Marine Insurance Primer For Beginners
Marine insurance covers financially any loss or damage of a ship, it's contents or any other property from they time they leave port until they arrive at their destination. Sub types of Marine insurance include, cargo insurance, business insurance, and personal watercraft insurance.
Personal watercraft insurance is a form of marine insurance specifically designed to cover watercraft being used in a non-commercial capacity. Put simply, personal watercraft insurance is like automobile insurance for boats. Like automobile insurance, personal watercraft insurance policies can not only cover property damage, but provide personal indemnity and watercraft liability coverage too.
This type of liability coverage applies to bodily injury for people using the watercraft and anyone else who might be involved in an accident. You can also choose to get another policy rider that will cover additional medical issues. Another option for coverage is uninsured boater coverage which applies to hit-and-run accidents.
Towing and salvage coverage is also available. This coverage will provide assistance for small incidents such as towing due to engine failure, and mechanical breakdown, as well as the delivery of fuel to a stranded vessel. Towing and salvage coverage can also indemnify the policy holder against the very high costs of salvaging a heavily damaged vessel.
Hull coverage for the vessel is usually available in either "agreed value" or "actual cash value" types. As with many insurances, the "actual cash value" policies depreciate drastically as the vessel gets older and becomes worth less money. "Agreed value" policies will continue paying the entire policy amount with no depreciation.
Similarly, marine insurance can carry coverage for everything, or just for specified risks covered in the policy. Regardless of what type of coverage you carry, it is crucial that you clearly understand all stipulations that would cause the policy to be voided. An example of this would be that some policies stipulate certain navigational limits, exceeding any of which voids the policy. Depending on the area where you live it can be very easy to exceed these limits, especially in waters where boundaries are not clearly marked.
Almost all watercraft, whether it is a small pleasure or a fishing boat, or a large yacht or a houseboat, can get personal watercraft insurance. Watercraft rental coverage, fishing trips as well as a charter boat trip may constitute a specialty coverage. All that is you need to do is indulge in a little research on the large number of insurance companies and available options, and you will find the coverage that suits you best.
A basic definition of marine coverage is protection of a ship, cargo or property due to loss or damage while a ship is in transit from one port to another. There are other sub sets of marine insurance, such as marine cargo insurance, marine business insurance and personal watercraft insurance that provide additional coverage. This liability coverage can cover bodily injury to occupants of the watercraft, as well as other people involved in an accident. Additional medical coverage is typically available as a separate policy rider. No matter the policy type, it is very important to fully understand all of the stipulations which may render the policy null and void.
Published October 5th, 2008
Filed in Business, Finance, Management