Insuring any type of watercraft can be confusing and expensive. Whether you have a powerboat, sailboat, houseboat, personal watercraft, bass boat, yacht, pontoon boat, mega boat, high-performance boat, runabout, cabin cruiser, canoe, or kayak you need to be properly insured for the extra liability that comes with it. Liability exposures, navigation limits, and even the results of your wake on the water can be catastrophic.
Typical Types Of Coverage Your Policy May Have
- Hull Coverage pays for accidental, direct physical loss, or damage to your vessel and equipment as well as salvage charges. Hull Insurance is broad and may include spars, sails, machinery, furniture, dinghies/tenders, outboard motors, fittings and other equipment normally required for the operation and maintenance of your vessel. This coverage is commonly know as Collision and Comprehensive Coverage.
- Lay-Up Period Coverage may reduce your premium in recognition of a period when the boat will not be in use.
- Loss Settlement Coverage (Agreed or Stated Cash Value) pays the value of your vessel that you select at the start of your policy, regardless of the current market value if the vessel is lost, damaged, or considered to be a total loss. Actual Cash Value pays the book value of the vessel minus physical depreciation and condition if the vessel is lost, damaged, or considered to be a total loss.
- Medical Payment Coverage pays for reasonable medical, first aid treatment, ambulance service, and hospital costs should someone be injured while in, upon, boarding, leaving or while being towed behind your vessel (such as water skiing) even if you are not legally responsible.
- Off-Water Coverage pays for your vessel while it’s stored at a marina in the off season.
- Off-Water Towing and 24-hour Roadside Assistance Coverage pays for towing assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the closest repair center if your vehicle or trailer breaks down while towing the vessel.
- On-Water Towing Coverage pays on-water towing and labor cost when work is performed on-site at the time and place of disablement.
- Personal Property Coverage pays theft, damage or loss for such items as clothing, sunglasses, mobile phones, cameras, personal effects and sports and fishing equipment belonging to you and your family while those items are being loaded/unloaded and while aboard your vessel.
- Uninsured/Under-insured Coverage pays for medical treatment, loss wages, and other such damages to persons aboard your vessel that are caused by an operator of another vessel who has no liability insurance, or if you or your guests are victims of a hit-and-run.
- Vessel Liability Coverage pays against damages to another party’s bodily injury, loss of life, or property damage if you are found to be legally responsible. It also provides legal defense protection if you are sued as a result of hitting another vessel, or if someone is hurt on board your vessel because of your negligence. This coverage is commonly known as Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability Coverage (BI/PD).
- Water Sport Liability Coverage pays for bodily injury and property damage caused by someone towed by your vessel for activities such as water skiing, knee boarding, wake boarding, or tubing. Most of the time, this coverage is automatically included under the Vessel Liability Coverage.
- Wreck Removal and Pollution Coverage pays for the cost to raise, remove, and/or destroy the wreckage if it sinks. It also pays for unintentional discharge of oil or fuel spills resulting in bodily injury, environmental violations (fines), or property damage for which you are legally responsible because of an accident arising out of the vessel’s ownership, maintenance, or use.
You need a personal insurance agent to sort it all out! Covington Insurance Agency is an independent insurance agency dedicated to finding you the comprehensive insurance coverage you need at a competitive price.
Contact us today for an insurance assessment and free personal insurance quote.