Portable Boat Hoist—Where Covered?

Q

We have an HO 00 03 05 01 insured. He has a boat insured with another carrier. Not long ago, a severe windstorm blew his portable boat hoist, which was located on his premises next to his dock, against the dock. The boat hoist was smashed. The insured turned the claim in to his boat insurer under the coverage for “boat equipment,” but the insurer has denied the claim, and told the insured to present the claim to us.

We were told the claim should be covered under coverage B, other structures, of the homeowners policy. We want to treat our insured fairly, but are not sure whether this is correct.

Can you help?

Michigan Subscriber

A

The boat hoist does not appear to meet the definition of “equipment,” which Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines as “the set of articles or physical resources serving to equip a person or thing, as…the implements used in an operation or activity.” While the boat hoist makes it possible for the boat to be used, it does not “equip” it for service in the way, say, oars or a portable stove do. The hoist is simply the means to get the boat to the water.

Looking at coverage B of the homeowners policy, the insuring agreement states the insurer covers “other structures on the 'residence premises' set apart from the dwelling by clear space.” We think the key word here is “set.” “Set” conveys an idea of permanence. A portable boat hoist—one that can be wheeled in and out of the water—is not “set.”

We do find coverage, however, under coverage C, personal property. The boat hoist, being portable, can be readily transported for use at another location if the insured moves. The proximate cause of the loss is windstorm; the exclusion of coverage for this peril as it applies to watercraft is to “watercraft…and their equipment…” while outside a fully enclosed building. Since the hoist is not equipment, this exclusion does not apply.

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