Insuring Boat During Transport

An important item to have squared away when transporting a boat, or anything else, is insurance that reimburses the owner for the value of the item in case of damage or loss during transport.

This is not as simple as relying on your general insurance coverage. In fact, most insurers don't cover the item during transport. You should double check and make sure that you are covered completely. In our case, for example, our State Farm Insurance will not cover our boat during transport unless it is struck by a direct hit of lightning. Even when we asked for supplemental transport insurance to cover cases beyond lightening, they said no.

Another gotcha is that almost all transporters have freight insturance, and will tell you they are insured. However, freight insurance is based on weight, not the replacement value of the item. The going payout rate of freight insurance is $0.10 per pound on damages. To give you an idea of what this means in our case, our Gemini 3200 weights 7,000lbs. If we only had freight insurance coverage for our boat and there was a total loss, we would be reimbursed a whopping $700. Not good.

Most transport companies offer declared value coverage up to the full value of the cargo for an additional cost. The transporter that we have chosen automatically includes the declared value coverage in his quote.

So the next time you ship a car, boat, or a camera at your local PakMail, or other local ship store, be very sure to ask if the item being shipped is covered for full replacement value in case of loss. You may be surprise how many times the answer will be "no." However, you can always buy more insurance from someone.