High-value personal · by appointment
Yacht & larger vessels.
Boats and yachts over a certain size or value need marine-specific policies. Hull, machinery, P&I liability, crew, salvage — different vocabulary, different coverage forms.
What it is.
Above 26 feet (or above $250K hull value), boats move from watercraft to marine paper. Different vocabulary: hull and machinery, P&I (protection and indemnity) liability, salvage, wreck removal, crew exposures under the Jones Act. Different carriers, different surveyors, different conversation.
The lines in your policy.
Each one is its own knob. The carrier's default rarely fits a real life.
What a claim looks like.
Three anonymized files. Numbers are illustrative.
32-foot vessel suffers engine fire and sinks at slip. Hull insured at $480K agreed value paid in full. Salvage and wreck removal costs another $180K — covered separately under the marine policy. Standard watercraft would have capped salvage at low limits or excluded entirely.
Operator's wake damages a neighboring slip and a moored vessel. $32K in property damage. P&I liability pays in full plus defense. Marine policy's broader liability handled the navigation-related claim cleanly.
Paid captain falls during routine maintenance, fractures wrist. Workers comp doesn't apply at sea — Jones Act does. Marine policy's crew coverage handles medical, lost wages, maintenance and cure obligations.
How to read a yacht policy.
The four things worth looking for on the dec page, in the order we read them.
The first page tells you who's actually covered, on what address, and under whose legal entity. A surprising number of policies have the wrong name, the wrong address, or a missing additional insured, and you don't find out until you file a claim. Cross-check it against your driver's license, your title or lease, and any contract that requires you to be insured.
Policy limits are abstract until you stack them against the assets they protect. A $300k liability limit feels generous in isolation; against a $1.2M home and a college fund, it isn't. Walk down each numbered line on your dec page and ask: if this were the cap on the worst day, would I be okay?
Page one shows you the base form. Pages four through twelve show you what the endorsements added, and, more importantly, what they took away. Water-damage exclusions, roof-payment schedules, named-storm deductibles, scheduled-valuables caps. These small numbered forms decide more claims than the headline limits do.
Carriers re-rate, re-form, and re-endorse policies at every renewal. If you keep last year's dec page, a side-by-side read takes ten minutes and tells you which limits drifted, which sublimits got cut, and which endorsements quietly disappeared. It's the single most useful habit in personal insurance.
Frequently asked questions.
What's the difference between watercraft and yacht/marine paper?
Watercraft is auto-style coverage scaled to small boats. Marine paper is admiralty-law-aware, covers salvage and wreck removal as standard, includes P&I liability, and handles crew exposures via Jones Act. Different vocabulary, different math.
Do I need a survey?
Yes — at policy inception, and periodically (every 3-5 years) thereafter. Survey establishes hull value, condition, and any required maintenance items. Carriers won't write the policy without a recent survey.
What about operating out of state or international waters?
Marine policies have explicit navigation territories. Coastal, Great Lakes, Caribbean — each has its own rates and requirements. Always disclose intended cruising plans up front.
If I charter the boat occasionally, is that covered?
Not automatically. Charter is commercial use; you need a charter endorsement or separate policy. Even occasional use without proper coverage can void claims. Always disclose charter plans, even one-offs.
Want a second read on your yacht policy?
Send us your declarations page. You'll get it back marked up, in plain language, with the gaps and the over-coverage flagged, yours to keep, no obligation to switch.
or phone (913) 408-7280
We're an independent broker. We represent you, not the carrier , paid by the carrier we ultimately place with, but accountable only to the person whose name is on the policy. Read more about how we work.