Charter deposit insurance

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Mariscalcus

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I am off to Croatia shortly for my annual boat charter vacation and while I am very familiar with the 3,000 euro cash deposit to cover potential damage, for the first time the charter company is demanding proof of "deposit insurance" ie insurance to cover my 3,000 euros. I have never had this issue before and do not know why this new requirement has been made. But I have now no choice but to pay it. Has anyone else come across this and can anyone recommend a suitable insurance company to insure my 3,000 euros?

Many thanks

David
 
I don't understand the Q to be honest. What risk are you passing to the insurer? A risk that the boat renter unreasonably decides not to refund your deposit when you hand the boat back undamaged? Why would any insurer take that risk? Or is it risk of damage that you inflict on the boat and that results in the boat renter properly keeping the deposit?
I've never seen this insurance and think you might have a tough time getting it, but good luck obviously.
 
jfm said:
I don't understand the Q to be honest. What risk are you passing to the insurer? A risk that the boat renter unreasonably decides not to refund your deposit when you hand the boat back undamaged? Why would any insurer take that risk? Or is it risk of damage that you inflict on the boat and that results in the boat renter properly keeping the deposit?
I've never seen this insurance and think you might have a tough time getting it, but good luck obviously.
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JFM, a Hire Car Excess Insurance Policy would cover both scenarios that you describe. I've never seen this for a boat though!

Anyhow, why does the charter company care as they've got the cash regardless? Perhaps they think that there would be less resistance to them keeping the deposit if its insured?
 
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petem said:
JFM, a Hire Car Excess Insurance Policy would cover both scenarios that you describe. I've never seen this for a boat though!

Anyhow, why does the charter company care as they've got the cash regardless? Perhaps they think that there would be less resistance to them keeping the deposit if its insured?
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It’s possible to block the card or later the card Co get it back from the merchant with some cards .
Paps the Charter Co has had its fingers burnt ? - cuts both ways as well as your version the Co making spurious withholdings ,with the expectation because the punter has a boat CDW there will be a higher likelihood of a successful ( true or false ) withholding ........... Wear the shoes of both parties esp the hire Co dealing with clever dic*s

CDW for hire of boats is hear https://www.schomacker.de/en/charter-insurance/charter-deposit-insurance.html
 
Portofino said:
It’s possible to block the card or later the card Co get it back from the merchant with some cards .
Paps the Charter Co has had its fingers burnt ? - cuts both ways as well as your version the Co making spurious withholdings ,with the expectation because the punter has a boat CDW there will be a higher likelihood of a successful ( true or false ) withholding ........... Wear the shoes of both parties esp the hire Co dealing with clever dic*s

CDW for hire of boats is hear https://www.schomacker.de/en/charter-insurance/charter-deposit-insurance.html
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There is no card. It is cash. That is why I have to carry 3,000 euros in my pocket to give to them and to collect at the end.
 
The principal reason, as I see it, is to protect me if I damage the boat and they make a claim on my 3,000 euros. I get it back less the cost of the insurance. My problem is that why does the charterer care - it is my risk not theirs. If I cause more than 3,000 damage their own insurance will kick in for the amount above my 3,000 euros. Presumably. Hence my question; has anyone else come across this? And if so, does anyone know who offers this type of insurance?
 
Mariscalcus said:
The principal reason, as I see it, is to protect me if I damage the boat and they make a claim on my 3,000 euros. I get it back less the cost of the insurance. My problem is that why does the charterer care - it is my risk not theirs.
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Exactly - it's your risk and you should be free to insure it or not. But as others say, maybe they find they have an easier time withholding the cash if they know you can recover it from an insurer. IE they don't feel so guilty being tough on retaining the deposit. Not a very satisfactory state of affairs though. To answer your Q, I have never come across this even in Croatia. I chartered a boat there with skipper last week and this topic didn't come up, but it was skippered so I guess not relevant. Good luck - the holidaysafe website suggested above seems to be a cheap solution to this daft problem, phew.
 
