Spring into Boating Season

It doesn’t get any better than spending the day on your boat with family and friends whether you are fishing, water skiing, or just cruising around the lake. In order to relax and truly enjoy any boating experience, you must first make sure you have the proper insurance protection.

Although most people have personal auto and homeowners insurance, many people do not maintain proper insurance coverage for their boat. The two main types of coverage for your boat are liability coverage and physical damage coverage. Liability coverage will pay others for the damages and injuries you cause in a boating accident. Physical damage coverage will reimburse you for damage to your boat, motor, trailer, and miscellaneous boating equipment after subtracting your deductible.

Your homeowner policy will provide some coverage for your boat, so let’s explore this in further detail:

An IMT homeowners policy provides automatic liability coverage for canoes and other similar non-motorized boats, sailboats less than 26 feet in length, and boats powered by outboard motors. If your boat is powered by an inboard or an inboard-outdrive motor, including personal watercraft, you will need to purchase liability coverage with a boatowners policy. A personal watercraft is a vessel, such as a Jet Ski®, designed to be operated while sitting, standing or kneeling on it rather than within the confines of a hull.
An IMT homeowners policy, like all other standard homeowners policies, limits the amount of physical damage coverage for a boat, motor, trailer, and boating equipment to $1,500. Also, there are restrictions of coverage for damage caused by theft, wind, and hail. As a result of these limitations, physical damage coverage for boats of almost any value are best covered with a boatowners policy.

With our IMT boatowners program, you can purchase liability coverage and/or physical damage coverage for your boat depending on your individual needs and the coverage automatically provided by your IMT homeowners policy. In addition to liability and physical damage coverage, an IMT boatowners policy offers you the following optional coverages:

Medical Payments Coverage pays for the cost of medical care you receive as a result of a boating accident regardless of who is at fault. This coverage extends to you, anyone else in your boat, and anyone you are pulling behind your boat at the time of an accident such as water skiers or tubers.
Uninsured and Underinsured Boaters Coverage pays for the cost of medical care, loss of income, and other damages you sustain arising from a boat that is not insured or does not have adequate amounts of insurance.
Total Loss Replacement Coverage for your boat is available for newly purchased boats, motors, and trailers until they are five model years old. With this coverage, any boat, motor, or trailer considered to be a total loss arising from a covered cause of loss will be replaced with a brand new model. This can be an extremely valuable coverage since boats depreciate just like cars.
Miscellaneous Property Coverage applies to detachable boating equipment, accessories, fishing equipment, and various types of personal property and the property of a guest. All covered losses will be settled on a replacement cost basis. $1,500 of coverage is automatically included if your boat has physical damage coverage, with higher limits of coverage available.
On-Water Towing Coverage ranging from $50 to $500 is available to reimburse you if your boat becomes disabled and must be towed back to the dock or marina.

Your local IMT Insurance Independent Agent would love to visit with you further about the various coverages you should consider purchasing for your boat. By relying on a qualified insurance agent to assist you with this process, you can relax and make sure you are properly protected for your boating endeavors.

On behalf of IMT Insurance, we would like to wish you a happy and safe boating season!

This article represents a brief summary of coverage. Review the actual policy for additional details on coverages, terms, limits, conditions, and exclusions.