What You Need To Know Before Buying Boat Insurance - YouTube

Hello! I'm Dan Lyles with Lyles Insurance. and in this video we're going

to go over what you need to know before you buy boat insurance it's important to

understand that not all boat insurance policies are alike some are good some

are very lousy and some things you need to watch out for include crazy policy

restrictions and I've concluded some examples here where some policies won't

even cover your boat while it's bored out of marina or cover you while you're

participating in things such as fishing tournaments regattas or poker runs are

you kidding me that's the reason we buy boats in the first place what good is

boat insurance if they're not going to cover you during those events and also

watch out for crazy mileage restrictions make sure you're covered wherever you're

planning on taking your boat and also remember that some companies don't offer

all the same coverages that a good boat insurance policy does and I'm going to

get into that more here in just a little bit and also keep in mind that the

difference in premium between a good policy and a bad one is you'd be amazed

sometimes very close to one another like pennies on the dollar so it's always

worth it to spend a couple extra bucks just to get much better coverage I can't

stress this enough but please do yourself a favor and do not buy boat

insurance directly online from an insurance company when you do this you

leave the agent out of it and it's very hard if not impossible to tell a good

policy from a bad one that way in fact many companies won't even let you see

the terms until after you've paid for the policy what good does that do

you need an agent who can review coverage on a policy before you buy it

there are two major types of boat insurance policies this is where they

kind of fall into two categories number 1 exclusive standalone boat insurance

meaning it's not attached to anything it's just boat insurance this is usually

where you find the best type of boat insurance coverage

the second is boat insurance that is attached to a homeowner's insurance

policy a lot of homeowners do this when they buy a boat they just simply attach

it onto their homeowners insurance policy because it's simple and easy

however you got to watch out with that because not all homeowners insurance

policies cover boats the way a standalone policy usually does sometimes

it only offers minimal types of coverage plus some have those crazy policy

restrictions I mentioned earlier

I quickly want to go over the five basic parts of a boat insurance policy these

are the basic meat and potatoes parts of your policy any good boat insurance

policy should offer at least all five of these number one is liability coverage

that's if you're at fault in a boating accident and you caused damage or injury

to others it pays the other guy number two is uninsured and underinsured

motorist coverage that's if another boater hits you and

they either don't have liability coverage or don't have enough liability

coverage to cover all the injuries they cause that's when this part kicks in

number three is medical payments coverage that's for injuries from a

boating accident for you or your passengers regardless of who would be at

fault and number four and five kind of go together comprehensive and collision

coverage there the actual physical damage coverage on your boat and I like

to learn it backwards the collision will cover you for any boating accident

comprehensive coverage will cover your boat for anything else

here are some other secondary coverages that you'll find only on a good boat

insurance policy usually only on the standalone policies

number one is contents and accessories coverage that covers you for things such

as fishing equipment navigation equipment stereo equipment things like

that you'll normally be offered this for free up to a certain amount and then

have an option of purchasing more coverage if you need to

number two is trailer coverage the trailers you use to haul your boat

with the coverage on them are very inexpensive and worth looking into

number three is personal property coverage this is things such as

lifejackets or like that floatation devices skis inner tubes wakeboards

things like that number three or I'm sorry number four total loss or gap

coverage this only applies to brand new or nearly brand new boats but it's

excellent coverage to have if you have a newer boat especially if you're

financing it and finally number five roadside assistance and towing there I

can't give you a thumbs up or thumbs down because each policy is so different

from a next just got to read what is actually covered see what's prices and

decide for yourself whether or not you think it's worth having finally let me

give you a quick tip about helping you find the best rate one thing you do not

want to do is shop one company at a time because that's very time inefficient

you're much better going through an independent insurance agent who can

quote you with multiple companies at once and let the agent do the shopping

around for you plus they'll be able to answer your questions of some of the

things I've mentioned earlier about the quality of your policy you won't get

that if you're shopping online or calling directly to a customer service

rep so I hope this has helped you understand the basics of buying a boat

insurance policy thanks and have a great day