Understanding Boat Captain Insurance

When the unthinkable happens, ensuring everyone’s safety is most important. The last thing you want to be worried about is who’s responsible for the damages. With proper boat captain insurance, you’ll be protected, so you can focus on what matters.

Navigating insurance doesn’t have to be as tricky as navigating rough waters. Start your journey here!

Boat Captain Insurance Basics

When you work as a licensed captain on a vessel owned by a corporation, you’re covered by the company’s liability insurance policy.

However, if you provide training on a client’s boat or work as a self-employed delivery captain, you don’t have that luxury. Current law prevents you from buying insurance to cover another person’s boat, meaning that you cannot insure a customer’s boat under a policy you’ve purchased.

In this case, the vessel’s owner must have their policy amended to provide the necessary insurance required to cover you. This insurance rider provides the policyholder extra protection beyond the provisions contained in their standard insurance agreement. 

Becoming Co-Insured

The process of being added to the vessel’s policy is generally simple and straightforward. The boat owner needs to contact their insurance agent and pay a small fee to have you listed as the co-insured captain on their policy.

In most cases, the insurer will require you to supply a current copy of your USCG license and a resume highlighting your boating experience. When the paperwork is done, the policyholder will receive a letter stating that their insurance now covers you.

Obtain a photocopy of this letter for your records before you leave the dock. In the unlikely event that something goes wrong, you need more than the owner’s word that you have boat captain insurance in place to protect yourself.

More advantages of becoming co-insured on your client’s policy include:

• Liability and damage coverage in the event of an accident
• Reducing the risk of being sued for damage (as the customer would, in effect, be suing themselves)

Upgrade Your Boat Safety

The best boat captain insurance policy is the one you never have to use. As a licensed captain, you study hard to learn what you need to know to keep yourself, your passengers, and other boaters safe.

Take it one step further by upgrading to a Master captain’s license. You’ll gain the expertise to safely and skillfully operate larger vessels and carry more passengers. Start your course today with Mariners Learning System.