The damage waiver insurance for boat charterers

You are thinking of renting a boat but you are afraid of the consequences in case of damage. Are you protected in the event of an incident or up to which extent are you protected? Are the boats covered by the owner's insurance? And in that case, why would you have to pay anything in case of damage?

It is good to ask yourself these questions before departure. Taking out insurance for rental necessarily has a cost, but it can greatly reduce the financial burden in the event of an incident and the emotional burden of damage management. A boat is expensive to buy and, a fortiori, to maintain. In case of damage, repair costs can quickly be significant, up to several thousand Euros.

The initial answer to these questions is that, even though all boats are insured for rental, you are clearly exposed in case of damage to the boat.

We explain everything to you here below.

In the event of an accident

As a matter of principle, if during your rental you damage the boat, you must compensate the owner of the boat up to the damage. In fact, this is limited to the amount of the deposit that was initially requested by the broker before the departure.

The broker cannot invoke his professional insurance. The latter only covers its own faults, not those of the tenants. In addition, according to the Insurance Code, a property cannot be insured twice. Thus, the broker cannot insure the boat of a third party owner. He can only insure his own boats.

The owner will only invoke his insurance if the amount of repairs is greater than that of the deposit and will only be compensated beyond the amount of this deposit. It is easy to understand that an owner will try to avoid to invoke his insurance if the amounts are less than the deposit. He would take the risk of no longer being able to be insured in the event of repeated claims.

The damage waiver insurance

To avoid having to pay exorbitant amounts during your rental in the event of a claim, you can use the damage waiver insurance.

Taken out at the time of booking or after, but always before departure, this insurance allows you to be reimbursed the amount debited from the deposit following a damage. A residual deductible will still apply. There is therefore no full refund. It is not possible to take out the deposit redemption insurance after departure and even less on the return of the boat for obvious reasons.

With this insurance, you will still have to proceed with a deposit. But the insurance will compensate you if the deposit is debited in case of claim after the claim is filed. The broker will help you in this filing by providing you with the necessary documents (copy of the contract, copy of the payment of the deposit and the rental, pictures of the damages, ...)

TOP CHARTER offers you a damage waiver insurance when you book a boat on the site or at the office. We offer two options:

The Standard option at € 39.99 covers any damage except engine base, propeller and engine cover.

The Premium option at € 89.99 covers any damage including the engine base, propeller and engine cover.