Boats and personal watercraft are big purchases, but if you love being on the water, you know they’re worth it. Even if you’re not required to have boat insurance, it’s important to protect your boat and your crew from harm.

Watercraft insurance is an umbrella term for three types of insurance: boat, yacht, and personal watercraft. It protects against damages to vessels powered by a motor with a horsepower of at least 25 miles per hour (mph). Examples of the types of costs covered by watercraft insurance policies include physical loss or damage to the boat, theft of the boat, and towing.

Depending on the policy, there may also be watercraft liability coverage for bodily injury to people other than the boat’s owner and family, guest passengers using the boat by themselves, and medical payments for injury to the owner and their family. Some policies, however, require the purchase of additional liability coverage as an add-on. The specific type of insurance you buy is dictated by the size of your vessel.

Bodily injury liability

If you cause an accident and someone is injured, this watercraft insurance coverage can help pay their medical bills and loss of income.

Property damage liability

If you cause an accident, this personal watercraft insurance coverage helps pay for damages to another person’s watercraft or property. Pollution liability coverage and wreckage removal are included.

Collision

Collision pays for damage to your personal watercraft, motor, trolling motor, trailer, and permanent and portable equipment if you’re in a covered accident with another watercraft or object.

Comprehensive

Also known as “other than collision,” this coverage can help pay for damage to your personal watercraft, motor, trolling motor, trailer, and permanent and portable equipment from losses other than collision. This includes damage from fire, theft or storms.

Uninsured motorist

Helps protect you and your personal watercraft, motor, trolling motor, trailer, and permanent and portable equipment from an uninsured or hit-and-run boater.

Underinsured motorist

Helps protect you, your watercraft and equipment from drivers who do not have enough insurance to cover the costs of an accident.

Medical payments

Medical payments can help cover medical bills if you or others are injured while operating or occupying your personal watercraft.

On-water boat towing and labor

Covers towing expenses and other emergency services if your personal watercraft becomes disabled on the water.

The most important reason for getting water craft insurance is liability coverage. It protects you in case someone is injured, or their property is damaged and pays for your legal fees, their medical expenses, and repairs to their property.

You may also need coverage to your water craft from fire, accidents, and theft. All risk insurance covers anything that can happen to your boat except for circumstances specifically excluded in your policy, such as wear and tear and damage from freezing.

Add-ons are available so you can customize your insurance based on your needs.

Wherever you’re located, the length of the boating season is already factored into your rate. Insurance companies know that boaters aren’t going out year-round in most places. Your premium is based on typical annual use for your geographical area, however long or short the period might be.

Also, keep in mind that your boat when your boat is insured, it is covered even when it’s docked or in storage. Your policy can cover things like sinking, weather damage, vandalism, and theft — which can happen at any time.

As a boater, you have specialized insurance needs. We can help map the various insurance options and can answer your questions about what different boat insurance coverage types protect so you can build a policy that makes the most sense for you.

It might be time to switch insurers whenever the service that your existing insurer provides doesn’t meet your needs. For example, if you have a poor claims experience or an unexplained rate increase, it might be time to consider other options

If you cancel a previous policy before a new policy is effective, you could run into some serious financial problems.

Contact us today to help you with multiple options to choose from.