Deposit Insurance

Deposit Insurance

Deposit insurance is a way to avoid or significantly reduce potential expenses associated with damage to the chartered yacht. Unlike the deposit itself, which is obligatory (the deposit depends on the value of the yacht and is usually between €1,000 and €3,000), insurance is only an option that you can but don't have to take.

What does the cost of the deposit insurance depend on?

The cost of the deposit insurance depends on the size of the deposit. If we do not have insurance in place, any damage will be covered from the deposit we have paid, which will not be recovered. This means that the cost of our holiday may increase unexpectedly. Therefore, insurance is a way to ensure peace of mind during the cruise for a relatively small amount.

There are several variants of deposit insurance that are worth knowing before making a decision:

  • Full insurance (no deposit) - instead of the full amount of the deposit we pay for the insurance, any damage to the yacht will be covered by the insurer.
  • Reduction of the deposit - currently this is the most popular solution used by operators. In this case, we pay not only the insurance amount (similar to that of full insurance) but also a significantly reduced deposit.
  • Standard insurance deposit - if the operator with whom we charter the yacht does not offer deposit insurance we can turn to an external insurer. This solution requires some action in advance. We have to complete all the formalities with the insurance company ourselves, which can take some time. When everything is ready, we pay the insurance amount (it can be slightly lower than the similar service offered by the operator) to the chosen company. NOTE: Unlike the two previous solutions, here we have to pay the full amount of the deposit to the operator when taking over the yacht. If nothing bad happens, we recover the deposit. However, if something happens, it will be retained by the operator. We must contact the insurer, who will give us back the amount which was taken from the deposit.

What do you keep in mind when you decide to insure the deposit?

  • Deposit insurance has its exclusions,which means that there are things that are not covered by insurance. Most often, you can encounter the exclusion of clogging up the toilet and losing the dinghy. Before the cruise you should check the details of the insurance you have purchased.
  • Although statistically deductions from the deposit are very rare, for a particular crew such an unexpected large expense can be very unpleasant, so it is worth protecting yourself against it and taking out insurance. Dividing its cost into several people, the amount becomes much less noticeable and provides invaluable peace of mind.