Buying Sailing Holiday Insurance
Some Things To Consider And Pitfalls To Avoid
Some Things To Consider And Pitfalls To Avoid
Some Things To Consider And Pitfalls To Avoid
It can seem a bit daunting and time consuming if you have not done it before. Keep in mind that it is basically a travel insurance policy with knobs on to cover sailing.
Please Note. We are not insurance brokers and we can’t provide advice on buying sailing holiday insurance or sell you sailing holiday insurance. What we can do is tell you about some of the potential pitfalls that we have come across during 14 years of chartering and add a few notes about some of the things to consider before you buy. We take an interest in the insurance policies that people arrive with but we can’t advise on a particular policy for you or tell you if you are adequately covered.
Our guest sailors often ask ‘where do I go for specialist sailing holiday travel insurance’? So here is a link to a UK-based specialist sailing holiday insurer. This is an affiliate link, which means they might give us a small amount of money if you buy insurance through them – all donations gratefully received. You do not have to use this insurer to sail with us. There are other insurers you can use, and Topsail may or may not be cheapest or most suitable insurer for you.
These notes are primarily aimed at people sailing on our schooner Trinovante but if you have landed here looking for some general information these notes apply to anyone going on a sailing holiday. Of course we’d love you to check out our sailing holidays while you are here.
This way you have cancellation cover in place straight away and, you know you can actually get travel insurance which may be important if you have medical conditions or are older. Very occasionally no insurer will provide cover.
The best option is to email them and include a link to the page on our website for your voyage.
Ask ‘does this policy cover me for this’? Print the reply – keep it with your documents.
It sounds obvious but hardly anyone does it.
If you can’t get a clear answer, consider using another insurer.
We see people paying wildly different amounts for single trip sailing holiday insurance. There are lots of insurers out there so get on Google and shop around. Search terms you can use are ‘yachtsman’s insurance’, ‘adventure holidays insurance’, ‘adventure travel insurance’, ‘extreme sports travel insurance’, ‘sailing holiday insurance’ and ‘tall ship sailing holiday insurance’.
If you are from the UK this is a no-brainer.
It might be OK but be very careful about what it covers. Don’t guess – if the policy is not absolutely clear, ask the broker or insurer. As above check that you are within their age limit for insurance
Hopefully you will not need to use your Sailing Holiday Travel Insurance but if you to make a claim are you confident you will be covered?
All policies we have seen require you to be vaccinated and provide proof in order to make a sucessful claim. Most policies also require that you do a COVID test within a certain time limit of travelling. Make sure you read and understand the conditions of your policy.
Insurers may well cover you if you have existing medical conditions but you need to tell your insurer. If you fail to do so and then need treatment for that condition, or a related condition, you won’t be covered. Be aware that any condition you have sought medical advice about in the previous two year, even if no action was taken, may need to be declared. As ever check with you insurer. Never assume anything always ask.
Some of the information below is a little outdated in that Trinovante only sails in the UK these days but we have left it all here in case you are sailing on another boat.
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It’s sad, but almost every year we have guests who have paid good money for a worthless piece of paper because they did not read the terms and conditions.
Here are just some examples…
You have booked an offshore sailing holiday and your cover is not specifically for offshore sailing.
What is defined as ‘offshore’ is entirely up to the individual insurer and it can vary wildly. It can be completely different to what we call offshore sailing at SchoonerSail. One of our guests who queried the definition of offshore by phone was told by a broker that it was ‘if you were out of sight of land’. Our guest asked ‘So what if it is foggy?’ – obviously a definition like this is a nonsense. Offshore could be 12 miles from the nearest land, it could be within territorial waters, or it could be almost anything at all. If there is any uncertainty, don’t guess – ask, and get the answer in writing!
Your insurance does not cover the country you are sailing in or sea area.
Don’t expect brokers to know anything about geography, what countries are in the EU etc.
Where does the ‘North Sea’ start and finish for instance? One year several people arrived at the start of a voyage to Norway with a policy covering the North Sea – when we queried the boundaries with the brokers we were sent what looked a blurry children’s map to define the area. If there are geographic limits these need to be set in stone – this means latitudes and longitudes, or maybe a country border. In the end we provided a set of co-ordinates to the insurance company and they agreed it in writing. Needless to say it was a bit of a hassle.
Sailing with us in Norway within the Arctic Circle? Again many people have been caught out by this one, some companies charge extra for this and add it as an endorsement.
Another fun condition was ‘covered within sight of land’ to which our crew memeber asked ‘what if it is foggy? And we would say what is ‘your height of eye’ for determining this so we can work out what the distance actually is?
Very basic Voyage Maps For Our Sailing Holidays are here.
You have not declared a relevant fact, for instance a health condition or medication you have been prescribed. In ddition to declaring existing medical conditions you uysually have to declare all medications you have been prescribed in the last year and anything you have sought medical adivce about in the past two years even if no action is taken. Make sure you fully check what you need to declare.
Insurers can – and do – refuse to pay up if you have not declared a relevant fact and this may be one of the commonest reasons insurers deny cover.
Your cover does not apply to the type of boat you will be sailing on.
Most companies will cover sailing on a three-masted schooner such as Trinovante under their standard ‘yachtsman’s policies’. However, one insurer decided Trinovante was a tall ship and that their ordinary yachtsman’s sailing insurance did not provide cover for ‘Tall Ship’ Sailing Holidays. An insurer once told us that they may even apply this category to small yachts taking part in the Tall Ships Race. This was not clear in either their terms and conditions or on their web site.
We understand from the company concerned that this issue has now been resolved but it is such a good example of a pitfall that we have left it in here. The only way you can cover this sort of thing is by making sure you tell brokers or insurers in writing exactly what you are doing on your sailing holiday.
If you need more information about the schooner Trinovante we have a page about the ship.
We have come across other policies that only cover sailing on boats up to 50ft, only cover boats either with or without a professional skipper, and only cover dinghies or day sailing boats.
Buyer beware. Make sure that you read the terms and conditions. If you are unsure, check by email.
You want cancellation cover but your cover does not start until you leave home to travel the boat.
More than one person has been caught out by this.
Your insurance does not cover you for actually ‘participating’ in the sailing. Amazing, but we have seen this in a policy.
If you are going to be sailing with us on a race, then you should check that the policy covers racing.
You may or may not want to accept a large excess.
This is not an exhaustive list of potential pitfalls – there will almost certainly be many other issues and clauses we have not come across. If in doubt, ask – and get the answer in writing.