical bills. If damage is extensive enough, other individuals can even seek justice through the legal system by suing the boat owner for pain, suffering, lost wages, death of a family member, and more.
- Uninsured Boater Protection: This coverage is to protect the boat owner from other boaters who do not have insurance. If they do not have any insurance, they don't have any liability coverage to pay for your injuries or property damage, leaving you to pay for the damages yourself, or push for legal action against the uninsured boater. This coverage will pay out to take care of your injuries and damages if someone with no insurance causes damage to you.
- Watercraft medical payments coverage Helps pay for some of your medical costs or funeral expenses if you, or anyone on your boat, is injured in an accident.
- Collision and Comprehensive: These coverages are very similar to their auto insurance counterparts. These are coverages to replace or repair the boat if something were to happen to it.
- Collision: Covers if the boat collides with something and suffers physical damage.
- Comprehensive: Covers the boat if something other than a collision causes physical damage or loss on the boat. Examples of this include fire, theft, or if the boat sinks on its own without a collision.
- In addition to these main coverages, you may see some additional coverages depending on the insurance company you are looking at. These coverages may include things like Boat Towing, Coastal Navigation, Personal Effects, and more.
- Renting the watercraft or charging for rides. If you are found to be making income off your watercraft, then your insurance will probably not cover you if there's any kind of property or liability claim. That's because you're operating at a higher risk. What you really need is a commercial policy.
- Transportation of the watercraft. If you're towing it to a dock and get into a car accident, your auto insurance would kick in to handle the claim.
- Using the watercraft outside a designated geographic area. Some policies will state that they only cover you if you're operating in certain types of waters, such as lakes, rivers, and inland waterways like a bay or sound. If you're riding on the open ocean, there may be limitations on how far out you can go from the shore when the policy will no longer be valid.
Written by: Premium Emilan