What is Boat Insurance, and How is it Different From Personal Watercraft Insurance?
Boat insurance is a lot like auto insurance, but it’s designed specifically for boats and boaters. Many of the coverages that boat policies provide are even similar to those that auto policies offer. You may also hear boat insurance referred to as personal watercraft insurance - they are not different coverage types, just different names for the same thing.
If you're a boat owner, there's a high probability that you need to have this coverage. Imagine riding up the Connecticut River in beautiful Western Massachusetts and a log floats into the hull. How will you pay to repair the damage? What if somebody is hurt during the accident? What coverage do you have with your other personal insurance coverages?
Boat insurance could help remedy those situations for you, and Charles River Insurance knows how to find the best coverage at the best price.
What Coverages Do Watercraft Insurance Policies Provide?
The coverages that a particular watercraft insurance policy provides will depend on the policy’s terms, conditions, and exclusions. Exact coverages vary. Nevertheless, there are many coverages that are available through most policies.
Some of the coverages that watercraft policies provide are very similar to auto insurance coverages. For example, a watercraft policy might provide:
- Medical Payments Coverage, which might help cover medical expenses associated with injuries that a boater and their passengers sustain
- Bodily Injury Liability Coverage, which might help cover medical expenses associated with injuries that people outside an insured boat sustain
- Comprehensive and Collision Coverage, which may cover damage that a boat and its trailer sustain
- Property Damage Liability Coverage, which may help cover damaged caused to other people’s property
Other coverages that watercraft policies frequently provide offer protection from boating-specific perils and incidents. Drivers of cars don’t usually need the following coverages, but boaters might:
- Coverage for gear and equipment stored on a boat
- On-water towing coverage
- Coverage for fuel spills
- Coverage for recovering a boat that sunk
Because not all boaters have the same insurance needs, many of these coverages are offered as optional protections. When selecting what coverages to purchase, boaters should take into account the type of boat they have, how big their boat is, where they go boating, how they use their boat, and what the value of their boat is.
Do You Need Boat Insurance in Massachusetts?
One way that boat insurance is different from car insurance is that it is not a requirement to have. However, to protect your investment and to make sure you are covering liability gaps, you should certainly consider boat insurance before hitting the water this year.
Residents who don’t have coverage through another insurance policy (see below) may be leaving themselves dangerously exposed if they don’t purchase a watercraft policy. Without the protections of an insurance policy, they may be liable for any damage they cause, not have coverage for their own boat or watercraft, and be held financially responsible for any injuries that people sustain in a boating accident they cause.
In a few cases, residents may have a little coverage through their homeowners insurance policy. Some homeowners policies offer coverage for small boats, which typically must be under a specific size, can’t be too valuable and don’t have an engine.
Even boaters who have coverage through a homeowners policy, however, may want to get a separate watercraft policy. For, the protections offered for boating incidents that homeowners policies offer are usually minimal. If a boating accident results in significant property damage, serious injuries, or a fatality, the financial consequences could easily exceed the limits of a homeowners policy’s coverage for boating incidents.
How Can Boaters in Massachusetts Get a Boat Policy?
Boaters in Massachusetts can get help finding boat insurance by contacting an independent insurance agent who serves the state. There are agents located throughout the state, from coastal towns to inland cities, who have the knowledge necessary to help boaters with their insurance needs.
