It’s great that you saved money on your boat policy by calling an insurance agent or purchasing it online and the agent/company was likely more interested in saving you money on your boat policy than protecting your asset(s) against loss. Most boat insurance carriers do not mandate that you purchase coverages such as: personal property (fishing equipment), uninsured/underinsured boater, medical payments, or even physical damage to the boat hull or your trailer. So, let’s assume you purchased just a liability policy that protects someone else and did not add these additional coverages.
-Personal Property: Say you have a bass boat and you just installed one of those live scopes and two new fish finders and you usually carry 10 rods and lots of tackle. Are those items all covered? Many policies exclude personal property like fishing equipment unless, perhaps it was a part of the original equipment on the boat, and in that case, you would have to insure the boat itself for physical damage. So if you have an accident on the water or while the boat is being trailered and your personal property is damaged or lost…..you likely have no coverage unless you purchase the coverage and at a proper limit. I say likely, because if you have a homeowner’s policy you might have some coverage….but at what deductible! So if you want your personal stuff covered….buy personal property coverage….and beware, some policies exclude personal property for “mysterious disappearance” unless the entire boat was stolen or one can see that the personal property was forcibly removed.
-Uninsured/underinsured coverage: The number of individuals driving cars around in Texas without any Liability coverage is bad enough. I would guess the number of boaters that do not have liability coverage on their boat is likely three to four times that figure. So if you’re going to purchase liability coverage to protect someone else….make sure you purchase this coverage that could end up protecting your bank account.
-Medical Payments: Likely one of the more important coverages available because it can protect you or anyone on your boat for medical payments, up to the limit you select, for injuries incurred on your boat, getting off it, or getting on it. So if you're at a raft up and one of your guest slips off the swim deck and breaks an arm….is covering those medical bills important to you?
-Physical damage: Again, you can buy just liability coverage to protect someone else and/or their boat. But to cover your hull you need to purchase the coverage. Most policies value your boat at an agreed amount or actual cash value. The type of valuation you select plays a signifcant role in partial losses! And don’t forget the trailer. Sure, it’s likely that the liability incurred by your trailer coming off the ball and causing bodily injury or property damage will be covered by the vehicle towing it…the physical damage to the trailer or if it is stolen is not covered unless you purchase coverage for it.
Bottomline, insure your boat/trailer and insure it properly and don’t rely on the non-existent or limited coverage you think you might have under another policy like an auto or homeowners policy. There is not much if any. And, buy insurance from an agent/company that wants to protect you and your asset(s)! Afterall, how does one buy only the coverage they need if they don't really know what they need or what might be available?