Yacht Insurance Claim Process Explained!

You’ve damaged your yacht! Thankfully you’ve got suitable yacht insurance and you’re finally going to need to use it to rectify the damage to your vessel.

Yachtwork are going to take you through the yacht insurance claim process for your yacht and we’ll highlight where we, the yacht surveyors, come into the equation!

An important note before we continue: if you have suffered water ingress you must thoroughly clean the affected areas with fresh water and detergent to reduce further damage. If they engine has been flooded, get an engineer to carry out first aid and get it running if possible. This should be done immediately to stop further damage!

First thing for you to do is tell you broker or insurer what has happened. Immediate notification is vital to ensure your claim is valid; delaying notification may void your claim and you’ll be stuck with the repair bill. Don’t forget, if the claim involves a criminal act, such as vandalism or criminal damage, you must notify the police as well.

Next up, record and preserve evidence. It is your responsibility to demonstrate the losses you have incurred to your insurers (or the surveyor). Go crazy with your camera (or, more likely, your phone) and record as much photographic evidence as you can of what has happened. Take down the details of anyone who saw what happened too, witnesses can be useful. If the claim involves another party, record their damage too.

At this stage, you have done everything reasonable to inform your insurers and record what has happened. Just make sure you make every effort to limit any further damage or liability; if you’re at risk of causing more damage, or more damage happening, tell your insurers immediately and ask for advice.

Now this is where Yachtwork come into play. Your insurer will likely instruct an independent surveyor to survey your yacht and report back on the cause, responsibility, and recommendations to make good. If you’re lucky, your insurer will appoint one of our team of expert yacht surveyors and we’ll be along in no time to assess the damage to your vessel, record the evidence and write up a report for your insurer.

At this stage your insurer is aware of the issues and how to rectify them. You should stay in regular communication with them throughout the repairs process; they may be able to advise you on where to get the repairs done. If you’re struggling coordinating your yacht repair, our Project Management team may be able to help; they take total control of the repair management and will return your yacht to you as good as new! Get in touch for a yacht repair project management quote.

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