Does homeowners insurance
cover my boat?

The short answer

A standard homeowners policy treats a boat as personal property with a small special limit, and extends liability only to small, low-powered watercraft. Beyond those thresholds, which are written into each policy form, the boat is on its own. A canoe or a jon boat with a small motor may be reasonably protected; a pontoon, bowrider, bass boat or personal watercraft generally is not.

What the homeowners policy does for the boat itself

• A small special limit applies to watercraft, their trailers, furnishings, equipment and motors. It is a fraction of what most boats are worth.
• Coverage is usually for named perils such as fire, lightning, theft and windstorm, and several forms exclude windstorm and hail damage to watercraft unless the boat is inside a fully enclosed building.
• Theft away from the residence is commonly excluded for watercraft, so a boat stolen from the marina or the lake lot may not be covered at all.
• No coverage for sinking, collision, submersion or grounding, which are the losses that actually total boats.

Where homeowners liability stops

Homeowners liability generally covers you only for watercraft below certain size and horsepower limits set in the policy, typically small sailboats and boats with low-horsepower outboard motors. Above those limits, and for inboard and inboard-outdrive boats and personal watercraft, the policy excludes liability. That means an injury to a swimmer or a wrecked dock would come out of your own assets.

The thresholds vary by carrier and policy form. We read your actual policy rather than guessing from a chart, and we do it at no charge as part of a boat quote.

The gaps a boat policy fills

• Hull and motor coverage for collision, sinking, storm and theft anywhere, on agreed value or actual cash value.
• Liability at limits that match the boat, including towing a tube or skier.
• Medical payments for guests.
• Uninsured boater coverage, which no homeowners policy provides.
• Trailer coverage on and off the road.
• On-water towing, wreck removal and fuel spill liability.

Our boat insurance overview walks through each of these, and the agreed value guide explains how the hull is valued.

When a boat needs its own policy

• Any personal watercraft.
• Any boat with an inboard or inboard-outdrive engine.
• Any outboard boat whose motor exceeds the horsepower limit in your homeowners policy, which covers nearly every pontoon, bowrider and bass boat.
• Any financed boat, because the lender requires physical-damage coverage.
• Any boat kept in a marina slip that requires proof of liability.
• Any boat you trailer to the coast or run on big water.

How we check your policy

Send a photo of your homeowners declarations page and tell us what the boat is. We read the watercraft limit and the liability exclusion on your actual form, then quote the boat across four carriers so you can see whether a separate policy, a scheduled endorsement, or an umbrella policy fills the gap at the best price. Many boat owners also add an umbrella policy on top, because a boat is one of the easiest ways to exhaust ordinary liability limits.