What does Tower boat insurance cover in New Zealand?
General information, not advice on your situation. Buying through Tower's online quote is direct, without advice. QuoteHub is a Tower partner and Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission from Tower.
Tower covers most recreational boats in New Zealand under one policy, Boat Comprehensive: runabouts, launches and cruisers, yachts, trailer sailers, off-the-beach dinghies and jet skis (Tower). It pays for loss to the boat at the lesser of market value and sum insured, covers your liability to other people up to $5,000,000, and adds a small accidental death or injury benefit (wording). The parts that decide a claim are not the headline benefits. They are where the boat is kept, whether it is raced, whether a trailer is listed and who is driving.
Does Tower cover my type of boat?
Tower lists six craft types on its boat page. The table shows what it says about each and the wording condition most likely to matter.
| Boat type | What Tower's page says | Condition to check in the wording |
|---|---|---|
| Runabout and other trailerable powerboats | Fibreglass to Frewza, cuddy cabin to bow-rider (Tower) | Extra excess if stolen from its trailer with no recognised anti-theft device; submersion rules while moored (wording) |
| Jet ski, personal water craft, pole ski | "If you ride it we can provide cover for it" (Tower) | Extra $5,000 excess for water ingress to the motor or electrics with no break in the hull (wording) |
| Launch or cruiser | A moored launch, cruiser, sport fisher or sedan, tender included. Multi-hulls: phone for a quote (Tower) | A physical check at least every 24 hours is needed for submersion cover away from the home mooring (wording) |
| Yacht | Catamaran yachts: phone for a quote (Tower) | Social racing only, inside a 25 nautical mile course limit (wording) |
| Trailer sailer | A legally trailerable sailboat (Tower) | The trailer is covered only if you add the optional benefit (wording) |
| Off-the-beach | Laser, Optimist, Hobie or classic dinghy (Tower) | Business, hire and charter use is outside the policy (Tower) |
Other insurers cover these boats too, so the table is a starting point for reading wordings, not a full market comparison. For the wider picture, see QuoteHub's guide to boat insurance in NZ.
What the policy pays for
Tower's wording (code 09-24) has three sections: comprehensive cover for the boat, liability protection and accidental death or injury cover (Tower's boat wording). The main limits are below.
| What is covered | Limit in Tower's wording |
|---|---|
| The boat: fire, theft and other accidental loss, on land, on water, in storage or on its trailer | Lesser of market value or sum insured (wording) |
| Emergency rescue and emergency repair costs after a covered loss | Up to $25,000 for any one event, on top of the boat's value (wording) |
| Recovery and temporary storage costs | Reasonable costs up to the greater of $20,000 or 50% of the sum insured (wording) |
| Liability for property damage or injury you cause | Up to $5,000,000 in total, with $100,000 for bodily injury to a person (wording) |
| Water-skiing, wake-boarding and aquaplaning liability | Up to $100,000 per event for death or injury and $5,000,000 per event for property damage (wording) |
| Discharge of fuel, lubricants or sewage | Up to $500,000 for one event (wording) |
| Liability under a berth or storage agreement | Up to $5,000,000 (wording) |
| Accidental death, funeral expenses or permanent loss of sight of an eye or use of a limb, for you | $5,000 each (wording) |
Liability cover also applies when you use someone else's boat with the owner's permission, though it does not cover damage to that boat. Bodily injury is excluded where ACC provides cover to any extent, which QuoteHub's guide to ACC and private insurance explains.
Several smaller benefits are easy to miss:
- A new boat of the same make and model if you owned and insured it with Tower from new and it is written off within three years, or the last listed retail price if none is available (wording). High performance race yachts and race power boats are excluded from this benefit.
- Temporary cover for a replacement boat for up to 14 days, if you paid $250,000 or less for it (wording).
- Keys and locks cover up to $1,000, with no excess if that is the only benefit you claim under (wording).
- Up to $1,500 to refill fire extinguishers and replace flares, up to $500 for each emergency beacon battery, and the cost of repacking a life raft (wording).
- Up to $1,000 of non-refundable fishing tournament or yacht race entry fees if a claim forces you to withdraw (wording).
Water-skiing and towing
If you tow a skier, wakeboarder or tube, the water-skiing benefit is the part to read. It covers your legal liability for a towed skier's injury, for injury a skier causes to someone else and for property damage a skier causes, and it extends to anyone using your boat with your permission (wording). It applies only if a second person on board is competently watching the skier, in addition to whoever is driving, and only with recognised, commercially made equipment (wording). Towing anything in the air is not part of it. Boating alone with a skier behind you is therefore the situation where the benefit may not respond.
