If you are a boat owner, you can’t assume that your homeowner’s insurance policy will cover your boat as well. Many homeowner’s policies include coverage for small boats and motors, but these policies are not designed to cover marine-specific risks. Additionally, your homeowner’s policy will not provide coverage for your fishing equipment. This is why it’s essential to explore boat insurance and fishing tackle insurance policies to protect yourself.

Insure Both Your Boat and Your Fishing Tackle

A Guide to Boat Insurance

While some homeowner’s policies will provide coverage for boats and motors that are smaller (usually limited to 25- to 100-horsepower vessels), if you’re serious about insuring your boat, we recommend taking out a boat insurance policy separate from your homeowner’s policy. There are certain risks associated with owning a boat that a homeowner’s policy just won’t cover. This includes environmental damage, pollution, salvage work, and wreck removal.

Any coverage you do receive for your boat under the homeowner’s policy will be limited to use in lakes, rivers, and inland waterways. If you’re likely to use your boat outside of the coastal inlet or along the beach, you’re going to want to take out a policy with an experienced marine insurer.

Types of Marine Insurance

Marine insurance policies can cover your boat based on its value when the policy is written, or they can factor in depreciation over time. The former type of policy costs more upfront, but you won’t face any depreciation in value for a total loss of your vessel. The latter costs less upfront, but your insurer will only pay up to the actual cash value of the boat at the time it’s declared a loss. As your boat ages, an actual cash value policy can provide substantial savings.

How and where you boat will play an important role in determining the type of coverage you need. An “all-risk” policy will offer the most comprehensive protection, however this type of policy will generally exclude normal wear and tear (including marring and denting), any manufacturers’ or design defects, animal damage, and freezing. Most policies will insure any permanently attached equipment, such as oars, anchors, seat cushions, life jackets, and trolling motors.

Marine Insurance Factors

When seeking marine insurance for your vessel, there are many factors which can influence the price of your policy. The age of your boat, its length, horsepower, and value will all have an impact on the cost of insurance. Additionally, the condition of your boat will have an impact on your policy; your marine insurer will check to ensure that your vessel meets the US Coast Guard Standards that were in effect at the time it was built.

The type of boat you’re insuring will also impact your policy. Whether you own a performance boat, bass boat, saltwater fishing boat, cruiser, or utility boat, and whether this boat is being used as a primary residence are all factors that will influence your policy. You can even insure homemade boats, though it is sometimes difficult to insure a vessel without a serial number.

Surprising Factors that Affect Insurance

Did you know you can insure a houseboat, even if it has no motor? You can also insure a vessel with shared ownership. Depending on where you intend to operate your boat will also affect your policy. Whether you’re planning to use your boat in the ocean, lakes, rivers, bays, or Great Lakes, you’ll need to disclose this information to your insurance agency to make certain that your policy is right for your specific boating needs.

What Kinds of Boats Can Be Insured?

Marine insurance offers coverage for a wide variety of boats and watercraft. Policies will vary to target the specific needs of each type of boat. For example, because larger boats such as yachts travel farther, they have more unique exposures and associated risks, which will be reflected in a policy for this type of boat.

Some of the types of vessels you can insure with a marine insurance policy are:

• Boats (vessels 26′ and smaller)
• Yachts (vessels 27′ and longer)
• Personal Watercraft
• Sailboats
• Dinghies

Who Can Benefit From Marine Insurance?

While marine insurance is excellent for individual boat owners, there are also businesses and organizations that can benefit from a marine insurance policy. You can take out marine insurance policies for a variety of purposes, such as covering damages to rented vessels, covering travel to tournaments, covering equipment, and providing coverage to members of a boat club.

Aside from individual boat owners, marine insurance can also benefit:

• Boat Rentals
• Personal Watercraft Rentals
• Boat Clubs
• ProAnglers
• Fishing Guides
• Charters

Benefits of Marine Insurance

Marine insurance can offer many benefits for boat owners, including emergency towing, fuel delivery, and on-the-water repair work if you run out of gas or experience battery failure when you’re on the water. Many policies will provide you with coverage for the cost of a rental boat in the event that yours is disabled.

Some policies even include luxuries such as concierge boating services! Chat with your marine insurance provider to see what extra coverages you can claim.

Insuring Your Fishing Gear

Fishing Tackle Insurance

Fishing is one of America’s favorite pastimes, but anyone who partakes in this hobby knows that the necessary equipment doesn’t come cheap. If you’re an avid fisher, chances are you’ve built up quite a collection of fishing gear. Just like a boat, your fishing gear is a big monetary investment that deserves to be insured. Read on to find out how you can protect your fishing equipment.

For a fishing aficionado, damaged or stolen gear comes at a huge expense. Not only does damaged or stolen equipment mean you can’t go fishing, but it also means spending more for replacement gear. If fishing is an integral part of your boating experience, your marine insurance policy can help you to protect your fishing gear. If you’re already protecting your vessel, why not add on fishing tackle insurance?

The Benefits of Insuring Your Gear

Many marine insurance policies offer coverage for fishing gear and other personal possessions coverage with every policy. Some of the equipment that marine policies typically cover include:

• Rods
• Reels
• Tackles
• Trolling motors

In the event that your gear is stolen or another unavoidable accident damages your equipment, your marine policy can help you to recoup some of the losses. But not all policies automatically cover your personal possessions and fishing gear; you may need to purchase personal possessions coverage as an add-on. It’s also a good idea to check if your fishing equipment is covered in your home insurance policy before adding coverage to your marine insurance policy.

Create a Gear Inventory

Submitting claims for damaged or stolen equipment is easier when you have an inventory of your gear. We recommend keeping a list of your fishing gear inventory that includes photos, the make and model of each item, and the value of each item. If you have receipts, we would recommend keeping these in your gear inventory, especially if you own any gear worth $1,000 or more. A complete inventory will help determine how much coverage you’ll need for your gear.

Whether you fish competitively or recreationally, your boat and gear were a big investment. A marine insurance policy will give you peace of mind so you can boat and fish with the knowledge that your vessel, rods, reels, and tackles are covered. If you’re looking to take out a boat insurance and fishing tackle insurance policy, iInsure has you covered. Visit iInsure in Tampa, FL to find the right marine insurance policy for you today.