I'm a bit of an insurance geek (the sort of person who reads each of his policies start to finish).
When shopping insurance for my last boat, I found there was a *considerable* difference between "boat" policies (targeted at the $50-80k market) that had been sized up to cover higher-value boats and "yacht" policies ($500k+) that had been sized down to cover the $100-500k range.
One example here is consequential damages. I don't know if BoatUS has changed, but there was not consequential damage coverage in the BoatUS policies circa 2013 unless you asked for a specific rider that wasn't advertised anywhere and significantly increased the premium. I looked at a few other policies circa 2015 that also didn't cover consequential damages. My experience was that basically all sized-down "yacht" policies covered consequential, but many (or most) sized up "boat" policies did not.
This may be more relevant to a sailboat (I would be interested in a power boat example), but a typical consequential damage provision is something like this: owner fails to maintain standing rigging, and an $8 turnbuckle fails causing a $50,000 de-masting in heavy weather. Owner is at fault for turnbuckle failure. No insurance policy covers the $8 turnbuckle, and without consequential damage coverage, the owner is SOL for the de-masting. But *with* consequential damage coverage, the $50,000 de-masting is covered, minus the $8 turnbuckle.
Perhaps a power-boat example is you fail to replace an oil filter on the maintenance cycle, engine fails as a result, and you run aground on some rocks. My understanding is that no coverage would include your engine, but without consequential damages you would also be responsible for the entire cost of the grounding (hull damage).
For coverage overall I would highly recommend a multi-line insurance agency with a dedicated marine practice that can look across several carriers / underwriters to get you the best coverage for your needs. Boat Insurance Agency in Seattle (they are located in EBM) and Sea-Mountain Insurance in Lynwood (Krista Patten has decades of experience in marine insurance and its all she does) are great options to start. I insured with Krista for 5 years across two different agencies (she used to be at Wells Fargo) and several different underwriters. Highly recommended. (Boat Insurance is recommended by friends, and I've gotten quotes from them, but never purchased from them).
