Boat insurance: understanding cover and excess

Boat insurance is built in two layers: third-party liability, which compensates damage you cause to others, and hull cover — comprehensive or "all-risks" — which protects your own boat. As an order of magnitude, all-risks cover costs 0.8 to 1.5 per cent of the boat's value per year; liability alone, a few hundred euros.

Liability or all-risks: what each layer covers

Third-party liability pays for what your boat breaks or injures: the neighbouring yacht scraped during a manoeuvre, the pontoon you hit, a swimmer. Most marinas require it before allocating a berth, and several countries demand it in their waters — requirements vary with your flag and cruising grounds, so check locally. But it pays nothing for your own boat: fire, theft, flooding and dismasting stay with you. Comprehensive cover adds those hull guarantees, under two logics: all-risks "except exclusions", the most protective wording, or named perils, where only listed events are covered. Depending on the policy you may add towing assistance, wreck removal — often imposed by the authorities and very expensive —, personal effects and legal protection. On any boat worth more than a few thousand euros, liability-only is rarely a rational saving.

Agreed value or market value: the decisive clause

This is the clause that changes everything at total loss. With agreed value, you and the insurer fix an amount at inception: that is what gets paid if the boat is lost, no debate. With market value, the payout follows the boat's going rate on the day of the loss — in other words, depreciation. On a recent boat, the gap can reach tens of thousands of euros within a few years. Agreed value costs slightly more in premium and sometimes requires a survey at inception; the more valuable or better equipped the boat, the more it earns its keep. Either way, keep invoices and an inventory up to date: electronics and deck gear added after inception are only covered if declared.

Excess and exclusions: reading the small print

The excess (deductible) is the share of any claim that stays with you — typically 1 to 2 per cent of the insured value, with minimum amounts. Check these points line by line:

• Storm excess: often doubled above a certain wind threshold, precisely the day the risk is real.
• Outboard or tender theft: specific excesses, sometimes outright exclusion while at anchor.
• Wear-and-tear deductions on sails, canvas and batteries: payouts shrink as gear ages.
• Use exclusions: racing, chartering out, delivery by a third party must be declared to be covered.
• Maintenance obligations: rigging over 10-15 years old with no inspection can void dismasting cover — see our guide to standing rigging.

None of this is scandalous; what costs dearly is discovering it after the loss.

Cruising area, lay-up, use: say what you actually do

Every policy defines a cruising area — coastal, Mediterranean, Eastern Atlantic, offshore — and sailing outside it without a written extension suspends the cover. The same logic applies to where the boat winters (afloat or ashore, guarded marina or swinging mooring), its real use (private cruising, occasional charter, professional skipper aboard) and significant modifications. The rule is simple: anything that changes the risk gets declared, preferably in writing. Misdeclaration or omission can reduce the payout or void the cover entirely — the exact rules vary by country and contract, so have the consequences confirmed by your insurer or a specialist broker rather than assuming.

What it costs, and how to compare

The observed orders of magnitude: a few hundred euros a year for liability alone; 0.8 to 1.5 per cent of insured value for all-risks in the Mediterranean on a recent boat; more for hurricane zones, older boats or offshore programmes. To compare usefully, do not rank quotes by premium: line up insured value and payout basis, excesses (storm included), cruising area, assistance and wreck removal. A policy that is EUR 200 cheaper with a doubled excess and market-value payout is not cheaper: it covers less. Then feed the premium into your annual budget and the cost-of-ownership calculator.

Where to start

• Re-read your current policy with three questions: what value at total loss, what excesses, what exact cruising area.
• List what has changed since inception — added equipment, new home port, charter plans — and declare it.
• Get two or three quotes with strictly aligned cover, including one through a specialist marine broker.
• Check the requirements on rigging age and the gas installation before the season.
• Archive photos and invoices for the boat and its gear: the best claim file is built before the claim.