Marine and Boat Insurance

Insurance for people who make their living on the water, and beside it

From a team that understands the work, not just the policy.

If your boat, your yard, or your dock is how you earn a living, your insurance has to fit that work. A lot of what we see was written for something else: a yacht policy on a boat that carries paying passengers, or a shipyard policy that names the wrong company.

Our marine team builds coverage around the work you actually do.

Insuring a boat you use for fun? Start with our Boat and Yacht Insurance page.

Where we start

We read the coverage you already have, tell you plainly where it leaves you exposed, and place what needs to change with underwriters who write marine risks regularly, here and overseas.

Two things are worth checking in your own file today.

Is the right company named on the policy?

Many marine businesses run as more than one company: one owns the property or the vessel, another operates it. If the company that owns it isn’t named on the policy, there may be no coverage at all.

We’ve seen it happen. After a fire at a Maine shipyard, the claim was nearly denied because the policy named the operating company but not the owner of the property. It took long negotiations to get it paid. That outcome is the exception.

Is a working boat sitting on a yacht policy?

Yacht policies are built for pleasure boating. Once a boat carries paying passengers, charters, or does commercial work, it needs coverage written for that job.

A policy that looks fine at renewal can leave you uncovered when a claim comes in.

Send us the declarations page from your current policy and the names of every company you operate under. We’ll tell you whether they match.

Who we insure

On the water

Workboats, tugs, and barges
Tall ships and traditional vessels
Fishing vessels
Charter and passenger vessels, including ferries and pilot, crew, and research boats
Cargo vessels

Onshore

Shipyards, boatyards, and marine contractors
Marinas and yacht clubs
Ports, terminals, and stevedoring
Fuel docks, bulk storage, and warehousing
Marine artisans
Offshore wind and renewable energy

Why marine businesses call us

“Everybody in Maine told me to go to Allen.” We hear some version of that on the phone regularly.

Our marine team includes people who worked on the water before they worked in insurance. Nick Pucello spent 15 years running tugs and steel vessels. Patrick Chamberlin fished commercially before he started insuring fishermen.

Our team writes a regular column for WorkBoat magazine, and we’re the endorsed insurance program for Tall Ships America. We’re members of the Maine Marine Trades Association and Maine Built Boats.