Who Do You Insure?
 

Do you list all boat drivers in your household on your insurance policy or just yourself? I list our family of four but my wife never drives and my young but technically adult-aged kids only drive occasionally. I'm looking for ways to reduce the premium and wondering if I really need all 4 of us on the policy.

I guess the other side of this is, if I only list myself and my wife decides to drive one day is she technically "uninsured"?

Check your policy but normally its the boat your insuring not the drivers. My insurance company has never asked me about "drivers" the boat is simply insured no matter who drives it as long as that person is legally able to drive the boat.

I would also bet that the up charge would be so minimal to include the rest of your family it would not be worth the change.

I would call your carrier and ask the same questions you are asking here. If your unhappy with their answers, it may be time to shop around for a new insurance carrier.

As an fyi...I use progressive for all my boats and they have been great both price wise and service wise!

Good luck!

Dan

My insurance company does not ask me to lust the potential boat operators just that operators must be properly licensed


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Same as the two responses above for us.

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in order to comply with the rule sof your policy you must list all drivers in the household, if the are not in the household and are occasional drivers then you should be fine.

Most boat policies do not care about the drivers and their motor vehicle records but on some they care and price to that affect. For Example, Travelers boat policy asks that you list any boat drivers in the household but does not ask for boater license numbers just their experience, Gieco and Progressive use the drivers as a credit check with their drivers license and their driver record (car) and adjust pricing accordingly. The main factor on a boat insurance policy is Horsepower and style of boat and where it is being navigated (inland waterways vs coastal).

Best would be to ask your direct writer if the drivers factor in or not. If through your agent, they will know as well.

With boating it is different than a car and believe it or not there is more opportunity to have a no listed driver drive the boat than a car.

Boat Insurance
 

My insurance company looks at the principle owner of the policy/boat driving records and prior claims they may have to insurance companies before they determine the annual dues. They also consider the HP to length ratio. Since I have a perfect record I only pay $100+ for full coverage for a high performance craft. Most of my colleague are paying $700+ for the same coverage.

Speaking of insurance...
 

I believe, a while ago, I read something on this forum about trailer insurance, and how it is covered.

I asked my agent, today, about connected and accidentally disconnected trailers. I was told that my policy, as a standard, good quality policy, does insure the trailer, when connected to the tow vehicle, but the policy would require an addition (for relatively short money) to cover the event of a "loose" trailer hitting somebody else. It was expressed that this additional coverage was for for liability only, not damage to the trailer.

Heard anything different?

Many years ago, I discussed this with my insurer. The car and the trailer were considered one vehicle when connected. There was some indication of coverage in the event of accidental disconnect. The parallel was a ski rack that falls off your car and hits a following vehicle. Covered. So is cargo that falls out of the bed of your pick up truck. There was no coverage if the trailer was parked and rolled down hill into somebody or something, unless it was specifically listed on the policy. It's worth asking, if a boat falls off the trailer and there are injuries, which policy pays? And increase your Umbrella.

Mine used to be like that however it has since changed, in fact my insurance company notified me of such even though I had the boat already covered. Basically if I were to get into an accident with the boat in tow, whatever damage the boat and trailer do (liability equiv) is covered under the vehicle policy, any damage done to the boat and trailer (comprehensive\collision equiv) fall under the boat policy. Both the boat and trailer VINs are listed on my boat policy.