Boat Insurance
AmityFin
Boat Insurance
Coverage
When it comes to insuring your boat, it’s often best to separate your boat insurance from your homeowner's policy. Many homeowners’ policies limit or don’t cover marine-specific risks, such as salvage work, wreck removal, pollution or environmental damage; but there are exceptions.
Many homeowners policies include perfectly good coverage for smaller boats and motors, usually with a horsepower limit of from 25- to 100-horsepower. While homeowners riders are normally adequate for these boats, be careful to ask the same questions you’d ask any other insurer about damages to your vessel and how they will be paid. Also, most homeowners insurance riders apply only to use in inland waterways, lakes and rivers. Coverage seldom extends outside a coastal inlet or along the beach. If you plan to boat “outside the inlet” you definitely need an experienced marine insurer.
Insurance Factors
Insurers consider many factors when deciding whether or not to offer a policy. Almost any vessel can be insured— for a price. You want to consider the following to make sure the policy you purchase meets your needs:
- Age of Boat
- Length
- Value
- Speed/Horsepower
- Condition (Does it meet US Coast Guard Standards in effect at the time it was built?)
- Primary residence (If the boat is used as a primary residence)
- Type (Inboard, Outboard, utility, cruiser, bassboat, saltwater fishing boat, performance boat)
- Homemade (Boats without a serial number are tricky but many kits are okay)
- Houseboats with no motor
- Ownership (more than 2 owners)
- Where it will operate (Ocean, lakes, bays, rivers, Great Lakes)
What Boat Insurance Policies Cover
How and where you boat determines the type of coverage you need. An "all risk" policy will offer the best protection. However, an “all risk” policy does not cover every type of loss. In insurance terms “all risk” just means that any risk not specifically omitted in the policy is covered. Typical exclusions include wear and tear, marring, denting, animal damage, manufacturers’ defects, design defects, ice and freezing.
You may also be able to add extra coverage. Available options may include: medical payments, personal effects, uninsured boaters liability, and towing and assistance. Most policies will cover permanently attached equipment, as well as items like anchors, oars, trolling motors, tools, seat cushions, and life jackets. Be sure to discuss these options with your agent.
