Marina contractor insurance that covers your over-water risks.

Most standard commercial general liability policies contain a watercraft exclusion and exclude operations over navigable water. That means a dock, pier, or marina loss that happens over the water can be denied outright. Marine general liability is specifically built to cover over-water and waterfront operations, and is the core coverage every marine contractor must carry.

The Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act of 1920) gives maritime workers who are injured on navigable waters the right to sue their employer for negligence — separate from standard workers' comp. If your crew works on a barge, tug, or over navigable water, they are 'seamen' under the Jones Act and standard workers' comp does not cover them. You need Jones Act coverage, full stop.

The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (USL&H) is the federal workers' comp system for maritime workers who are not 'seamen' — including dock builders, pile drivers, and marine construction crews working over navigable water. It sits alongside the Jones Act. If your crew works over water, USL&H coverage is mandatory, and the penalties for not carrying it are severe.

Most marine contractors pay between $2,500 and $9,000 a year for a $1M/$2M marine general liability policy, depending on revenue, how much work is over water, crew size, equipment value, and claims history. Jones Act/USL&H is rated on over-water payroll. We quote the whole program in about 15 minutes and show you every market's price side by side.

It's a serious problem. Without Jones Act and USL&H coverage, you can be personally and corporately liable for the full cost of a maritime injury — and federal penalties under USL&H for failing to carry coverage are steep (often tens of thousands of dollars per day per uncovered worker). This is the single biggest coverage gap for marine contractors.

Only the landside part. If your crew is working on a barge, tug, or over navigable water, standard state workers' comp does not apply — they fall under the Jones Act (if they qualify as seamen) or USL&H (Longshore). We coordinate all three (state comp, Jones Act, USL&H) so every crew member is covered everywhere they work.

General liability does not. Marine equipment — barges, crane-mounted pile drivers, dredges, tugs, workboats, and hydraulic gear — is covered under an inland marine / contractors equipment floater, and watercraft may need a separate protection & indemnity (P&I) or hull policy. We schedule your marine gear at replacement cost so a loss over water is covered.

Yes. The pile sections, decking, hardware, and labor you put into a dock, pier, or marina are a real loss exposure while the project is open — fire, storm, wave damage, theft, and vandalism all hit harder over water. Builder's risk (course of construction) covers that structure and materials until the project is complete and accepted.

Your marine GL does not extend to independent subcontractors — they should carry their own coverage (including their own Jones Act/USL&H) and name you additional insured. If your subs are uninsured and cause a loss, you can be pulled in. We help set up certificate tracking and additional-insured requirements so subcontracted work doesn't become your liability.

Yes. Once your program is bound we turn around additional-insured certificates, waivers of subrogation, and primary/non-contributory endorsements — usually within minutes. We know marina owners and ports won't let you mobilize without proof of coverage.

Yes. Contractors Choice Agency is licensed in all 50 states and writes marine contractors from the Gulf Coast and Florida to the Chesapeake, New England, the Great Lakes, and the Pacific coast.

Typically 15 minutes on a call for a standard marine program. Complex operations — heavy dredging, large waterfront facilities, deep-draft pile driving — may take a day or two to place with the right markets, but we move fast and tell you the timeline up front.

Most marine contractors carry $1M per occurrence / $2M general aggregate for marine GL, plus an umbrella of $2M–$5M. Ports, the Army Corps of Engineers, and large marina owners often require $2M, $5M, or even $10M limits and additional insured status. We size limits to what your contracts actually demand.

Yes. A personal auto policy typically excludes business use and will deny a claim when you're hauling dock sections, pile materials, or a crew to a launch. Commercial auto covers your trucks, dump trailers, and lowboys, including hired/non-owned vehicles when employees drive their own trucks for you.

Building on the Gulf, Atlantic, or Florida coast adds real underwriting complexity — wind, named-storm, and storm-surge exposures hit marine builder's risk and equipment hard. We have markets that write these zones and structure your deductibles and coverage so you're protected during the build, not just after.

Often, yes. If you've had a maritime claim, a USL&H loss, a cancellation, or been declined, we have excess-and-surplus (E&S) markets for marine contractors other brokers won't touch. Bring your loss runs and we'll find a path.

It depends on the work. Routine dock and pier construction is covered under marine GL, but work performed ON a vessel (boat repair, yacht work) may need a separate ship-repairer's legal liability policy. Tell us exactly what you do on and around vessels and we'll structure it correctly.

Additional insured status extends your marine liability coverage to the marina owner, port, or developer for your operations. They require it — along with a waiver of subrogation and primary/non-contributory endorsement — so that if a claim arises from your work, your policy responds first. We issue these endorsements routinely.

Marine GL is usually rated on revenue or payroll (often split between over-water and upland); Jones Act and USL&H on over-water payroll by class; equipment on scheduled value; commercial auto on vehicles and drivers; builder's risk on the project value. We document your operation accurately so you're rated on real exposure, not a worst-case guess.

Marine construction is one of the most coverage-specialized trades there is — Jones Act, USL&H, watercraft exclusions, and over-water GL traps that generic small-business carriers routinely miss or deny. A specialty broker knows the maritime statutes, the markets that write marine work, and how to manage a maritime claim — which means real coverage at a fairer price.