You are holding several hundred boats you do not own, on a property that floods by design.
Cover for marinas, boatyards and boat dealers — customers’ vessels in your care, the docks and piers themselves, fuel and pollution, and the named-storm exposure that defines the coast.
Tell us the situation.
A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What marina businesses actually need.
Marina operators legal liability
Damage to customers’ boats in your care for storage, mooring or repair.
Without it — The boats are the value on site and none of them are yours.
Piers, docks and wharves
The structures themselves, which most property forms treat as a special class.
Without it — Docks are frequently excluded or heavily sublimited on a standard form.
Protection and indemnity
Marine liability, including injury to workers covered by maritime law.
Without it — Land-based workers comp does not answer a Longshore or Jones Act claim.
Pollution and fuel
Fuel spill, clean-up and third-party damage.
Without it — Pollution is excluded from property and liability, and fuel docks spill.
Named storm and windstorm
Hurricane and wind cover for the site and the vessels in it.
Without it — The single event that damages everything on the property at once.
What marina operators ask us.
Are customers’ boats covered by our property policy?
No — your property policy covers what you own, and the boats do not qualify. Marina operators legal liability is the cover for vessels in your care, custody and control, and it is where the real exposure sits: a boatyard can be holding tens of millions of dollars of other people’s property with its own buildings worth a fraction of that. Set the limit against your peak on-site value, which for most yards is winter storage rather than the summer season.
What is the workers compensation complication?
That maritime employment is governed by federal law rather than state comp. Employees working on or adjacent to navigable water can fall under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and crew members under the Jones Act — both of which a standard state workers comp policy does not answer without specific endorsement. Yards routinely discover this at the first serious injury. Describe exactly what your staff do and where they stand while doing it.
How is hurricane exposure handled?
With a named storm deductible, usually as a percentage, and with conditions you must actually meet. Many coastal marina policies require a written hurricane preparedness plan — hauling vessels, doubling lines, removing canvas — and can reduce or deny a claim where the plan was not executed. The plan is a policy condition rather than advice, so it needs to be written, staffed and rehearsed before the season.
Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.