Boat Insurance
Whether you own a power boat or a sail boat, the Petrucci Agency can assist you with all of your boat insurance needs.
Florida State Law does not require personal-use boat insurance; however, the Petrucci Agency highly recommends carrying the coverage to protect you from the financial risks of not being properly insured.
Similar to an auto policy, boat owners should consider the following when deciding their boat insurance needs:
- Bodily Injury Liability protects you if you injure someone in a boating accident.
- Property Damage Liability covers damages your boat causes to someone else’s property, such as another boat or dock.
- Medical Payment Insurance covers injuries to you or to your passengers if injured while boating.
- Comprehensive Coverage covers damage to your boat caused by incidents and factors other than a boating accident, such as theft or a windstorm.
- Collision Coverage covers cost of repairing accident damage to your boat.
- Uninsured Boater/Motorist Insurance helps pay your damages including injuries, lost wages or loss of life if the other boater lacks sufficient insurance.
In addition to the smaller boats, yacht policies are also offered. With these policies, higher limits, agreed value, and other inclusions such as towing are available.
EXCESS LIABILITY/ UMBRELLAS
When the basic liability limits provided by a policy are not adequate for the needs of an insured, two types of coverage are widely used to provide the additional amounts needed:
- Umbrella Policies and Excess Liability Policies.
- Either of these policies add their limits to those provided by the underlying coverage.
Umbrellas
If the client purchases a Million Dollar Umbrella to be excess over an home and auto policy, with limits of $300,000, the total limit of liability available would be $1,300,000.
The Umbrella Liability is standardized in the industry while there are several variations.
The Umbrella form is a stand alone policy. It may include additional coverages not included in the underlying policies. These additional coverages of the umbrella may be non-owned auto or watercraft, property in the care, custody and control of the insured, personal injury, and limited pollution to name a few.
When a claim involves an underlying policy, the Umbrella responds just as if it were a stand alone excess policy. If a claim involves a coverage provided by the umbrella but not by any underlying policy, the umbrella becomes the primary liability policy.
Any claim for which the umbrella is primary is subject to a deductible known as the self-insured retention (SIR).
Excess Liability
There are two types of excess liability policies: the stand-alone and the follow form.
There must be underlying policies for both of these to be in effect and neither one will provide any coverage that is not proved by an underlying policy.
For an example, if there is no auto policy, there is no coverage from the Excess Policy.
If there is an underlying policy in effect the follow form and the stand alone forms perform differently:
The Follow Form policy provides the same coverages and provisions and exclusions.
The true follow form is simple to understand.
The Stand Alone Form provides the same coverages as the underlying policies, but each form does this on its own terms. The stand alone forms can have their own exclusions and limitations. There is no guarantee that if the underlying policy covers, the stand alone excess will too. The claims adjuster will have a more difficult time determining if coverage applies. The adjuster must review the forms provisions in detail.
Regardless of the size of the boat, the Petrucci Agency is here to help you get it properly insured. Call an agent today!
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