Pickwick is the reason a lot of people around here own a boat at all. Bass boats out early, pontoons out late, and a launch ramp that stays busy from March to October.

Then somebody says “it’s covered under my homeowners.” Usually it isn’t — or it is, in a way that won’t matter when you need it.

What your homeowners policy actually does for a boat

Most homeowners forms include a small amount of watercraft coverage, and it’s built for a jon boat, not for what’s parked in your driveway.

Typically you’ll find three limits working against you:

  • A low property limit. Physical damage to the boat itself is often capped at a figure well under what a used bass boat is worth, let alone a new one.
  • A horsepower or length cap. Liability coverage for watercraft usually applies only below a stated horsepower for outboards and a stated length overall. Cross either line and the liability grant can drop out entirely.
  • A narrow definition of the covered property. The motor, the trailer and the electronics may be treated differently from the hull, and gear can fall outside altogether.

That last one is where the argument happens after a loss. You think of it as “the boat.” The policy thinks of it as a hull, a motor, a trailer and some contents — each with its own rules.

Read your form. If the horsepower cap is a number your outboard passed a long time ago, the coverage you’re counting on isn’t there.

What a real boat policy includes

A watercraft policy is written for the exposure. The parts worth understanding:

Agreed value vs. actual cash value. Agreed value means you and the carrier settle on the boat’s value when the policy is written, and that’s what gets paid at total loss. Actual cash value means the carrier pays what the boat was worth the moment before it sank — replacement cost less depreciation. On a ten-year-old rig, that gap can be most of the boat. Neither is wrong; you just want to know which one you bought.

Wreck removal. If your boat goes down, you can be responsible for getting it out. That’s a bill, and it’s separate from the boat’s value.

Fuel spill liability. Fuel and oil in the water create cleanup obligations. This coverage responds to them. Homeowners generally will not.

Uninsured and underinsured boater. Boat insurance isn’t required the way auto insurance is, which means the operator who runs into you may have nothing behind him. This coverage steps into that gap for injuries to you and your passengers.

On-water towing. A dead motor in open water is a tow, and marine towing is not cheap. This is the coverage people use most and think about least.

Liability for what the boat does. Wake damage to a dock, a skier hurt behind the boat, a collision at the mouth of a creek. The liability limit on a watercraft policy is written for that, not borrowed from a house policy.

Why the three-state shoreline changes the question

Pickwick sits on the corner where Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama meet. You can put in on the Mississippi side, spend the afternoon in Tennessee water, and idle past Alabama on the way back.

Two things follow.

First, navigational territory. Boat policies describe where the boat is covered. Most inland policies are written broadly enough for this, but “most” is not “yours” — and if you trailer to other water, or run the Tenn-Tom, that territory language deserves a look before you find out the hard way.

Second, claims and liability get more complicated when a loss crosses a line. Whose registration rules, whose operator requirements, whose court. It’s not a reason to worry; it’s a reason to have an agent licensed in all three states who isn’t guessing.

The scale of it, nationally

The Coast Guard’s numbers are the honest backdrop here. In calendar year 2024, the Coast Guard verified 3,887 incidents that involved 556 deaths, 2,170 injuries and approximately $88 million of damage to property.

Most days on Pickwick are uneventful. That’s the point — boating losses are episodic, which is exactly why people under-insure for them.

Before You Launch: A Five-Point Check

  1. Find the watercraft section of your homeowners policy and read the horsepower cap, length limit and property limit out loud.
  2. Decide whether you want agreed value or actual cash value, and confirm which one your policy says.
  3. Check that the trailer, the motor and the electronics are all accounted for — not assumed.
  4. Confirm you have uninsured boater coverage and on-water towing.
  5. If you trailer to other lakes or cross into Tennessee or Alabama water, read the navigational territory clause.

Whether it’s a bass boat or a pontoon, your time on the water deserves the right coverage. Our boat insurance page covers how we write watercraft for Pickwick and the surrounding lakes, shopped across 20+ carriers.

Coverage descriptions here are general — limits, exclusions and definitions vary by form, and your policy language governs.

We’re not trying to be the fastest quote in your inbox. We want to be the one that’s actually right. Call or text 662-454-7831 and a real person picks up.