Boat Insurance

What is Boat Insurance?

Investment in a boat can require a major outlay and therefore to lose or damage it through theft, fire, storm damage, sinking and capsizing, grounding or collision would be a major financial catastrophe unless the right insurance is in place. Most boat insurers offer a comprehensive package to cover both your vessel and the belongings you keep on board, whether it is a dinghy or canoe to a yacht or cruiser.

What does Boat Insurance Cover?

With a growing number of boats on the UK and international waters, the risk of collision with another vessel is growing, as well as with sand banks, rocks, driftwood and containers amongst others. Third party insurance for accidental damage will guarantee that any harm caused to another vessel’s hull, machinery, gear and equipment is covered. A comprehensive insurance will go further to protect your own boat and belongings.

A collision can cause any manner of damage to the hull, engine, sails, mast, ropes, buoys or paddles, and therefore it is important to take out insurance that covers every aspect of your boat’s structure. Many insurers offer packages tailored to the specific craft in question, and then you will only be paying for insurance against what is actually relevant to your boat.

Storm damage, particularly at sea and in coastal marinas, can cause unpreventable collisions, since ropes can loosen and come free, masts may crack and fall, unsecured ropes will whip and thrash, all of which will cause untold damage to other vessels and people unlucky to be in the way.

A fire from the engine room in one vessel can quickly flash through a whole pontoon of moored boats if not tackled in time. This is despite them being on water! Occasionally this can be caused by lightning flashes in a storm and the damage can be complete. Taking out accidental damage insurance on your boat will give you total peace of mind.

Boat Security

Some people spend a great deal of time, if not permanently residing, on their boats, such as narrowboats or house boats. For the rest, a boat is a weekend or summer hobby, and therefore much time is spent away from it. It is thus often impossible to keep a close eye on your expensive property, and it may be weeks or even months before you return and realise something untoward has happened. Your boat going missing will often be noticed quickly by other boat residents or marina staff, (and this is an incredibly rare occurrence) but it’s far more difficult for a stranger to spot when a boat has been raided and personal property has been damaged or stolen.

When moored in a marina or riverside, you will either be secured by a system of ropes to a jetty or anchored and tied to a buoy, depending on the location and size of your boat. Many marinas offer high security with cameras and pass cards and restrict access to the pontoon berths to owners only, measures which go a long way to protecting your boat from opportunistic boat thieves. However, in more secluded and less sophisticated areas, your boat will be at greater risk of robbery. It is wise to ensure that you have strong entry security to your cabin area, including to portholes and vents, particularly those wide enough to pass through.

Owners of more expensive vessels purchase sophisticated GPS tracker devices that can trace its whereabouts. However, it is more common for portable items such as laptops, electronic navigation tools, radar, electronic chart plotters, companionways, and infra-red night binoculars to be stolen from boats.

Boat Personal Accident Insurance

Boat insurance packages will invariably come with personal accident cover in the case of injury or death to you and the people on board, as well as to people on board a vessel with which you have a collision. Many also build in legal expense cover. If you engage in water skiing, deep sea diving or any kind of racing these activities will need to be declared.

Don’t forget to ensure your trailer is covered by insurance. If you have your boat stolen from this or any other storage vehicle, standard policies will not necessarily cover this loss unless you have specified it at the time that you arranged insurance.

Check your small print for restrictions on geographical limits. Generally the wider your cruising range, often the higher the premiums. If you tend to venture further afield internationally, watch out for policies declining to cover areas such as the Red Sea, African waters, South China Sea and certain areas of the South Americas which are classed as more dangerous and are historically target areas for piracy. You can also expect restrictions on lone sailing with a standard requirement for a minimum number of crew members.

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