You’ve purchased a boat or plan to soon and look forward to enjoying yourself on the water. But how can you protect your investment? Boat insurance is a great place to start. And if you’re wondering how much it costs, you’ve come to the right place.
We will dive into all the aspects that affect the price of boat insurance premiums (age and type of boat, cruising area, driving records, deductibles, coverage limits, and more) and share tips and tricks for lowering these costs.
Read on for an in-depth look into everything you need to know before you buy boat insurance.
Factors Affecting Boat Insurance Costs
Insurance is a typical cost of boat ownership, but it doesn’t have to break the bank. The following factors can play a role in the price tag that your insurance carries:
- Cruising Area and Navigation Limits: Some locations may be cheaper than others. Freshwater coverage is usually less expensive than sea cruising.
- Boating Safety Education and Certification: The more prepared you can prove yourself to be, the lower your premium.
- Boating and Driving Records: How you drive on water and land will affect how much your policy costs.
- Type and Size of Boat: Different boats have different coverage costs, though price usually determines this.
- Age and Condition of Boat: Newer and nicer boats cost more to replace and, therefore, typically cost more to insure. Vintage boats with difficult maintenance may also carry a higher price tag.
- Deductible and Coverage Limits: Plans with higher deductibles and less coverage will have cheaper premiums but will cut less of the bill when accidents occur.
These factors show the importance of considering boat insurance costs before purchasing your watercraft. You will want to ensure the premium fits your budget before committing. However, factors like boater education and safe driving records allow you to lower the cost of insuring the boat you already own.
Understanding Boat Insurance Premiums
A simple, liability-only boat insurance premium typically costs between $200 and $500 annually. When you start to cover your boat instead of just damage to others, the costs shift to falling between 1% and 5% of your boat’s value.
The exact numbers within this range are determined by examining the above factors and subtracting discounts the provider may offer.
Most premiums include amounts to cover a combination of the following areas:
- Liability: Damage done to an item your boat harms (boats, docks, etc.).
- Physical damage: Based on the agreed-up value or the actual cash value of your watercraft.
- Medical payments: In case anyone in your care gets hurt during a boating accident.
- Personal property: For lost or damaged fishing equipment, trailers, etc.
- Uninsured watercraft: For other boats that harm your boat but don’t have their own coverage to pay for your repairs.
- Towing: Pulling your boat back to land if it breaks down on the water.
We’ll cover discounts that can lower these amounts in the next section of this post.
Cost-Saving Tips for Boat Insurance
Bundle Insurance Policies
The easiest way to save on boat insurance costs is to bundle your policy with home or automotive plans. This saves you money without sacrificing the coverage you need.
Keep Boating and Driving Records Clean
It’s also essential to maintain a clean boating record. Your rates will likely rise if you’re involved in accidents or illegal actions on the water. But more surprisingly, you also need to ensure your inland driving record stays clean. Road records are taken into account when pricing boat insurance policies as well.
Install Safety and Security Features
Some plans will also provide discounts when you install safety and security features on your boat. One of the most common safety features is an onboard fire suppression system, which can be as simple as built-in fire extinguishers.
Take a Boating Safety Course
Enrolling in boating safety courses is another easy way to lower your premium while keeping you safer on the water.
This article and video are sponsored by Progressive Insurance®
