Here's What You Need to Know About Personal Watercraft Insurance

Personal watercraft insurance or PWC insurance insures your personal watercraft from vandalism, accidents, and liability. If you own type of watercraft, consider opting for personal watercraft insurance.

There are two types of personal watercrafts, a stand-up personal watercraft made for one person who either stands or kneels on the personal watercraft while he/she operates it and sit-down personal watercrafts made for one person or two people who sit on the personal watercraft while in operation.

We are going to inform you in detail about PWC insurance so you have a better idea on what it entails.

 

What Do You Know About Personal watercraft Insurance?

 

 

If you own a personal watercraft, have you thought about obtaining personal watercraft insurance. For people thinking about purchasing a personal watercraft, they should consider obtaining watercraft insurance. Before you do, we want you to consider the following key aspects of a personal watercraft insurance coverage:

 

The Different Areas Personal watercraft Insurance Covers

 

Personal watercraft insurance provides coverage for bodily injury, property damage, and medical payments. A typical policy includes deductibles for medical bills, bodily injury, and property damage. Most policies contain liability limits. Since liability limits differ from state to state, we suggest you look up the liability limits insurance companies in Connecticut offer watercraft owners.

In the event you find yourself involved in an accident such as damage property, injuring a passenger, or damaging another boat in the water, your personal watercraft insurance policy will kick in.

 

You Need to Obtain Personal Watercraft Insurance for Each Personal Watercraft You Own

 

If you own more than personal watercraft, be sure to take out PWC insurance for each personal watercraft you own. Your insurance company may tailor the PWC insurance to cover one or more personal watercrafts. Your insurance company can better guide you on the type of PWC insurance you should obtain for your personal watercraft, especially if you own more than one.

Personal watercraft insurance covers you in the event you or someone else operating your personal watercraft causes damage to the dock or another personal watercraft, injury or death of a person due to your negligence, injury to wakeboarders and towed water skiers using your personal watercraft, physical damage to the machinery, hull, and equipment, and injury caused by an operator not covered under the personal watercraft insurance.

 

You Need to Know that Not Every Personal watercraft Insurance Covers Everything

 

When you visit your insurance company, be sure to ask them what their personal watercraft insurance policy covers. In most cases, personal watercraft insurance does not provide coverage to owners who have modified or upgraded their personal watercraft insurance to increase its performance and speed.

 

You Can Obtain Additional Coverage

 

 

Your insurance company may provide you with additional coverage such as add-ons to your watercraft insurance policy. Some essential additional coverages include the replacement costs of personal items whether lost or damaged, replacement of your personal watercraft at its actual cash value if damaged, roadside assistance in the event your personal watercraft becomes stranded in the middle of the sea, and compensation of the costs of raising and removing your personal watercraft in the event it sinks.

After obtaining personal watercraft insurance, you need to take measures to reduce the probability of your personal watercraft becoming damaged while in the water.

 

Personal Watercraft Safety Measures You Need To Take

 

When you are operating your watercraft in the water, you need to maintain an appropriate distance from other owners operating their personal watercraft.

A 2015 report released by the US Coast Guard revealed that recreational boating was responsible for 626 deaths, 2,613 bodily injury, and an estimated $42 million dollars of damage to property. They further revealed that most common types of vessels involved in accidents were open motorboats, personal watercraft, and cabin motorboats.

You can avoid getting into a collision with another personal watercraft by staying at least 100 yards away from the personal watercraft in front of you and remain no less than 50 yards to one side of the personal watercraft.

You should also avoid jumping the wake of another watercraft, as it can cause you to misjudge its speed, leading to a collision. It may also put you in the path of traffic, coming towards you from another direction.

According to the Recreational Boating Statistics 2016, the following factors are responsible for personal watercraft accidents:

• Weather
• Unexpected medical condition
• Starting in gear
• Making a sharp turn
• Restricted or limited vision
• Passengers on bow, gunwale, or transom
• Inexperienced operator
• Distracted operator
• Violating navigation rules
• Inadequate or missing navigation aid
• Machinery failure
• Inadequate onboard navigation lights
• Improper lookout
• Improper loading
• Improper anchoring
• Ignition of vapor or fuel
• Hull failure
• Hazardous waters
• Force of wave or wake
• Failure to vent
• Excessive speed
• Equipment failure
• Drug use
• Dam or lock
• Congested waters
• Carbon monoxide exposure

Since personal watercrafts offer little protection in the event of a collision because the operator and passengers are standing near the water surface. These factors and high level of agility of personal watercrafts indicate that every collision has the potential to cause serious injuries.

You can mitigate the risk of a personal watercraft accident by wearing helmets and life jackets. You should also have extra safety equipment for passengers who might join you. Some of the common injuries that may occur on the personal watercraft include brain, neck, and spinal cord.

Some of these injuries can result from colliding with another personal watercraft, a submerged item, or a sudden grounding causing the occupants to fall out or thrown out. By going at high speeds, the likelihood of your personal watercraft meeting an accident such as crashing into other personal watercraft or hitting the ground can increase, resulting in brain damage and severe fractures.

By colliding with water, it can cause a concussion or whiplash. The motor of the personal watercraft can result in burns and electrocution. If you want to obtain PWC insurance to protect your personal watercraft, you need to be aware of the costs affecting it. For this reason, you need to take measures to protect yourself and others riding with you on your personal watercraft.

 

The Factors that Can Increase the Costs of Your Personal Watercraft Insurance

 

There are six factors that contribute to the costs of your personal watercraft insurance and they include your driving history, your experience operating a personal watercraft, the horsepower your personal watercraft insurance generates, the type and amount of personal watercraft insurance coverage you select, the types of add-ons you make to your personal watercraft insurance coverage such as a trailer, towing services, and equipment, and the type of deductible you select.

Your insurance company will calculate the costs of your personal watercraft insurance by considering your driving record, both on the road and water, the number of years you have operated a personal watercraft for, names of other people who may operate your personal watercraft, the location where you plan to take your personal watercraft out for a spin, and if you have received any safety trained and obtained certifications.

For instance, to reduce costs of your personal watercraft insurance, you may want to consider taking a US Coast Guard watercraft safety training course, bundling your personal watercraft insurance and your home and/or car with one insurance company, and opting to pay the whole year’s premium either at once or two times each year instead of paying it each month.

If you want to keep your premiums low, in addition to operating your personal watercraft in the water in a safe manner and wearing protective equipment, you need to store your personal watercraft to prevent it from sustaining damage.