Insurance is rarely used. The vast majority of incidents are small damages or maintenance issues covered by the guest’s security deposit. Liability insurance is designed for serious events (collision, injury, environmental damage), but those are exceptional cases.
Who pays for what?
Guests/crew usually pay when:
They directly cause damage through misuse (e.g., turning on the fridge and draining batteries, clogging toilets after being warned not to, losing the dinghy while using it).
Items go missing or are broken during their use (fenders, WiFi devices, outboard engines).
It’s unclear who is responsible — then costs are often split among all guests.
The skipper is expected to pay when:
Damage results from poor yacht handling, such as scratching the hull against a marina wall during mooring.
They act with negligence (e.g., ignoring procedures). In those cases, insurer coverage may also be denied.
Insurance covers when:
A third party is at fault, in which case the yacht’s or skipper’s insurance can cover damages.
A claim exceeds the guest deposit amount (e.g., major collisions, personal injury, pollution).
In practice
Most damages are small and covered by the guest deposit.
Skippers rarely pay out of pocket unless it’s clearly their fault.
Insurance is a safety net for serious, rare events that deposits cannot cover.