Find the right yacht insurance
In-depth knowledge in placing insurance for your yachts!
Some yacht owners make the mistake of working with their general property and casualty agent or a non-specialized broker with little experience in placing the insurance of yachts. This can be a costly mistake that can leave you not only paying exorbitant premiums year after year, but more importantly uninsured or underinsured in the event of a loss. Policy language, underwriters' requirements and flag regulations may be difficult to understand apart from the fact that a knowledge of the English insurance law and jurisprudence, its 1906 maritime law maritime law and binding legal precedents are of paramount importance since often insurance policies stipulate that the law & jurisdiction are English law and courts. With our long experience in placing yachts insurances we know the ins and outs of the yacht insurance market, we may be able to save you some premium and surely guide you smoothly through the whole process.
few questions - as food for thought:
– Are you covered in full during maintenance works if you did not check that the shipyard has a liability insurance up to the insurance stated on your policy and you did not disclose the scheduled works to your insurer (s) to get their prior approval?
– Are your engines covered for machinery breakdown?
– ARE YOU COVERED FOR YOUR LIABILITY TOWARDS THE CREW DURING OPERATION OF YOUR YACHT?
– Are you covered if you were privy of the unseaworthiness of your yacht and you maintained your sailing schedule?
– Are you covered if you changed flag and you did not advise the underwriters?
The answer to these questions may be a clear NO! This is where a yacht insurance broker specialist is absolutely needed to help answer these difficult questions.
Himaya Switzerland, a truly independent broker, has an in-depth knowledge and experience in placing insurance for yachts.
We can approach several markets in Europe to provide you with the best insurance terms to insure the following risks:
- Hull & Machinery insurance to cover your yacht for the material damages whether resulting from fire, grounding, collision, acts of God, sinking, flooding, theft etc… with a possible extension for machinery breakdown for the yacht depending on her age and/or size. The sum insured is on agreed value basis.
- War, Piracy, Terrorism & Strikes Riots and Civil Commotions (SRCC) insurance
- Protection and Indemnity Risks (P&I) or third party liability insurance to cover collisions, liability to passengers, crew compensation claims during operation of the yacht, removal of wreck, water sports liability, liability vis-à-vis charterers and their guests if the yacht is chartered out on a fully crewed basis, fire spreading out of your yacht, etc…
- Other insurances related to your crew:
- Medical insurance
- Personal accident
Our Services
• Starting with a comprehensive, personalized and holistic approach in order to go through the different types of risks that yachts can be covered for
• Assisting You in filling the yacht insurance proposal form which is the starting point for preparing the file to be submitted to underwriters
• Advising on the documentation/information normally requested by underwriters including the ultimate beneficial owner details, the certificate of registry of the yacht and certificate of class (if any), CV and license of the Captain for their approval. For super yachts the CVs of the first officer and the chief engineer are needed.
• Approaching the market(s) to get different offers and doing the necessary insurance market exercise through comparing different quotations not only based on their premium but also differentiating between various terms and conditions under each quotation. Thanks to our market knowledge and extensive experience in insuring yachts.
• Assisting and providing advices on your rights and obligations based on our experience throughout the life of the claim from the initial declaration of the claim. We will assist in:
– Liaising with the insurance company to second a loss adjustor to survey the claim
– Managing Your expectations as to what is covered as per policy terms and conditions. As an example, loss of charter is not covered unless you bought this specific extension.
– Drafting a letter of reserves to protect the right of recovery of insurer(s)
– Following up with insurer(s) on the claim all the way till the claim file is indemnified and/or closed.
• Assigning one Account Executive in charge of Your Account from A to Z who acts as a single point of contact
Our Advices
• To deliver on your duty of making a fair presentation of the risk to insurers containing all material circumstances which you know or ought to have known. If you are in doubt as to whether information is material, it is best to disclose it since rarely disclosure will prejudice you, whereas non-disclosure certainly will.
The disclosure to include:
– Loss history of the owner with existing and previous yachts
– Any material fact which is one that is likely to influence the judgment of an insurer when determining whether to provide a business with cover and at what premium.
• It is not a matter of premium only; policy terms, conditions and exclusions should count
• To go through the warranties of the yacht insurance policy before agreeing on a quotation whether a new one or at renewal is of paramount importance, since the insurance company will make sure that all warranties are fulfilled in full before indemnifying any claim.
• To protect the rights of recovery of the insurer as per your contractual obligation
• To immediately inform your insurance broker of any claim in order to be guided properly
• In case of claim, if a loss surveyor is appointed it is always better that you or your entrusted representative attend the survey
• When you sell your yacht, your cover automatically stops, and you are entitled to a premium refund on “prorata-temporis” basis.
AT THE TIME OF THE CLAIM IT IS TOO LATE! “TO GOVERN IS TO FORESEE…”
WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF ACCIDENT?
- Mitigate the damages/losses and act as if you were not insured
- Contact us on the spot that we advise you on the next steps, your rights/obligations and notify the insurers. They will need contact details (phone number and e-mail) and the location of the yacht.
- Take pictures of the damages, note down all the circumstances of the incident and its cause if known along with the apparent damages, date of the incident and contact details / name of the responsible third party (if any) and send them to us. We will notify the insurers accordingly.
- If there is a responsible third party, please protect the rights of recovery of the insurers by sending a letter of reserves. We will draft it for you, that you sign/send it.
- In case of theft, fire or explosion please notify the police that they open a file in their records and take the necessary measures if necessary. Please ask them for a police file number and notify us of the same.
- Do not agree for fixed salvage costs before getting the prior approval of your insurers. Usually insurers use for salvages the Lloyd’s Open form, which will protect them/you from any potential abuses from salvagers.
- To ask as soon as possible for two to three repair estimates and not to start repairing before getting the approval of your insurer after the visit of the loss surveyor and the establishment of the survey report
- To collect and send us all invoices that we send them to the surveyor or to the insurer if no surveyor is appointed
