It’s that time of year again, where most of the country’s boating season is coming to a fast close. Time to start putting the boats up and stop paying your insurance bills because, “hey, I’m not using this boat, nothing is going to happen to it”…. HA! Wrong.

There are far too many boater owners that believe that just because they are no longer using their boat that nothing can happen to it. I've heard it a lot lately: “I’m not using my boat anymore, so nothing is going to happen to it, so I need to cancel my insurance.”

I would have to say that second to hitting a submerged object, theft and fire were the second and third leading types of claims this year with our agency and you guessed it, they happened while the boats were being stored. Unfortunately, fires, theft and vandalism are not just going to occur during months, X, Y, Z. What am I getting at?

Think twice before “dropping” your insurance until next season. Here are several things to consider:

1. Boat policies are written on an ANNUAL basis because accidents, fires, storms etc can happen anytime. IF a carrier sees that you are dropping your coverage annually at the end of the season, they do reserve the right to refuse to write you a new insurance policy when you try to get a quote again. Most performance carriers have factored your down time (lay up) into the rate that you are paying.

2. Don’t ever cancel your insurance by just not paying your bill or next installment. This is a horrible way to cancel a policy and can work against you when you want to get a new carrier or policy. Carriers don’t want policyholders that don’t pay for their coverage. If they see a track record of you canceling for “non payment of premium” they can and will refuse to write a policy for you. Talk to your agent before just not paying the next bill. IF you really need to cancel, have your agent cancel it properly.

3. Do you have a lien on the boat? If so, you can not drop your insurance. Your bank will find out and place extremely costly insurance on your loan… I’ve seen insurance costs to the tune of quadruple the policyholders regular premium.

4. If your boat is in the shop all winter, it likely isn’t covered by the shop. Most shops have you sign a waiver that states you must have your own coverage.

5. Lastly, fires, storms and thieves don’t pick a “season” in which they will only occur/strike. There are things that are far out of our control and you don’t want your boat subject to those things. The savings of dropping your insurance for the winter isn’t comparable to a total loss of a boat from a building fire. It’s just not worth it.

So, hopefully I’ve given you all something to consider when thinking of canceling your policies for the winter.

Should any of you ever have any questions with respects to insuring your boat and things you can do to keep your premiums low, feel free to call me. I am here to assist. Have a great weekend everyone.

I have never cancelled my boat insurance during the winter. Dumb idea. You never know when a thief will break in or if the place will catch fire.
I never considered that a carrier might not renew when they take note of your "system".

Thank you Stacey for all that you do.

You're welcome.

There is one carrier in particular that watches the points I made very closely. They will allow ONE reinstatement from a cancellation due to non-payment. After that, you go in their system as a "non payer" and they will refuse to offer coverage from there on out. The most common time that this occurs is when people decide to "switch" carriers at renewal. Switching carriers is not the problem, it is HOW people choose to switch. Most will just not pay their old carrier. In actuality, you need to call your existing agent/carrier and tell them, "I am choosing to not renew my coverage with you. Please cancel my policy for me." This way, you don't go down in the books as an insured that just doesn't pay your bills.