Boat & Watercraft Insurance discounts and questions
Repairs or replaces the boat, motor and trailer, pays for people you injure on the water, and covers towing, wreck removal and fuel spill cleanup that a home policy never touches. Hull value, horsepower, navigation area and where the boat is stored set the premium.
Discounts carriers commonly offer
- Boating safety course
- A completed course from a recognized boating education program.
- Multi-policy
- The boat written alongside the auto or home policy with the same carrier.
- Claim-free
- No boat claims over the carrier's look-back period.
- Safety equipment
- A kill switch lanyard, fire suppression, a depth finder or a GPS, depending on the carrier.
- Lay-up and diesel
- A stated period in storage, and, with some carriers, a diesel engine's lower fire risk.
Questions people ask
Is my boat covered under my home policy?
Only a small one. The home policy's watercraft coverage is capped at a modest limit for physical damage and its liability excludes boats above a stated length or horsepower, which varies by form. A fishing kayak fits; a ski boat, a wake boat, a pontoon with a real motor or a personal watercraft does not. The declarations page and the home policy's watercraft clause together answer the question for your boat.
Should I insure the boat for agreed value or actual cash value?
Agreed value for any boat you could not replace out of pocket, and for any boat more than a few years old, because depreciation on hulls and engines is steep. Actual cash value is cheaper and reasonable on an older boat where the premium difference is large relative to what the boat is worth. Suppose a ten-year-old bowrider with a $30,000 replacement cost has an actual cash value of $14,000; the agreed value policy pays the number on the page and the other pays the smaller one.
Am I covered while towing the boat on the highway?
Two policies apply. Your auto policy's liability covers damage the trailer causes to others while it is attached to your vehicle. The boat policy covers damage to the boat and the trailer themselves, including theft from a truck stop or a hotel lot on the way to the lake. A trailer that jackknifes on the grade down to Lake Powell is an auto liability claim for the other cars and a boat policy claim for the boat.
Can I take the boat to Mexico or the coast?
Only with the navigation area extended before the trip, and for Mexico only with a Mexican liability policy alongside it. Salt water changes the underwriting, and some carriers will not extend a policy written for inland lakes at all. Ask before the trailer is hitched, not from the border.
Is a friend covered when they drive the boat?
A permitted operator is generally covered under your policy, and a claim they cause is your claim. Some policies list named operators only or exclude operators under a certain age or without a boating card, which matters on lakes where the state requires an education card for younger operators. Check the operator clause before handing over the wheel.
What is a lay-up period and what happens if I use the boat during it?
A lay-up period is a stretch of the year the policy assumes the boat is in storage and prices lower for it, common on Idaho and northern Utah policies. Using the boat during that window can void coverage for a loss that happens while it is in use, though the boat remains covered in storage. Arizona and southern Nevada boats often have no lay-up at all because the season never really ends.