Many questions have arisen with the extension of the stay at home order on May 13, 2021 with respect to boat insurance. To help answer some of these quesions, we've put some clarity around how boat insurance policies work with MD Marine.
Our team has reviewed the question around denying coverage during a lockdown if a normally covered claim occurs during the Covid lockdown. In order to proceed with the denial of coverage a policy must have clear language which would constitute an exclusion. Within our wordings we do not have exclusions or even reference simple violations, fines or any provincial health restrictions.
There is a section of our wording which regulates illegal activities. This focuses on criminal offenses such as operating the boat under the influence and other criminal acts which fall under the Criminal code of Canada and are Federal offenses. The health regulations are provincial and do not fall under the Criminal Code. Ultimately, from a boat insurance perspective, we do not see denying a normally covered claim which occurred during a provincial health lockdown.
We hope this clarifies our position as we are all looking forward to a great boating season.
Sylvain F. Tisi
Executive Vice-President
