Does my home insurance cover my boat?

Many owners assume their home insurance follows them onto the water. Some of it does. Household policies in the UK and Ireland often extend to small craft such as rowing boats, canoes, kayaks and sailing dinghies, both for theft from the garden or garage and for the owner's personal liability. The extension usually comes with limits: a maximum length, a maximum sail area, an engine size, or an exclusion for anything kept afloat or used at sea. Every insurer draws these lines differently.

Three questions decide whether your home policy is enough. Does the wording cover your boat at all, and does it cover third party liability while you are using it, or only damage to the boat at home? Is your boat inside the limits on length, sail area and engine power? And does the cover apply where you sail, on inland waters, along the coast or abroad? Marinas, clubs and many European countries also ask for a certificate of third party cover for the boat itself, which a household policy rarely provides.

What to do: put your home insurance schedule and policy wording next to the details of your boat and check the three questions in writing, or ask your insurer to confirm by email. If your boat sits above any limit, a collision with another yacht or an injured swimmer would leave you paying from your own pocket. A separate boat policy closes that gap, covers the named boat regardless of engine size or sail area, and gives you the certificate that marinas and harbour masters ask for.

Worth remembering

Check the limits in your wording before you launch.