The boat on the driveway is not household contents, and the trailer is not a car.
A home policy is built around a house and the things kept in it. Watercraft and recreational equipment are not what a home policy is built to carry, and the liability that comes with putting a boat on the water is a different question again. Both are easy to forget.
Tell us what you own Read the short answer firstAny watercraft limit in a home policy is small.
Household liability only stretches so far.
An RV used as a home is a different policy.
Does home insurance cover a boat or an RV?
Not in any way you should rely on. Where a home policy carries a watercraft limit, it is small, and a small limit is not the same as cover for a boat. Anything beyond it has to be asked for and priced separately.
Any such limit is written for a canoe in the garage rather than a boat with an engine on it. The bigger gap is liability. A collision on the water, a wake that damages a moored boat, a passenger hurt on board. Whether any of that is household liability depends on the boat and on the wording, and none of it belongs to the tow vehicle’s policy either.
Recreational things move, and that is what makes them awkward. A trailer is towed by a vehicle, stored at a house, and used somewhere else entirely. An RV is a vehicle when it is moving and something closer to a dwelling when it is parked for a season. Each of those states can sit under a different policy, and the question that matters is which one applies at the moment something goes wrong. Read the Insurance Bureau of Canada on seasonal property and optional cover (opens in a new tab).
Four things the home policy does not settle.
The hull and the engine
The most valuable single item, and one a home policy is not built to carry. Value it honestly, including the motor and the electronics.
Liability on the water
Other boats, docks, swimmers and passengers. If somebody is hurt on the water or another vessel is damaged, this is the section that should answer, and it is worth checking first.
The trailer itself
It is towed on public roads and stored on your property, so it touches both the vehicle policy and the home one, and neither automatically owns it. The Province of British Columbia’s Ministry of Transportation and Transit is direct about the trailer’s own status: “Your recreation vehicle or trailer must be registered and insured as you would any other vehicle.” Damage to the trailer itself is a separate question again. Read the Province of British Columbia on registering and insuring a trailer (opens in a new tab).
Where it sleeps in winter
Stored at home, at a marina, on a friend’s field, under a tarp. Storage location changes the risk and sometimes changes who is responsible if it is damaged.
Three summers, three ordinary purchases. All three are illustrations, not client files.
The boat bought in May
Paid for privately, towed home, on the water the same weekend. The home policy was never told, and any small watercraft allowance inside it was written for something a tenth of the value.
The RV used for a season
Parked at a site from spring to autumn and lived in for weeks at a time. Insured as a vehicle, used as a home, and the contents inside it belonged to neither policy.
The trailer that came loose
The damage to the trailer was one question. The damage it did to the car behind was a liability question, and the answer sat in a policy nobody had checked.
The questions owners ask in the spring.
It is a small aluminium boat with a little motor. Do I need anything?
Look at the liability before the hull. A small boat can still injure somebody or damage another vessel, and that is the part to check the home policy actually answers for.
Does my car insurance cover the trailer I tow?
Towing and damage are separate questions, and the answer depends on the trailer and the vehicle. Tell us both and we will check rather than guess.
I only use the RV two months a year. Can I pause the rest?
There is often a lay-up option in the wording, and it is worth asking about, but be careful what stops with it. Cover for theft or storm damage while it is parked is the part you still want.
My friend borrows the boat. Is he covered?
Tell us before he does. Who may operate it is a real term in a marine policy, and a borrower who is not permitted is a claim waiting to be argued about.
The boat is kept at a marina. Does that change things?
Yes, and it is worth telling us where the boat will be kept. The marina may also require you to hold liability cover, so ask what they expect before the season starts.
Two that sit next to this on the same site: who must be listed on your ICBC policy, and what a house policy misses on an acreage.
Not the question you had? Send a list of what you own through the short contact form and you will get a written answer, not a sales call.
Add it before the season, not after the weekend.
Watercraft and recreational cover is a separate decision from the home policy, and it is worth making before the season starts.
Checked for technical accuracy by Amrit Sidhu of S&S Insurance Services Ltd. Last checked 28 September 2026.