Warm weather may make you think of Spring and Summer vacations. For some people, this could include days spent out on the water, enjoying your vacation from your boat. Perhaps this is an activity that your family traditionally enjoys every summer. Before you plan your relaxing vacation time, you should know a few things about boat insurance.
Allen Insurance and Financial has some advice about boat insurance. If your boat is not considered to be large, then you can find many different insurance companies that will offer limited coverage for property damage for small boats. This includes canoes, small sail boats, and other boats that have less than 25 mile per hour horse power engine.
Those kinds of small boats can be protected with limited coverage for property damage through your homeowners or renters insurance policy. In general, coverage is around $1,000, or is a total of 10% of your home’s property value (with the value of the boat itself, the motor, and the trailer added in).
If you would also like liability coverage, the kind of insurance that protects you in case someone is injured on your boat and decides to sue you about it, you will need to speak with your insurance agent. Liability insurance for boats is not something you can automatically get through your homeowners or renters insurance policy.
If you have a bigger boat, like a yacht, or if you own a personal watercraft, (jet skis and wave runners), then you will need a separate boat insurance policy. These things cannot be covered through your homeowners or renters insurance policies. The correct type of boating insurance coverage can give you some protection that will make it safer for you and your family to go boating. No matter how careful you are, there is the potential for your boat to get damaged. Typical boat insurance provides coverage for physical loss or damage to the hull, machinery, fittings, and furnishings. It can also cover any equipment that is permanently attached to your boat.
You will either get Actual Cash Value, or Agreed Amount Value. An Actual Cash Value policy will give you the total cost to repair something, minus a percentage for depreciation. In the case of a total loss, a boat pricing guide will be used to determine value. An Agreed Amount Value policy involves having you and your insurance company come to an agreement about exactly how much you will be paid in case of a total loss. This type of policy also replaces old items with new ones if a partial loss has occurred.
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