Personal insurance to charter yacht - anyone heard of it?

[Gedimin]

Did anyone hear about personal insurance to charter yacht? When I charter a boat, it's usually 2-3k deposit which you can reduce to 300-500 by a non-refundable insurance payment. I know there are companies like TopSail who cover this smaller waiver, but is there someone who covers everything? Don't want to pay 200 pounds every time to reduce deposit and then separately pay for insurance to reduce this waiver to 0.

 

[lpdsn]

That sounds excessive. Charter somewhere else.

I think you can get personal insurance. I did one year from St Margaret's, but that must've been getting on for twenty years ago. I don't know if it was really any use and I can't really remember the details. I don't even know if the insurance company still exists.

There's also skipper's liability insurance but I think that's aimed more at professional skippers.

 

[[3889]]

There's also skipper's liability insurance but I think that's aimed more at professional skippers.

Pantaenius offer non-commercial Skipper's Liability for about £70 PA but I'm not sure it covers excesses.

 

[AndrewL]

Pantaenius offer non-commercial Skipper's Liability for about £70 PA but I'm not sure it covers excesses.

I followed that link and noticed that Pantaenius also offer Charter Insurance. I've no idea if it what the OP wanted but a quick glance suggests that it might be.

 

[Gedimin]

Well, this looks like it - http://pantaenius.at/en/insurance/solution-for/charter-insurance.html
I just concerned that it is Pantaenius Austria. Their UK website does not say anything about charter.

 

[[3889]]

Well, this looks like it - http://pantaenius.at/en/insurance/solution-for/charter-insurance.html
I just concerned that it is Pantaenius Austria. Their UK website does not say anything about charter.

You have to purchase through the Austrian site. I spoke to the UK office and they comfirmed they do not deal with the policy but it is valud for UK residents.

 

[Gedimin]

You have to purchase through the Austrian site. I spoke to the UK office and they comfirmed they do not deal with the policy but it is valud for UK residents.

Ah, I just realised that it is one-off insurance. I am looking for an annual one... I will have 2 or 3 charters

 

[c.buck]

I've come across an article on this subject... https://compareyachtinsurance.com/charter-insurance/
Maybe it helps, there is a lot to consider there, such as what the deposit/excess is, what it is supposed to cover, etc.
I do have to admit to using their 'get quotes' service... seems very straight forward and revolutionary so far

 

[Solent Sailor]

I had the St Margaret's Skipper's policy some 20 years ago. It came in useful on a very bad weather charter when I got caught out in a cross-tide marina berth and damaged the toe rail on someone else's anchor. Paid for the repairs in full, I had no excess to pay and got my deposit back. Worth the £60 or whatever it was back then.

 

[Paddy Fields]

Pantaenius offer non-commercial Skipper's Liability for about £70 PA but I'm not sure it covers excesses.

Pantaenius' Skippers Liability insurance covers you for 3rd party liability.

If you are chartering a yacht, surely the charter company will insure their yachts, and that insurance will cover 3rd party liability?

 

[alant]

Pantaenius' Skippers Liability insurance covers you for 3rd party liability.

If you are chartering a yacht, surely the charter company will insure their yachts, and that insurance will cover 3rd party liability?

What exactly, does the "Skippers Liability" cover?

 

[Paddy Fields]

What exactly, does the "Skippers Liability" cover?

The full name of the insurance is PANTAENIUS-SKIPPER-THIRD-PARTY-LIABILITY-INSURANCE https://www.pantaenius.com/en/austria/insurance/solution-for/skipper/form-skipper-liability.html , and it just covers 3rd party liability for a boat that you don't own. Does not cover liability for damage to the boat you are skippering.

Pantaenius will also just cover your bond, with "Bond Insurance Plus" https://www.pantaenius.com/en/germa....html?key_charter_deckung=8&domain_segment=13. That would make more sense, since that covers you for the charter company having to claim on their insurance.

I am assuming it works like car hire:

You damage the charter boat => charter company claims on their insurance => charter company covers their excess using your bond.

You damage a 3rd party => charter company claims on their insurance => charter company covers their excess using your bond.

Charter contract will say something like this: "The owner agrees to insure the Yacht and her equipment against fire, marine and collision risks and third party damage and against any and all loss or damage in excess of € 2.000 € Charterer shall therefore be relieved of any and all liability which is covered by the said Policy, provided that such loss or damage is not caused or contributed to by any act of gross negligence or willful default on his part. Should the Owner fail or elect not to effect such insurance he shall assume the same responsibilities as if the Yacht were so insured, but he shall not be under any liability for the loss or damage to the personal property of or for any injury to the Charterer or any person on board with his permission."

 

[Seven Spades]

We chartered a small Dufour and had to pay £2700 deposit to Dream Yacht Charters. No issues on return but the fee to insure the excess was about £200 per week! We had an interesting incident were we went to lunch of Korcula and on return found that someone had unplugged our shore power and dumped in in the drink. When we returned the boat I took the lead to the office and the engineers opened it and released al the salt water and dried it all out. While I was there I was chatting to them and they showed me the job sheets of damaged boats being returned. It would have turned your hair white. I do not understand how people who do not know how to handle a boat can factor in the losses they must incur. I am also surprised that these people are able to charter the boats in the first place.