With summer weather comes more people on boats. Some are more experienced drivers while others are occasional users who might not have the required skillset to safely operate a boat. Unfortunately boating accidents are all too common and they often result in serious injuries.

Is insurance mandatory?

While car insurance is mandatory for every car owner, some will be surprised to know that in Ontario, boat owners are not required to have insurance. As such, if you are involved in a serious boating accident caused by the negligence of someone who has no insurance and owns no property, the likelihood of recovering an amount to help pay for your damages is very low. On the flip side, if you are the person responsible for a boating accident causing injuries and you do not have insurance, you could lose your home and part of your wages to pay for the damages you have caused.

What should you do?

In order to help protect you and your family, if you own a boat, you should make sure that you have proper insurance in place. This means having enough coverage to pay for damages caused by the user of your boat but also ensuring that you have coverage for underinsured and uninsured boat owners. For example, if you and your family members are involved in a boating accident causing serious injuries and that the responsible boat owner does not have insurance, having underinsured and uninsured coverage would mean that your own insurance would step in and pay for your family’s damages.

If you do not own a boat but are expecting to go on someone else’s boat over the summer months, you should contact your insurance broker or adjuster to find out if you have coverage under your home insurance or cottage insurance policy. Some of these policies have umbrella type clauses that can cover certain situations, but they might have specific restrictions on the size of the boat for example. You should also ask the boat owner if they have insurance.

I have been in an accident, what do I do now?

If you have been injured in a boating accident caused by someone else’s negligence, contact us for a free consultation. We can help you determine if there is insurance coverage in place and what to do if there is not. Let us take care of your worries while you recover. Call or text us today to book your free consultation.

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