If it was left up to others to protect others, there would be very few boats with insurance. Insurance is written to protect the policy holder and no one else.
Insurance
- Thread starter higgs
- Start date
No reason to have hull insurance or personal belongings insurance but you need liability at the limits required by your marina to protect them in the event you boat damages their facilities, unless you trailer the boat as has been pointed out. You need to consider Consequential Damage Coverage damage resulting from fire, explosion, sinking, de-masting, collision or stranding AND Fuel Spill Liability because in the event of a spill, an environmental cleanup crew will be dispatched, and maybe the marina has to be shut down for a day. You could be handed a substantial bill; under U.S. federal law, boaters can be held liable for up to $939,800 (Whew! At least it’s not a million. A policy with specific fuel-spill liability, up to this maximum amount, protects you from cleanup claims or third-party damage caused by the accidental discharge of oil or fuel and some policies just pay the costs associated with a fuel spill up to the policy’s limit of liability coverage. Essential Boat Insurance Coverage | Boating Mag. Just depends on your risk tolerance and how big your pockets are, if an unlikely event occurs requiring you to pay.
Last edited:
We had a UPS truck clip a fuel line on a fire hydrant that was buried in snow. That cleanup cost nearly 5k. I can only imagine how much more it would cost on the water
That is exactly what I do... also State Farm. All bundled with car and homeowners.
Sounds like you need to ask for liability insurance only…can’t believe age of boat would impact that (but maybe your driving record would).
I was able to insure my 34 year old O’Day 322 with State Farm (where I have my home and auto insurance), for an agreed upon value policy. Plus $300,000 liability coverage.
i have owned the boat for about 5 years, so maybe I got lucky and got the. To cover it before i
she was 30 years old… but they renew every year.
Never have had a claim in 11 years of having a boat with the…maybe that makes a difference.
Greg
I was able to insure my 34 year old O’Day 322 with State Farm (where I have my home and auto insurance), for an agreed upon value policy. Plus $300,000 liability coverage.
i have owned the boat for about 5 years, so maybe I got lucky and got the. To cover it before i
she was 30 years old… but they renew every year.
Never have had a claim in 11 years of having a boat with the…maybe that makes a difference.
Greg
Liability insurance does protect your assets and does protect victims of your poor boating practices by insuring the victims are compensated for their injury. Without your insurance your victim's assets are at risk to pay for the injury you caused.
Very easy to insure a 40 year old boat on Lake Michigan. I obtained three quotes prior to making a decision.
One caveat regarding insurance in the great lakes… its impossible to leave the boat in the water about five months of the year. Hence the premiums are probably less than somewhere further south and in hurricane country.
My insurance stipulated that the boat be in storage from the end of October to the end of April. I had year around coverage just the same. The yard would have required that anyway.