Dinghy Insurance

Apart from the restrictions noted below, dinghy insurance usually does cover anyone driving your boat with your permission. That said, minors under 18 years old are not normally covered to drive the vessel without an adult being on board and in charge at all times.

If there’s someone who’ll regularly use your boat, with or without you being on board, it’s a good idea to inform the insurer. Give the person’s name, age, record, and experience, together with any claims history they may have.

Make sure anyone borrowing your boat is aware of any limitations in the policy – for example, about where the boat may be used or moored. Our Haven Knox-Johnston ‘All Weather’ boat insurance policy has this to say about who may drive your boat:

• If you let someone else take charge of your vessel, you must make sure they have enough experience to do so safely.
• There’s no liability cover for anyone operating, managing or working on the vessel who is employed by a shipyard, repair yard, marina, yacht club, sales agency, delivery contractor or similar organisation. So if anyone covered by these categories is going to drive your boat, it’s essential they confirm they have their own professional indemnity cover.
• If you’re lending your boat for any form of compensation, this won’t be considered ‘private pleasure use’, but rather ‘hire or reward’. Hire or reward is normally excluded under insurance policies unless insurers have given their prior agreement to such use.
• If you’re arranging for a delivery skipper to sail or deliver your vessel, you should get a copy of the skipper and crew’s sailing CV, and make sure they have the appropriate professional indemnity in place – insurers often want to see this before agreeing cover.

The above is for information purposes only. It’s not intended to define legal terms, or to affect the interpretation of any policy we may issue. If you have any questions about your insurance, the best thing to do is get your particular questions answered individually by your insurance broker or insurer.

Dinghies how much do we love thee? Let us count the ways. From racing to family boats, sailing single-handedly to being part of a crew, there is such a huge range of dinghies both on and off the water that it’s important to find the best dinghy insurance policy for you. We always advise you to think ahead, if your dinghy is going to be in transit or storage, on a trolley or trailer or racing at sea, you will need to ensure that your dinghy insurance policy provides the right protection for your needs. Don’t forget that most sailing clubs and launch sites often have their own requirements and will, at least, require evidence of holding 3^rd party liability.

Even if all you need is to get a dinghy from A to B, life is just not that straightforward. Dinghy insurance provides a safety net when things aren’t always just plain sailing.

Life without a dinghy, would frankly just be, dingy, and dinghy insurance can provide financial security and peace of mind against third party claims, loss or damage to your pride and joy.

Always check your dinghy insurance policy with your insurer and make sure it meets your future plans.

If this year’s plan is to take your dinghy off racing, then make sure race cover is included in your dinghy insurance cover or that extra cost may not have you feeling so active.

If you are taking your dinghy out on the road, then check any conditions for transportation under your dinghy insurance cover, or you may not be able to go the distance.

If your dinghy is taking some time out of the water, then check for any restrictions that apply on your dinghy insurance cover, particularly around theft or malicious damage or you may not be left feeling so buoyant.

Finally, like all the best relationships, you have to give your dinghy some regular care and attention; lack of upkeep, general wear and tear and improper storage of your dinghy could all affect your cover. Your insurance policy is not a maintenance contract. Check out Haven’s Helpful Hints for tips on how to remedy some of these!

At Haven KJ, we see sailing dinghies for life, not just for a season; that’s why our boat insurance is often much cheaper than people expect.

Of course, (engine) size matters – as does the make and model, age, maintenance, value, location, storage and use. However, you’ll find insuring a dinghy for normal use is a nautical yarn size cheaper than you might think.

Surprisingly not – maybe it’s our long nautical history as pirates and vagabonds but dinghy insurance is not compulsory in the UK.

It might not be a legal requirement of all waterways, but the risk of piratical boarding aside, we are talking about the potential damage to high value possessions and the possibility of injury.

If that doesn’t make you shiver your timbers then most marinas require at least third-party liability (our Base Layer policy) as a minimum. International territories including Spain, Italy and Greece require proof of the same. Luckily, we can supply you with relevant dinghy insurance documents to prove you have it.

The first question to ask yourself is what is on your boating wish list this year? Which direction will the wind or currents take you, and are you planning any races to get there?

Our Base Layer (third party) cover offers security for pleasure sailing, covering third party claims against you and worst-case scenarios of injury and more..

Or for the full bells, whistles and foghorns, our All Weather (all risks) policy covers you from fire, theft, vandalism, accidental damage, emergency medical expenses, personal accidents and a whole ship-load more.

Finally, we thought we should mention that, although we don’t like to blow our own foghorn, both our third party and all risk dinghy insurance policies automatically includes racing cover as standard.