Quicksilver Activ 505 Cabin insurance check: on the road, at the ramp and in winter

In the fourth and final part of this series the Quicksilver Activ 505 Cabin is on the move, in the places where a motor boat of this size spends much of its time when it is not under way: on the trailer, at the ramp, in the crane slings, at the pontoon and in winter storage. As said in the first part, we have not driven the boat and judge neither handling nor build. This is about the points where policy wordings for a trailered cuddy cabin boat meet everyday life, and about the questions asked first after damage on the road, at the ramp or abroad. This insurance check, too, stays with the paperwork.

On the road, many hull wordings cover the boat while it is transported by suitable means. A common exclusion is damage caused by improper loading and securing during transport. A strap that comes loose on the motorway is therefore a question of load securing rather than a hull claim, and the same goes for an outboard rattling loose in the boot. Damage the rig causes to others falls first under the motor insurance of the towing vehicle. Some boat liability policies add cover for the trailer where the car policy does not respond, for example when an uncoupled trailer rolls away. Check whether yours does.

At the ramp and in the crane, hull cover typically applies while the boat is hauled out and launched. Whether damage there is paid depends on the event and on the level of cover. If the boat slides off the trailer, hits the edge of the ramp or swings against the quay wall in the slings, that is an accident to the boat, and basic named peril covers often leave accidents out. Some wordings reimburse crane costs caused by an insured loss. If you hurt yourself at the ramp, the personal accident section is the place to look, and only some wordings name launching and recovery explicitly.

At the berth, policies usually require a place that is objectively suitable for a pleasure craft. Many wordings also exclude damage while the boat lies unattended off an open coast for more than a set number of hours, typically one or two days, unless it can be moved at once when danger threatens. For the pontoon itself the liability section is responsible, and some wordings extend it to damage to jetties you moor at and to rented storage spaces, which normally fall under the exclusion for property in your care. That also matters for a rented parking space for the trailer.

Many boats of this size spend the winter not in a hall but on the trailer, in a garage or on the owner's land. Hull cover usually continues ashore. For theft and vandalism the place decides: many wordings refuse claims if the boat stood on a site that is not fenced and locked or in a building that was not locked. A locked garage meets that standard, an open carport does not. Frost is weather damage and normally excluded. And one limit to check beforehand: some seasonal policies charge only for the sailing months and provide no cover at all outside them, not even in winter storage. Read the dates on your schedule.

With a trailer, another country is a day's drive away, whether a lake in the Alps, the Croatian coast or the Danish Baltic. What counts is the cruising area in the schedule, as described in the first part. Liability sections usually include claims arising abroad, but costs of defending a claim there may count against the sum insured. Hull wordings often exclude damage caused while the boat was driven without the licence required for that area. An engine that needs no licence at home may need one in the destination country, and some lakes do not allow combustion engines at all. Settle that before you leave.

Finally, what happens behind the boat. Towing children on an inflatable or a water skier is an obvious use for a motor boat of this size. Some liability wordings name towing water skiers, wakeboarders, parasailers, banana boats and tube riders explicitly; others say nothing, and silence is not the same as cover. The personal liability of the person being towed is usually excluded, as are claims by relatives in the same household. Powerboat races and the practice runs for them are commonly excluded from hull cover unless agreed separately. That ends the series; the first three parts deal with the policy, the value and typical damage.