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Work out for yourself what it would cost.
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We compare the offerings of several insurers
An adviser checks whether the cover suits your situation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
On a fast motorboat the centre of gravity of the policy shifts from own-damage cover to liability. A collision at low speed produces damage to the paintwork. The same collision at speed produces injury, and injury claims run for years in the form of treatment costs and loss of earning capacity. The basis is Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, and the limit chosen on your policy determines where cover ends and your private assets begin.
That is why, in this category, insurers look closely at who is at the helm. Engine power and top speed determine whether a boating licence requirement applies. The age and experience of the drivers declared determine the underwriting. If someone sails without the required qualification, that is an exclusion on almost every policy, regardless of who was at fault in the collision.
Three exclusions also apply here that barely arise on quieter boats: speed contests are covered nowhere, towing water-skiers, inflatables or wakeboarders has to be declared separately, and sailing under the influence touches on Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code on serious fault. You can read more about the structure of the cover at the pleasure craft insurance.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Liability
Liability
Damage you cause to others with the vessel.
Collision and jetty damage
No legal obligation
Often required by the marina
The vessel itself
Own-damage cover
Damage to the boat, the engine and the fixed equipment.
Fire, storm and sinking
Theft
Collision and grounding
Extensions
Extensions
What you add separately.
Trailer on the road
Occupants
Salvage and wreck removal
What is covered
Situation
Liability
Own-damage cover
Damage to another vessel or a jetty
Yes
No
Theft of the boat or the outboard motor
No
Provided that
Fire and storm damage in the berth or ashore
No
Yes
Sinking through a leak or through rainwater
No
Provided that
Salvage and removal of the wreck
Provided that
Provided that
Osmosis, wear and deferred maintenance
No
No
There is no statutory insurance requirement for pleasure craft. The WAM applies only to motor vehicles. Marinas, harbours and hire companies do generally require liability cover. Pay attention to the sailing area described and to the lay-up or winter storage period: outside the sailing area or during undeclared storage, cover may lapse.
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
The liability limit is the most important choice here
Your passengers are third parties in relation to you. If a passenger or someone on board another boat is injured, the claim covers medical costs, loss of income, adaptations to the home and damages for pain and suffering, sometimes for the rest of a life. The hull value of your boat says nothing about that scale. So choose the limit not on the basis of the price of the boat but on the basis of the injury that can arise at speed.
Whoever is at the helm has to be on the policy
On fast boats insurers set a minimum age and ask about experience and the boating licence. If you lend the boat to a guest who only has to open the throttle, that changes the risk fundamentally. Check whether the policy allows other drivers and on what conditions. If the required qualification is missing at the moment of the collision, the insurer can refuse the own-damage claim and recover from you the amount paid to third parties.
Towing is a separate activity
Towing a water-skier, an inflatable or a wakeboarder is not sailing but an activity with a risk of its own, in which the person being towed is in the greatest danger. Standard policies exclude this or ask for additional cover, sometimes with a requirement that a second person on board keeps a lookout astern. Declare it in advance, because after an accident involving a person being towed the scale of the claim is immediately of the most serious kind.
Trailer, launching and lifting
Fast boats come ashore more often than the average sloop. Transport by road, launching down a slipway and lifting with a crane are risk moments of their own that do not automatically fall under the afloat cover. Check whether they are included. If a marina or yard does the lifting, establish who is liable if it goes wrong. Their conditions almost always limit that liability sharply.
Trailer and transport
Transport by road and launching are risk moments of their own. Check whether they are included.
The sailing area is a hard boundary
Inland waters, wide inland waters and coastal waters are separate categories with their own premiums. If you sail onto the IJsselmeer or the Wadden Sea with inland waters cover, you are not insured there, whatever the weather. For a one-off trip you apply for a temporary extension; that is usually a phone call.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Cover lapses on almost every policy. The insurer does not pay your own hull claim and can recover from you what it has paid to the other party, because towards injured parties it often does have to pay. That qualification requirement applies to fast boats and boats above certain limits of length or speed. When you buy, check whether your boat falls under it.
May a guest drive my boat?
That depends on the policy. Some insurers cover any qualified driver, others only the people named on the policy schedule or set a minimum age. On fast boats that restriction is more common than on a sloop. Ask about it before you hand over the helm, and bear in mind that as the owner you remain liable for what happens with your boat.
Is water-skiing included?
Not as standard. Towing people is a separate activity that you have to declare in advance and that is added as additional cover. Some insurers require that, besides the driver, a second person is on board to keep an eye on the skier being towed. Without that declaration, injury to the skier is not covered.
Are my passengers insured against injury?
For the liability cover, people on board are third parties: if they are injured through your actions, that section pays their loss up to the limit chosen. Your own injury does not fall under it. There is separate personal accident cover for those on board for that. If you regularly go out with guests, that extension is worth considering, because at speed it is rarely a matter of property damage alone.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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