Legal
Insurance and liability: cover is verified, never assumed
This is the area that causes the most grief and gets the least attention. A delivery means somebody other than the owner will be in command, often outside the usual area and sometimes outside the season. No policy assumes any of those three. And finding out they were not covered after a claim is finding out too late.
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What a policy actually says
The boat remains the owner’s and her hull and machinery policy is what answers for damage to her during the delivery. So far, what everyone assumes. The problem lives in the particular conditions, which almost nobody rereads.
Three limits come up again and again. First, the navigation area: many leisure policies cover a defined scope — coastal waters, a maximum distance offshore, a named geographical area — and a passage outside it is not covered even if the boat is perfectly capable of making it. Second, the dates: some policies carry seasonal exclusions, typically for winter passages or for certain areas out of season. Third, the crew: some require a minimum number of people aboard, or specific qualifications for the person in command, on certain passages.
None of the three is a minor technicality. Any of them, breached, can empty the policy exactly when it is needed.
Tell the insurer, in writing
This is the critical step and it is free. Before a delivery the insurer must be told, through the broker, three things: that an external professional crew will make the passage, what the intended route is with origin and destination, and roughly on what dates.
And the answer must come back in writing. A "yes, no problem" on the phone is not enough. An email from the broker confirming that this specific delivery is covered, filed with the rest of the boat’s papers, is what holds up a claim six months later.
If that enquiry shows an extension of cover is needed for the passage, it is usually a small cost against the value of what is being moved. And if the insurer attaches conditions — minimum crew, a date window, a specific route — those conditions become requirements of the delivery and it is planned around them.
The company’s own liability
The owner’s policy covers the perils of the sea. What it does not cover is negligence by whoever is running the boat, and that is what the delivery company’s professional liability cover is for.
An owner should ask for a copy of that policy just as the company asks for a copy of theirs. It is a symmetrical and reasonable check: each side shows what stands behind it.
The healthy split is clear. Damage arising from a peril of the sea — a boarding wave, a gale properly handled, an unforeseeable failure — goes against the boat’s policy. Damage arising from a negligent decision or a failure to perform the job goes against the company’s liability cover. And anything in the grey area is settled beforehand, not afterwards.
If the boat travels as cargo
When the move is made aboard a transport ship, the navigation policy stops being the one that applies for that leg. The boat becomes goods and needs carriage cover.
Two things surprise people here. The first is that carriers’ standard conditions usually limit their liability considerably, with caps per unit or per tonne that can sit well below the boat’s real value. The second is that loading and discharge — the crane lift, the positioning on the cradle — is where most incidents happen, and it is worth knowing exactly who answers for each phase.
Which is why, on a ship transport, photographing the boat’s condition before handing her over and again on collection is not a formality: it is the only evidence there is.
What the contract must say
A delivery contract need not be long, but it must put six things in writing: who is responsible for the boat in each phase and from exactly what moment; what is and is not being done — the intended route, the stops, what is included and what is invoiced separately; which policies are on the table and with what limits; what happens if weather forces a wait and who carries the cost of it; what happens if a breakdown appears and how far the crew’s authority extends in resolving it; and how the handover is documented, with what report and what photographic record.
That last point is always underestimated. A full photographic record before departure and another at handover closes off ninety per cent of the possible arguments in advance.
How we do it
Before accepting a delivery we ask for a copy of the policy in force and the owner’s declaration that the boat is in a seaworthy condition. Then, with the broker, we confirm in writing that this particular passage — that route, those dates, with an external crew — is covered.
We document the boat’s condition with photos and video before casting off, including any deficiencies found in the pre-departure inspection, and document it again at handover. Everything material that happens along the way goes into the logbook. And if at any point the cover is not clear, the boat does not sail until it is.
Frequently asked questions
Does my insurance cover the delivery?
It depends on the policy, and it has to be checked case by case. Normally the insurer must be told an external crew will be aboard, and it must be confirmed in writing that the intended route and dates fall inside the covered area and period.
Who answers if the boat is damaged?
Perils of the sea fall to the owner’s hull and machinery policy. Damage arising from crew negligence falls to the delivery company’s professional liability cover. Both are put on the table before starting.
What if the policy does not cover an area on the route?
An extension of cover is arranged for that passage, usually at small cost, or the route is reconsidered. What is not done is sailing to see what happens.
Is a contract necessary for a delivery?
Always. It need not be long, but it has to make clear who answers for what in each phase, what the service includes, which policies sit behind it and how the handover is documented.
