Tips for Protecting Boat and Motorcycles

25 Jun Tips for Protecting Boat and Motorcycles

With Spring comes taking your boat out of dry dock and getting your motorcycle ready to take on the road. Both boats and motorcycles are significant investments, and the right insurance policy can help you protect them.

Evaluate your specific needs. Insuring a boat or motorcycle is different than insuring your car or home. A specialized motorcycle policy, for instance, can provide coverage for custom jobs and aftermarket equipment that might not be covered if the bike were just added to a generic auto policy.

Similarly, a specialized boat policy could cover things like the cost to replace lost or damaged fishing gear and costly services such as emergency on-water towing and fuel-spill cleanup. You probably wouldn’t get this coverage by adding a boat to a homeowner’s policy. Standard boat policies typically cover damages resulting from a collision, fire or lightning. Theft and vandalism are covered perils too, as insured losses for boats can occur on land or in the water. Many boat insurance policies provide coverage not only for the boat itself, but also for its machinery, fittings, auxiliary equipment such as outboard motors and boat trailers, permanently attached equipment such as anchors – up to an agreed value – and personal property. Policies often have provisions for damage caused to someone else’s property, medical payments for injuries to the boat owner and other passengers, bodily injury for injuries caused to another person, and guest passenger liability for any legal expenses incurred by passenger liability, for any legal expenses incurred by someone using the boat with the owner’s permission.

So, before setting sail or hitting the road, check out your policy, ensure that it is up to date for agreed value of your motorcycle or boat as well as your planned waterway or road navigational plans if you are making long-term travel plans. Your independent insurance agency can offer you a variety of coverage’s, review and evaluate your policies, suggest new coverage options that meet your changing needs, and answer your questions.