General Liability Insurance
General liability is the foundation policy for any marina or boatyard. It protects against third-party claims of injury or property damage — a customer slipping on a wet dock, a visitor injured in the parking lot, damage to a neighbor's property.
General Liability for Marinas & Boatyards
A marina is a public-facing operation with constant foot traffic on wet, uneven surfaces — floating docks, gangways, ramps, fuel piers, and ship's stores. General liability insurance protects your business when a customer, guest, or vendor is injured or their property is damaged on your premises.
What GL Covers
- Bodily injury: A boater slips on a wet dock, a guest trips on a cleat or gangway, or someone is struck by equipment
- Property damage: Damage to a third party's property arising from your operations
- Premises liability: Slip-and-fall and other accidents across docks, ramps, parking, fuel piers, and the ship's store
- Personal & advertising injury: Libel, slander, or advertising-related claims
- Medical payments: Minor injuries handled without a lawsuit
Why GL Alone Is Not Enough for a Marina
General liability covers third-party premises injuries — but it excludes damage to customers' boats in your care, custody, or control. When you haul, store, move, or repair a customer's vessel, that exposure belongs to marina operators legal liability (MOLL), not GL. GL also typically excludes pollution and watercraft (P&I) exposures, which require their own coverages.
Certificate & Lease Requirements
Slip-lease agreements, municipal harbor leases, fuel suppliers, and lenders routinely require you to carry GL and name them as additional insured. Standard limits are $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate; larger operations and municipal leases often require higher.
Why Marina GL Is Specialized
A general business carrier may not understand the difference between a slip-and-fall on your dock and damage to a $400,000 yacht on your travel-lift. We place marinas and boatyards with marine-specialty carriers that structure GL alongside MOLL, P&I, and pollution coverage.
What's Covered
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Damage to vessels in your care, custody, or control — while hauling, storing, moving, or repairing them — is excluded by GL and covered by marina operators legal liability (MOLL). GL covers third-party premises injuries like dock slip-and-falls.
$1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate is standard. Municipal harbor leases, fuel suppliers, and lenders often require this minimum plus an additional insured endorsement, which we issue same-day.