As promised in the Boating Article Index, one of my major goals of being on OSO, aside from the obvious, it to help educate the boating community on all parts of the insurance industry.

Not all boaters are blessed with the skills to repair their boats themselves. Often times, it requires putting your boat in the hands of another for a period of time. So, the question is, "Is my boat covered?" The standard answer is, "it depends!" The first item we need to define and bring to light is the concept of "Care, Custody and Control" (referred to as CC&C for the rest of this post). This simply means that someone else is responsible for the care of your vessel, it is in their custody and they have control over what is done with your vessel. As an owner, you grant CC&C to another person. This is done every time you bring your car to the mechanic, drop your clothing at the dry cleaners etc.

So, before taking your boat anywhere, you want to ensure that the person who will be taking CC&C of your performance boat indeed carries a commercial insurance policy including Ship Repairers legal liability. You can simply ask the mechanic to provide you with a currently dated certificate of insurance proving coverage is in force.



So here is a brief overview of how your boat would possibly be covered, depending upon your policy form.

The boat will obviously need to be brought to the mechanic. IF you are towing the boat there yourself, then the physical damage that may occur on the road would be covered by your marine insurance policy. Any liability (bodily injury or property damage) you cause to others, would be covered by your personal auto insurance policy.
If you are having a company tow it for you, then you want to ensure that they carry commercial cargo insurance with limits that exceed the value of your boat.

Once the boat arrives at the mechanic's place of business, the boat will enter into the mechanic's CC&C. At this time, most personal insurance policies will "stop" protecting the boat. Should the boat be damaged while it is at the mechanic's place of business, it would be the mechanic's insurance that would pick up, the ship repairer's legal to be exact. If you have a named operator insurance policy, then the boat would not be covered on the water either while the mechanic is "testing" the repairs. Again, the mechanic's insurance would be primary.

I could go on and on but I think this paints a good picture of where your policy covers and where the mechanics does. I hope you also gather from this thread the importance of ensuring that your chosen mechanic has coverage. You will need it to fall back on should your vessel be damaged or in the event that your mechanic's work is faulty and as a result of those faulty damages, causes damage to your boat. NEVER ASSUME that a mechanic has coverage no matter how reputable they may be. Some of the most reputable mechanics and dealers let their policies lapse from time to time for whatever reason.

Let me know if you have any questions! I'm here to help.

Good info..
Thanks

Stacy, always wondered about lift out. Either travel lift or forks what happens if boat is dropped. Also am I then to assume that if the boat is totaled while in the hands of a repair shop it not be covered for the amount of an " agreed value" policy but rather replacement value under the shops insurance.

Sorry for the delay! There are a lot of ways the situation you are proposing could play out. I've had two of these claims come through in the past several years and with each one, they were dealt with differently.

In my opinion, if someone has your boat and it is in their CC&C, then they are responsible for any damage to your property. IF their insurance covers the damage that is done, which is usually the first direction one would take, then it would depend upon the type of policy they have. There is no guarantee that you would get replacement cost of your boat, you could get ACV. The one factor that WOULD NOT come into play when using their insurance would be your "agreed value" amount on your insurance. The only time that would be considered an option, is if you put the claim through your insurance first and then allowed your carrier to subrogate to the responsible party's insurance carrier.

In the past, I've had my clients make a claim on their insurance, get fixed up and paid, and then allowed the carrier to go after the responsible party's insurance for reimbursement (also know as subrogation). If your carrier is successful in the subrogation process, then the claim made would not count against your record.

Does this answer your question?

Yes, thanks