RECREATIONAL VEHICLES · 6 MIN READ

Boatowners Policies: Hull, P&I, and Thresholds

The homeowners policy handles boats badly by design: Coverage C carries a small watercraft sublimit and Section II excludes liability for larger powered craft — inboard and inboard-outdrive motors over 50 horsepower and owned outboards aggregating more than 25 horsepower, with sailing vessels 26 feet and over also excluded. The stand-alone Boatowners policy is the cure, and it is structured like an auto policy for the water: hull physical damage on the vessel, watercraft liability — traditionally called Protection and Indemnity (P&I) — for third-party bodily injury and property damage arising from ownership and operation, medical payments to occupants, and uninsured-boater coverage paralleling auto UM. Eligibility follows the trailerable line: vessels at or below roughly 26 feet with conventional values underwrite to Boatowners, while larger or higher-value craft move to an ocean-marine yacht policy with agreed-value hull settlement and tailored P&I. Hull coverage comes in two forms. The all-risk (open-perils) hull form covers any direct physical loss not specifically excluded — wear and tear, marring, and mechanical breakdown being standard exclusions — while the named-perils form covers only listed causes such as fire, theft, collision, sinking, stranding, and windstorm. All-risk costs more because the burden shifts to the insurer to prove an exclusion. Know the supporting coverages and their limits. Salvage and wreck removal after a covered sinking is an additional coverage, but the expense is included within the hull limit of insurance, not added on top — a low hull limit may not stretch to both the boat payoff and the marina's removal demand. The towing and assistance rider reimburses on-water emergency services — towing a disabled boat, soft ungrounding, jump-starts, fuel delivery — not hard salvage of a sunken vessel. And aftermarket equipment such as a wakeboard tower with speakers must be scheduled with documented values, because built-in accessory sublimits are small.