Colorado · Docks
A dock is an other structure, and only if it is on your premises
On a typical homeowners form, a dock or pier on the same residence premises as the house can fall under Coverage B, other structures. That limit is often about 10 percent of the dwelling limit, shared with the fence and the detached garage. A custom dock can cost more than that. A slip you rent at a marina is usually not on your premises, so Coverage B does not follow it there.
Colorado homeowners, other structures, and boat insurance.
Which peril, not just which structure
Even a dock that sits under Coverage B is only covered for the perils the form covers. Wind can be one of them. Rising water and flood are not. A spring runoff that lifts the dock is a flood loss, and flood is outside the homeowners policy. That is a separate flood policy, if one is available for the structure. Colorado flood.
Wear, rot, and a lift that fails from age are maintenance. They are not a sudden covered peril. If the dock is worth more than the other-structures limit, the fix is a scheduled endorsement or a higher Coverage B, not a hope that the dwelling limit will spill over. Riders: Colorado homeowners riders.
Liability is not the rebuild
If a guest is hurt on the dock, that is personal liability, not Coverage B. Liability pays the injured person up to its limit. It does not rebuild the dock. Watercraft liability on a homeowners form is often limited by length and horsepower, which is another reason the boat may need its own policy. Personal liability. A related “is it covered” question: driveways.
