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Boat Insurance For Every Season

Boat Insurance For Every Season
In Florida, the abundance of rivers, lakes, canals, and coastal waterways makes it especially rewarding to own and use a boat. And while boat insurance is not required by law (like auto insurance), it is extremely wise to protect yourself, your passengers, and your vessel with a quality boat insurance policy.
But some may wonder if it makes sense to carry a boat policy all year long. It’s a good question, and the answer may differ from one boat owner to another – but here are three “seasons” in which your boat policy will offer significant protection:

1. Summer & All “Boating Season”
For Floridians, boating season can mean all year long, weather permitting. But the summer months are easily the busiest and most enjoyable for locals and tourists alike.

Boat insurance protects you while it is in use with bodily injury and property liability coverage and, optionally, with medical payments, outboard motor coverage, boat trailer insurance, collision/comprehensive, and uninsured/under-insured boater insurance. You can even get extra coverage for onboard equipment like fish finders.

Given the frequency of boating accidents in sometimes crowded Florida waters, it is extremely risky to boat without this kind of added protection – especially if you go on long trips or excursions or use your vessel with any degree of regularity during the “on season.”

2. Winter & The Off Season
Even though Florida is much warmer than most of the rest of the country, it still gets relatively cool during the winter. Many Floridians choose to put their vessels in storage during the winter months and/or the whole off season.

On the one hand, you can arrange to let your coverage break during the off season to save money on your policy. But on the other hand, there are many dangers a vessel can face even while not in use – such as theft, vandalism, fire damage, and more.

Talk to your insurance agent about switching to boat storage coverage during the winter instead of just totally canceling the coverage. It could prevent a major disaster should something happen to your boat while in the garage or at the dock.

3. Hurricane Season
In Florida, hurricane season is a major event every year – particularly for boaters.

Hurricanes and other storms are very common between June 1 and November 30 all along the Atlantic coast of the US, and a lesser threat exists in May and in November-December. The most serious threat of hurricanes runs from the middle of August to the end of October.

Ordinary property damage protection in a boat policy will offer some coverage against damage from wind, water, lightning, and storms. Your homeowners or flood insurance policy may offer some protection, but typically your boat needs more.

There are often special terms in boat policies pertaining to hurricanes, and you can add riders or otherwise customize your policy to increase the coverage limits for damage or total loss to a vessel during a hurricane or other storm.

The bottom line is that, in Florida, boat insurance has great value all year long – in every season and not just during the main boating season. You can adjust your policy to offer maximal protection at a good rate during the on-season, off-season, and hurricane season.

To find out more or to get started on custom-crafting your own boat insurance policy with an experienced, friendly agent, contact Flagler County (FL) Insurance Agency today!