Social yacht racing
Social yacht racing is covered automatically for a yacht, trailer sailer or off-the-beach yacht (Tower). The wording defines it narrowly: racing without spinnakers or extras, over a course of no more than 25 nautical miles by the most direct route, inside New Zealand's geographical limits (wording).
Racing other than social yacht racing is otherwise excluded, and so are speed tests and reliability or time trials, apart from club-run time trials to a maximum of 30 knots (wording). Anything beyond social racing needs Tower's agreement. Tower may cover other races, but only if it has agreed and the race is listed on your certificate of insurance. The wording also lists an additional excess for racing, based on the value of the boat and the length of the race, so ask what applies before a regatta (wording). If you sail competitively, QuoteHub's guide to yacht insurance in NZ covers sails, rigging and the other yacht-specific limits.
Lay-up cover
Lay-up is an optional benefit for a boat that sits unused over winter. Tower bases a reduced premium on the boat being laid up for the months on your certificate (Tower). The conditions are strict:
- Laid up means stored within the gates, walls or fences of the home location on your certificate, or somewhere else Tower expressly agrees (wording).
- If you use the boat during the lay-up period, Tower does not cover you under any section of the policy (wording).
- The boat is still covered at a boat dealer for servicing and maintenance, on the way to and from it, and during a claim.
- You can ask to change the dates, but full cover returns only once Tower agrees and the new dates are on your certificate.
The practical risk is a warm weekend in the lay-up months. A short trip with lay-up cover on can leave the boat uninsured, because full cover returns only once Tower has agreed new dates and they appear on the certificate. Tower says eligibility criteria apply to lay-up cover (Tower).
Trailers, gear and jet skis
The boat trailer is not covered unless you choose the optional benefit, and then only a registered and warranted trailer listed on your certificate. Recreational equipment is optional too, at a sum insured of $5,000 or $10,000 for fishing, diving and waterski gear while on the boat, in use or stored at home (Tower; wording). Fishing cover means rods and reels, not tackle or tackleboxes. Personal items such as phones, cameras, clothing and jewellery are not covered at all.
Some boats carry extra excesses in the wording:
- A trailer boat or jet ski stolen from its trailer carries an additional excess of $1,000 if it is a total loss, there is no sign of forced entry to its storage and the trailer has no recognised anti-theft device. Padlocks, chains and cables do not count (wording).
- A jet ski carries an additional excess of $5,000 when water ingress damages the motor or electrics without a break in the hull (wording). See jet ski insurance in NZ.
- Submersion while moored or at anchor is covered for trailer craft if someone physically checks the boat at least every 24 hours, and for any moored boat left away from its home mooring on the same condition. The standard excess applies only with a working automatic bilge pump, a self-draining cockpit and adequate storm covers. Without them the excess is the greater of $500 or 10% of the sum insured (wording).
- For moored boats, land transit is covered only for professionally built fibreglass, steel or aluminium boats moved by professional boat haulage operators, with an excess of the greater of $1,000 or 1% of the sum insured (wording).
Three common situations
These use only the conditions in the wording, not prices.
- A trailer boat stolen from a shed. If the boat is a total loss, the shed shows no forced entry and the trailer has only a padlock and chain, the extra theft excess applies. A recognised anti-theft device on the trailer is what avoids it (wording).
- A yacht in a club race. A Wednesday-evening race without spinnakers over a short course sits inside social racing. A long offshore race with spinnakers does not, so it needs Tower's agreement and a listing on the certificate first (wording).
- A launch left on a visitor's mooring. The submersion benefit assumes someone physically checks the boat every 24 hours, with a working bilge pump and storm covers in place for the standard excess (wording).
What Tower's boat wording leaves out
The policy covers the boat only while it is used for social, domestic or recreational purposes within New Zealand's geographical limits, plus volunteer marine rescue or first response. Tower says it does not currently offer cover for business or commercial use (Tower). Other exclusions and conditions include:
- A boat with modifications from the maker's standard specification, unless Tower has agreed and noted it on your certificate (wording).
- Liability cover that does not extend to a boat you charter or lease, and no cover at all for business, hire or charter use unless Tower has agreed and it is on your certificate.
- Geographical limits of 200 nautical miles off the North and South Islands, unless your certificate restricts them (wording).
- Unsafe operation, such as overloading, going out when all advice was not to, or running an unseaworthy boat, plus speeds above 70 knots (wording).
- Jet unit impellers damaged by stones or other matter, an outboard not secured as its maker specifies, and a motor that seizes or overheats unless an external blockage caused it (wording).
