Is my snowmobile covered by my house insurance while in my garage?

Is my snowmobile covered by my house insurance while in my garage?

While there are still a couple of months of winter ahead of us, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to take to task one of our most-asked seasonal insurance questions: Does my home policy cover my snowmobile/ATV or other seasonal vehicles while it’s parked in the garage?

Here at PAIB Insurance Inc., we know how much you care about your toys and we understand how important these investments can be. Figuring out how to cover your investments is a logical concern, and we want to break it down for you.

Let’s start by defining a seasonal vehicle. In essence, a seasonal vehicle is one that is not driven year-round, but outfitted for a particular season. These include motorcycles, mopeds, motor scooters, off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, classic cars, etc. Being that PAIB Insurance Inc. was born in the North, we thought it would be appropriate to use our favourite example of a seasonal vehicle: the snowmobile. Designed for winter travel and recreation on snow, which we have plenty of in the North, the snowmobile is most often used on open terrain and trails. Naturally, this vehicle would be parked throughout the summer months (depending on who you ask).

It is most commonly thought that the total contents of your home and garage would be covered under your home insurance. While it is true that most home insurance policies will cover a range of potential instances, home insurance does not cover anything that happens to your seasonal vehicle even if it’s stored/parked in the garage of your home. The personal property section of your home insurance covers items such as personal tools, Christmas decorations and fishing gear in the event of damage or loss as a result of fire, windstorms, hail, lightning, theft or vandalism.

Therefore, any and all motorized vehicles must carry their own insurance coverage, snowmobile insurance, for example, provides coverage for bodily injury to someone else, property damage or damage to the snowmobile caused accidentally while driving the vehicle, bodily injury to yourself in the case of an accident with an uninsured snowmobiler, as well as accessories and equipment such as batteries and fire extinguishers.

We suggest that a few weeks before you take your seasonal vehicle out of storage, contact your insurance representative and update your policy.  Don’t forget to make sure that your license plate sticker covers the time period during which you plan to drive your snowmobile.

The snowmobile is also rated “seasonally” meaning the premium paid is used during the months of Nov through to the end of March.  If the snowmobile was used all year then the premiums would in essence be doubled.  Some might think there is a financial advantage by starting and stopping a new policy with each passing season, this unfortunately is not the case.  The policy covers a 12 month period to ensure continuous coverage with no hassle of re-applying every winter season. When fire and theft coverage is purchased your snowmobile is also covered during the off season. Which is perfect as your home insurance will not cover this, even if the snowmobile is stored in the garage.

Bringing with them over forty years’ experience, the experts at PAIB Insurance Inc. are deeply informed when it comes to seasonal vehicles and promise to bring you the utmost cutting edge knowledge for the coverage you need.  We will ensure that your insurance is tailored to your needs to make sure your toys are covered! After all, it’s the northern way of life!