Garage insurance required separately?

by Guest » Tue Feb 07, 2012 01:52 pm
Guest

I run a repair shop for boats. Unlike most repair businesses, operations obviously can’t be carried out from a regular body shop. I have a boat garage, which is basically a section of the marina with a roof overhead. I have been asking around for a while now and people tell me that I’ll specifically require ‘garage insurance’ to cover my risks. Is this true? I always thought P&C insurance was enough to cover my business.

Total Comments: 7

Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 08:59 pm Post Subject:

Garage insurance is Property and Casualty insurance. Perhaps instead of P&C you mean General Liability insurance. The GL policy specifically excludes coverage for property in your "care, custody and control". Some carriers are writing endorsements to roll those coverage's in together as the exposure is not really increased and most of the coverage is redundant.

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 01:26 pm Post Subject:

If you have P&C insurance then you already have garage insurance. As tcope said, general liability is a good option given the business that you are in. Are you seeking coverage for something in particular?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 06:59 pm Post Subject:

If the OP has GL then they _don't_ gave Garage coverage. That is, the GL policy specifically excludes coverage for other people's property when you are in it's care, custody and control of it. Which is why there is Garage coverage forms.

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 06:59 pm Post Subject:

If the OP has GL then they _don't_ have Garage coverage. That is, the GL policy specifically excludes coverage for other people's property when you are in it's care, custody and control of it. Which is why there is Garage coverage forms.

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 02:40 pm Post Subject:

There actually are a few odd companies specializing in insuring repair shops in particular. You might want to look into one of them.

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 09:37 pm Post Subject:

Not really that difficult if you'd actually speak with a business insurance producer that has a clue.

Commercial General Liability (CGL) coverage is different than Garage Liability coverage which is different than Garagekeepers Liability.

CGLs will generally NOT cover property in the care, custody or control of the insured, but will provide what's called "fire legal liability." Different story and thread. CGLs specifically exclude aircraft, autos and watercraft from coverage as they should be separately insured under a different coverage form.

The insured, assuming he has care, custody and control of customer watercraft during the repair and also assuming that he will "road test" the boats after certain repairs, needs garage liability and garagekeeper's coverage. Here's how he will be protected with the PROPER policy forms:

Garage liability coverage Section II provides coverage for damages resulting from bodily injury and property damage caused by a covered accident and which result from garage operations, such as ownership and use and other operations incidental to the garage business.

Garagekeeper's coverage is specifically intended to cover care, custody and control issues. This will protect the watercraft of the customer while it's in the care of the insured. It's a specified causes of loss form and is NOT an open-peril coverage form.

While these are primarily intended for AUTO repair, etc. type of shops, there are exact equivalents for aircraft and watercraft businesses.

InsTeacher 8)

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