If you’ve thought of buying a snowmobile, you’re most likely thinking of how fun it’ll be. But the risks associated with riding one may not be in the forefront of your mind. Snowmobiles can be very exciting during the winter months, but they can also be dangerous. Even if you practice safety precautions, an unforeseen accident can happen at any time. The risks of riding a snowmobile include severe weather conditions that cause accidents, bodily injury, personal liability, collision, and even getting lost. Obtaining proper snowmobile insurance can keep you from being responsible for costly damages as a result of accidents or other unexpected events.
Snowmobile Insurance Coverage
Anyone who owns and operates a snowmobile should have sufficient insurance coverage to protect against possible risk exposures. Snowmobile insurance coverage may include the following types of coverage:
Collision
Riding a snowmobile can be dangerous if you lose control; you might come into contact with another snowmobile, building, vehicles, trees, utility pole, or even a person. During a collision, significant damage may be caused to your snowmobile which may require expensive repairs. Collision coverage will offer you monetary benefits for helping to pay for the cost of repairs or possibly even replacing your snowmobile.
Liability
The most basic part of a snowmobile insurance policy is liability insurance, which helps cover the cost of property damage or personal injury from a third party. If you get into an accident and harm another person or property, they can turn around and sue you for damages. Liability insurance helps to cover these costs.
Medical Payments
If you get into an accident while riding a snowmobile, it can potentially cause physical harm. Medical payments coverage under your snowmobile insurance helps to cover the costs associated with medical bills, including diagnosis, treatment, medications, and surgery.
Trailer Coverage
In many cases, when you take your snowmobile out, you’ll need to transport it. The trailer you use to transport your snowmobile is probably not covered unless you request additional coverage on your snowmobile insurance policy. While it’s great to have the snowmobile covered in the case of an accident, your trailer should also be covered and most personal auto policies cover trailers up to 2,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight automatically with no charge.
Safety Apparel Coverage
When riding your snowmobile, keep in mind proper safety precautions, such as wearing safety apparel like goggles, gloves, and a helmet. These apparel items can actually be covered by snowmobile insurance with safety apparel coverage. These items aren’t cheap, so it helps to have them covered if they get damaged in an accident.
Other Coverage
As a snowmobile owner, you may find that you want additional coverage aside from basic liability or collision. Even if you are extremely careful and avoid getting into accidents, you’ll still need to be careful of other risks like theft, vandalism, or even fire. To cover these risks, you should obtain a snowmobile insurance policy that includes other coverages.
Off-Season Coverage
Many snowmobile insurance policies will only cover certain seasons, such as the winter season, for example. However in off-seasons, like the summer months, you may still need insurance such as if you go somewhere with imitation snow, or it gets stolen from your garage. Off-season coverage is an annual insurance policy that will cover for snowmobile year-round.
Optional Equipment
Occasionally, you might find additional equipment you’d like to add to your snowmobile, whether for aesthetic value or to improve its riding capacity. If you choose to do so, getting optional equipment coverage will provide additional benefits if something were to happen to this optional equipment following an accident.
If you have chosen to purchase a snowmobile and can’t wait to take it out, be sure you have proper snowmobile insurance first. The last thing you want to do is get into an accident or have your personal belongings stolen from it, and be unable to cover the costs of such incidents.
