Your boat becomes your second home when you are at sea sailing through the waves and living free. Mexico's navigation law requires vessels to carry civil-liability insurance (Ley de Navegación y Comercio Marítimos, art. 176), and beyond that it makes sense that you insure your boat to feel safe.
Check whether any existing policy you hold covers marine-specific risk factors like environmental damage or salvage work. Understanding the specifics like accident coverage, passenger coverage, waterways supported, and so on will help you choose the right insurance policy in Mexico.
Types Of Boat Insurances
Based on how depreciation is handled, boat insurance can be classified as an:
- Agreed value insurance
Ask the insurer whether the policy pays an agreed value for a total loss, and check how the policy handles partial losses.
- Actual cash value insurance
Ask whether the policy pays only the actual cash value as your boat ages and depreciates.
The policies can also be classified based on the type of boats covered. The general kinds of boats are:
- Boat
- Personal watercraft
- Yacht
- Sailboat
- Dinghy
- Boat and PWC rentals
Boat club policies can be specifically used to cover boat club members as they operate and travel in the club owned boats.
Professional boating insurance policies are used for special cases involving a tournament, long-distance travel, and are more customizable.
Types Of Boat Insurance Coverage
There are varying degrees of coverage offered — from an ‘all risk’ highly secure policy to specific term coverage. The cost of insurance heavily depends on the coverage provided. Some of the common types of coverage you can expect are:
- Salvage
Covers the cost to remove your boat from an area due to any accidents or repairs.
- Consequential damage
Check how the policy treats a loss that follows from wear and tear like corrosion, rusting, and rot; the wording decides what is covered.
- Towing
Covers the cost to tow your boat across a waterway.
- Specialized coverage
You can make use of specialized coverage to protect special equipment in the boat or a particularly costly part of it.
Insurance Cost Factors
Here are the major concerns that you should check out when trying to insure your boat. These factors help determine the cost and coverage of an insurance policy.
- What is the age of the boat?
- What are its dimensions?
- What speed/ horsepower does your boat offer?
- Does your boat conform to Mexican and US safety standards?
- Do you use your boat as a primary residence?
- Is your boat homemade? Does it carry a proper identification number/documents?
- Does it have a motor?
- Type of ownership. Do you own the boat individually or in a partnership?
- The Cruising area. Where do you intend to operate the boat (ocean, lakes, rivers,..)?
Ways To Get Cheaper Boat Insurance in Mexico
- Boating safety education. Ask whether a completed safety course affects your premium.
- Ask how the liability limit and the deductible you choose change the premium.
- Ask about any seasonal or storage-period options.
Have a good talk with your agent and discuss all the possibilities for every penny you can save before opting for an insurance policy. Note that Baja Bound's watercraft policy, which SmartGringo links to, is liability cover: it pays for damage or injury you cause to others, physical damage and theft of your own boat are not covered, and passenger medical payments are excluded. Legal assistance "is a call away. Available 24/7." (Baja Bound watercraft page)
Bringing a boat down? Get a Mexican boat insurance quote.