Improve Boating Experience with Marine Skippers Insurance
Commercial or Delivery Skipper? You need Skippers Insurance so you can rest easy at night.
All skippers work in challenging environments. Not only dealing with mother nature, but demanding schedules and even more demanding owners means they are coping with many risks every time they step onto a boat. Often the boats they are skippering using can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions. Insurance policies don't come cheap with an insurance excess often in the $20,000 to $50,000 range. What happens when something goes wrong?
A lot of skippers are sole-traders which means everything is in their own name. If a hull is damaged under their watch, who pays? Naturally the boat owner will have insurance to repair or in worse case, replace the hull. If you assume, as a skipper, you are covered under the boat owner’s policy, you need to think again.
Here’s where the skipper is exposed. The boat owner may seek the skipper, who was under contract at the time, to contribute to the insurance policy’s excess. The insurance company that is paying for the repair, or replacement, may also seek to recover financial damages from the skipper. Insurance companies will seek to recover costs if they believe there is negligence on behalf of the skipper. There is a chance that the skippers' assets can be seized, including the family home, to recoup the insurance company's loss. That’s a stress that no one should have to carry in their day-to-day work life but it has happened recently in Australia.
In Europe and the US, a skipper can purchase an insurance policy off the shelf. That has not been the case in Australia, until now.
Marine Skippers Insurance is Australia’s first standalone marine skippers’ insurance liability product. The product covers commercial skippers, delivery skippers and coverage for single voyages.
Marine Skippers Insurance is a first in the market and a very welcome product allowing skippers across Australia to rest easy at night, knowing they have their own policy protecting themselves and their assets, against litigation or action.
What does Skippers Insurance offer?
The cover is for skippers who do not own the vessel. It is aimed exclusively at commercial and delivery skippers. Many insurers are seeing third party skippers as a risk. A risk they don’t wish to cover. That risk is now expunged with skipper being able to take out their own insurance policy. This tailor-made policy covers a skipper's personal liability.
- The indemnity under the policy is $5M AUD and policies are underwritten by Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London.
- The policies are an affordable way to protect skippers from liability.
- The policies start at $215 per month for commercial skippers (includes delivery) and $150 per month for delivery only skippers. These are annual policies.
- If a skipper needs to move a boat from A-B but does not want to take out an annual policy, Skippers Insurance has a Single Voyage policy which start from $395.
Frequently Asked Questions about Marine Skippers Insurance
Q. Why should a skipper take out their own liability insurance policy?
A. Skippers Insurance has over 25 years of history in the marine industry. The threat of litigation to skippers is very high. The insurance policies offered are designed to protect commercial skippers.
Q. What if you thought the boat owners’ policy was enough coverage for you?
A. Insurers are quickly heading towards not allowing or noting skippers on policies. Insurers see skippers as a risk they are not willing to take on. A Marine Skippers Insurance policy buys you, the skipper, protection.
Q. What if the boat owner has forgotten to renew their policy?
A. A commercial skipper will assume the boat is covered under a policy. Despite the negligence of the owner, if the boat is damaged it is a messy situation which will more than likely be remedied in the courts. As a skipper, if you have your own policy, you can rest easy knowing you are protected.
Q. Despite a boat owner's policy being in place, is it going to cover you as the skipper?
A. Are you 100% sure that the owner won't portion blame on you as an independent contractor and seek contribution or recovery from you? The excess on insurance premiums can be substantial. Why should you as the skipper be hit with any cost? You shouldn’t.
Q. Single Voyage cover?
A. Skippers insurance provides a policy for a single voyage if that is all you require. The cost is $395.
As a skipper, the way you are treated by insurers has changed. You’re a high-risk part of a boat owners policy and insurers are risk averse. Policies are now not referencing skippers in a boat owners policy. This means skippers are highly exposed and a relatively easy target to recoup damages from. Sometimes that means having assets seized. A friendly boat owner can turn cold when faced with paying an insurance policy excess due to damage caused under a skipper’s watch or having to claim on the hull policy.
The Marine Skippers Insurance Third-Party Liability policy covers skippers for legal liabilities arising from incidents whilst they are skippering a boat they do not own. It is an affordable way to have protection and give skippers protection and a much better sleep at night.
Find more about Marine Skippers Insurance