Tips for boating at your cottage

Insurance Insights | July 17, 2017

Tips for boating at your cottage

Last week, we talked about repairing the damage your cottage may have sustained over the winter. That ordeal behind you, this week we’ll take a look at some of the enjoyable things to do at your cottage, like boating. With our boats responsible for some of our best summer moments, it’s crucial to ensure you’re having fun safely. Without further ado, we present TSG’s top tips for insuring your boat this summer.Many factors will affect your boat’s insurance: the size of the boat, its value, the location you use it, engine size and others. Smaller vessels like canoes, kayaks and paddle boats can be bundled with your home or cottage insurance. Doing so may reduce your rate and make it easier for you to manage multiple policies when they’re rolled into one.On the other hand, home insurance policies may not cover a boat properly. There may be restrictions on towing and loss of use. Moreover, adding your boat to your home policy means that a claim on the boat is treated like a claim on the house. If you end up with too many claims, your insurer may cancel your policy. Therefore, you want to remain flexible and also consider a stand-alone boat insurance policy.If you have a larger boat with a powerful motor or a Jet-Ski, you should strongly consider insuring these vehicles. As with a car, watercraft policies can cover the craft itself as well as outboard motors, hauling trailers and onboard equipment like radio systems. These policies also include a liability component that provides coverage for injuries to passengers or towed skiers, damage to the boat and other people’s property and theft.Your policy should meet your boat’s needs and you need to be aware of any potential gaps in the coverages. For example, some policies restrict the distance to which you can travel from your dock and remain covered, making long distance trips a little trickier. Moreover, your boat may be covered to a limited distance over land which complicates towing and transporting your boat.Further evidence that you should treat your boat like your car is the fact that you need a Pleasure Craft Operators Card (PCOC) to legally operate a motorboat in Canada. Operating your boat without this card risks voiding your policy. And as with a car, restrictions exist on younger drivers, meaning you should check with your broker or insurance provider that younger operators of your boat are covered under your policy.Finally, although it seems way too early to be thinking about storing your boat already, but it makes perfect sense because figuring out storage well in advance will save you a big headache at the end of cottage season. Determine the risks and potential damages your boat may sustain in the fall and winter and whether your policy covers this type of damage. And if you plan on doing some winter boating, ensure that your policy covers you because some policies may suspend coverage when the boat is not in use.Does your broker make you confident that you’ll have a great summer? Comment below or tweet us @TheShepherdGroup