Tips From A Worcester Insurance Specialist: What You Need to Know About Your Boat

Boat Insurance in Worcester and Beyond

As with any property or possession, boat ownership brings with it a host of risks of damage and loss. It’s easy to overlook these risks, but you shouldn’t. An insurance policy specially designed for your boat can help mitigate them, and protect you in the event of an accident or loss in Worcester or beyond.

 Specialist Policies

For all but the smallest and cheapest of boats, a specialist policy from a Worcester insurance provider makes sense for your watercraft. Many household insurance policies don’t cover items stored away from your home, while those that do often have very low “per item” cover limits that won’t come close to replacing a boat. Even where a household policy specifically covers boats, the cover limit is often low and liability insurance isn’t included. 

Liability Issues With Your Boat Insurance In The Worcester Area

Boats are an unusual insurance item, as they combine elements of household and auto insurance. As with cars, many policies don’t just cover damage to, or loss of, the boat. They can also cover you for liability if the boat is in a collision and causes damage to another boat or to a person. While paying for repairs to somebody else’s boat can be expensive, it pales in comparison to the costs you’ll face if you’re found liable for a collision and forced to pay somebody’s medical bills. For this reason, skipping boat insurance altogether or passing up a liability cover option can be a very short-sighted decision.

Requirements For Boat Insurance In Worcester

One big difference between auto and boat insurance is that boat insurance is not legally required by either federal or Massachusetts law. There are a couple of circumstances where you may have to have boat insurance in Worcester and beyond, however. One is if it’s a condition of using the boat on privately owned water. The other is if you’ve bought the boat using financing and the loan terms require you to maintain insurance until the loan is paid off. 

Property on a Boat

Before buying a boat policy in Worcester, check what coverage it offers for any personal possessions you take or keep on the boat, including what happens if the items are stolen from the boat when the boat remains unharmed. Remember that your household policy may also cover you for some items taken out of the home, such as on a boat trip. In this situation, you may need to check the small print to see what happens if the items are covered by two policies: often, you’ll have to claim on both and receive a proportion of the payout from each.

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