The folks in Hilton Head Island, SC see the same damage issue again and again as the year moves into the cold season: ice damage. Many folks don’t take their boats out, the water begins to freeze and ice then presses against and damages boat hulls. In a worst-case scenario, the ice actually causes a crack and leak in the boat which causes it to sink. More surprising, ice can move great distances at an extremely fast rate. Just watch videos of ice on the Great Lakes, and there are some amazing videos of lake ice moving on land and actually pushing homes off the foundations.
South Carolina is not an exception when it comes to cold spells and ice build up. Some really bad cold snaps can create ice in areas not typically used to it, and a boat pinched in the wrong spot against a wharf or dock can realize damage very quickly. Remember, the very aspects that make a boat buoyant on water also means it is very weak to pointed pressure on the sides. So, a boat hull can be punctured very quickly even though the same vessel can carry a lot of weight on water.
To compound the problem, not all boat insurance policies specifically address ice damage. It’s common for areas that don’t see heavy seasonal ice to drop the language from a policy. And that can create confusion later on when a claim comes in with ice-caused damage. However, after working with Premier Insurance Advisors, you can avoid this headache. The folks at Premier Insurance Advisors ask all the relevant questions for a boat owner and learn from past cases what are the most likely risks for a given South Carolina situation. Let us do the hard work and keep your boat in Hilton Head Island, SC protected.