- A storm, flood, wildfire, tsunami, volcanic activity or landslide in the first 72 hours of a policy, and a cyclone named before the start date, unless the policy followed straight on from another covering those risks or was taken out when you bought the boat (wording). QuoteHub's guide to natural disaster insurance explains how home cover treats these.
- Sails damaged by wind or water, unless the boat is stranded, sunk, in a collision or has mast or rigging failure (wording).
- Anyone in charge of the boat who is intoxicated, unlicensed where a licence is needed, without adequate experience, or refused boat or motor vehicle insurance in the last five years and not disclosed, in each case with limited exceptions (wording).
- Any loss another insurer also covers, because Tower will not contribute to a claim under another policy.
An extra excess can also apply if the person in control of the boat is under 25 (wording). If the boat is custom or modified, Tower says to phone it for a quote and, for multi-hulls and catamaran yachts, to call 0800 006 386 (Tower).
How a claim is valued
For a repair, Tower can arrange it or pay the reasonable cost it assesses, and the most it pays is the least of the repair cost, market value or sum insured. On a total loss it pays the lesser of market value and sum insured, so a sum insured above market value buys no extra payout. A motor five years old or less is repaired without a deduction for wear and depreciation, while an older motor takes deductions (wording).
The policy tells you to call the Police or Coastguard if you need immediate help, then to photograph the damage and contact Tower to claim (wording). The policy reimburses rescue and removal costs after a covered loss, but only once Tower has accepted the claim (wording). QuoteHub's guide to making a Tower claim has the general steps. Tower says that as an ICNZ member it abides by the Fair Insurance Code, on its code page.
The Coastguard connection
Tower's boat page calls it "Coastguard's recommended boat insurer" (Tower). That is Tower's own description of the relationship, and it is not a statement about the quality of the cover. Coastguard membership and a boat policy do different jobs, so check what each one pays for before relying on either.
Getting a quote from Tower online
Have the boat's type, make, model, age and value, the motor and trailer details, where it is stored, who will drive it and any modifications to hand. QuoteHub's link opens Tower's online quote, where you add the boat and answer Tower's own questions. Other insurers sell boat cover too, and their wordings differ as well as their prices. For custom, modified, multi-hull or catamaran boats, Tower asks you to phone it instead.
Questions people ask
Is Tower boat insurance any good?
A claim is assessed against the wording, not a label. In Tower's wording, a total loss pays the lesser of market value and sum insured, social racing is covered inside a 25 nautical mile limit, and business use and unlisted modifications are not covered (Tower; wording). Whether that suits you depends on how you use the boat. QuoteHub's read is that the storage, racing and driver conditions are where the wording is most specific.
Does Tower insure jet skis and yachts?
Yes. Tower's boat page lists personal water craft and yachts among the craft it insures, and asks you to phone for catamaran yachts and multi-hulls (Tower). Jet skis and trailer craft carry extra excess conditions in the wording.
Does Tower boat insurance cover my boat trailer?
Only if you choose the optional boat trailer benefit, and then only a registered and warranted trailer listed on your certificate (Tower). Tower's car wording does not fill the gap, because its definition of a trailer excludes boat trailers, as the car insurance wording shows.
Can I cancel Tower boat insurance if I change my mind?
Tower says you can cancel within 15 days of the policy start date if you have made no claims, and it will refund the premiums you paid (Tower). After that you can cancel online, by phone or by email and receive a refund of unused premium (wording).
How much does Tower boat insurance cost?
Tower does not publish boat prices on its boat page, so only a quote shows a figure. The boat's value and type, where it is kept, who drives it, the excess and any options all shape the premium (Tower). QuoteHub's guide to getting a Tower quote online shows what to have ready. For the other Tower covers, see Tower car insurance and Tower contents insurance, or the Tower insurance hub.
Adviser's view
QuoteHub's read: in Tower's wording the boat is paid at the lesser of market value and sum insured, and how the boat is stored, raced and driven changes the cover, so those details matter more than the headline benefits.
Get a Tower quote online
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QuoteHub is a Tower partner. If you buy through this link, Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission from Tower. Buying online is not financial advice.
Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Tower Boat Insurance NZ: What It Covers. www.quotehub.co.nz/tower-insurance/tower-boat-insurance. Updated 2026-10-07.
References
- Tower, Boat insurance
- Tower, Boat comprehensive wording (BOAT-COMP-09-24)
- Tower, Car comprehensive wording (09-24)
- Tower, Fair Insurance Code
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