Hey, everybody, this is Butch Swank from Goodlad and Swank Insurance. Today we’re going to talk about boat insurance. I’m going to keep it short and sweet but there are a couple of important things that I want you to understand, and you will understand by the time I’m done.
Much like auto policy, you’re going to have comprehensive and then you’ll have collision coverage. So comprehensive, an example would be there’s a hail storm and it destroys your tee top. A collision component would be your quiz along, and you smash into someone’s dock, you smash into another boat. This is actually you colliding into something else. So this one, as you’re doing, the other one was basically the natural environment is doing something, there’s some other act befalling your boat. So that’s how those two are separated. The hail situation. No one’s getting hurt in the situation. The collision component, you could actually potentially hurt someone. So you’re going to have a collision component there. But then you’re also going to have a bodily injury component because theoretically you will be liable for hurting other people. So I want you to be mindful of the fact that just like a car, you should be aware of the fact that certain policies are going to cover certain liability limits.
The person with no assets that was given a jon boat that rows it has totally different liability needs and liability coverage needs, than the person with a half million dollar boat. So this person needs to protect their assets. This person over here is still building assets. So be mindful of the fact when you’re shopping around for boat insurance, make sure that your liability limits are going to be something that’s appropriate for you and for your assets.
Another thing to consider, and this is just like a little added bonus, people will get BOAT U.S and they’ll do this for getting towed from offshore. Certain carriers will actually offer that either as part of the policy are pretty darn cheap endorsement. So ask your agent about that, too.
The final component that I want to talk about is, and this is becoming more and more of a problem. The whole world is trying to become more green, and you can make oil so if you have your boat burns or if you’re just leaking oil, something happens, you can actually be liable for the ecological damage that you’re doing to the surrounding area. So if you get a bunch of mangroves covered up with motor oil or a bunch of mangroves covered up in gasoline, and the Fish and Wildlife Commission or someone else finds out about this, you could actually be in trouble for this.
So talk to your agent as well about and say, you know, “what kind of ecological or what kind of pollution coverage do I have on this policy?” So more and more carriers and trying to incorporate this. Some have actually no language at all, but it can be an endorsement added.
So that’s the kind of the last tidbit I have for you. So, again, to summarize, you’ve got your comprehensive, your collision, be mindful of what the liabilities limits you’re going to have, and then lastly, just for fun, figure out what the ecological potential ramifications are if that happens
because I have actually had several claims now where people have been covered and other times where they have nothing.
So if you have any deeper questions, or you want to go on a deep dive for this, pun totally intended, please call my office 239-674-7630 or if you prefer, go to our website, goodladandswank.com. Thank you.