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petem said:
Are you sure? It says.....

"If you are chartering a yacht at your destination, we also offer a Yacht Charter Excess Waiver extension."

Google also threw up lots of suggestions for me.
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Thank you. Yes, I am well aware of this on Google. However, in all my chartering I have never come across this as an obligation. This is the first time a charter party has required this from me with no explanation as to why. Hence my query on the Forum. Has anyone come across this before and why is it demanded when the deposit is my risked money.
 
I chartered a yacht in Greece last year from Sail Ionian.
Instead of paying £3000 in cash or credit card (as a returnable deposit subject to no damage) we paid something like £380 as a non returnable insurance premium. I thought the premium excessive but shared between 4 people it was our decision to go with that. We were effectively paying the excess for Sail Ionian whether it was required or not.
One of the boats hit one of only two submerged rocks in the area and damaged the keel and regretted paying over the £3k.
We caught a lazy line around our prop which resulted in no damage but it could have been worse.

I don't understand why you have to pay the £3k and pay insurance as well.
 
We have been offered this a few times although I tend to self insure for minor things. As above, you pay maybe £380 insurance so that you do not have to pay up to maybe the first £3000 if you damage the boat.

From the charter company's perspective, they know they can get the £3000 from you if needed... otherwise they want cash because they are wise to the fact that people paying by card can dispute the transaction etc.

The risk insured for the charterer is the risk of having to pay £3000 excess. The benefit to the charter company is a reduction in risk of not recovering the excess from the charterer if applicable.
 
The plot thickens......

So, my (and others') presumptions are correct. The insurance demanded by the charter company is to cover the risk to me of my 3,000€ damage deposit being taken in whole or in part to cover damage that I incur on the boat. As to why that is any concern of the charter company is a mystery - it is my risk not there's and despite communication with them they have not explained why this is the case - I'll try and find out more when I get there. As I said, I have never been asked for this before including last year when I chartered from the same company.

Now the twist. Brexit. I found 4 companies who offer this insurance for Croatia. Except if you are a UK citizen. It is only offered to EU citizens and as far as they are concerned, the UK is no longer part of the EU. Who knew? Fortunately, I have dual-citizenship so I am fine but be warned......
 
Mariscalcus said:
The plot thickens......

So, my (and others') presumptions are correct. The insurance demanded by the charter company is to cover the risk to me of my 3,000€ damage deposit being taken in whole or in part to cover damage that I incur on the boat. As to why that is any concern of the charter company is a mystery - it is my risk not there's and despite communication with them they have not explained why this is the case - I'll try and find out more when I get there. As I said, I have never been asked for this before including last year when I chartered from the same company.

Now the twist. Brexit. I found 4 companies who offer this insurance for Croatia. Except if you are a UK citizen. It is only offered to EU citizens and as far as they are concerned, the UK is no longer part of the EU. Who knew? Fortunately, I have dual-citizenship so I am fine but be warned......
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Correction - I should have said EFTA, not EU
 
The reason the charter company wants you to take the insurance is a. They often get commission and b. It reduces the risk to them of you not willingly standing in with your Euro 3000 if required.

In terms of UK, the insurance companies may not be authorised to offer their products to non EU clients, which may apply at that time. They are taking the right approach IMHO.
 
EugeneR said:
The reason the charter company wants you to take the insurance is a. They often get commission and b. It reduces the risk to them of you not willingly standing in with your Euro 3000 if required.

In terms of UK, the insurance companies may not be authorised to offer their products to non EU clients, which may apply at that time. They are taking the right approach IMHO.
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I thought of (a) but as I said several times this is the first time they have demanded this and I did not use their "recommended" insurer. They had no problem accepting my policy from another one. The curious thing about your second point, which may be valid, is that irrespective of how / if the UK leaves the EU there will be a transition period. Anyway, it is their business to decide who they want as customers and having dual nationality it did not bother me anyway.
 
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