A sailboat or yacht can become the best friend of lovers of the sea and freedom. Sailing the high seas, calling at all the beaches and coves or mooring it in the different Spanish ports can be a lot of fun when travelling. In addition, there are many types of pleasure boats, from impressive yachts like the Christina O, the luxurious boat that belonged to the millionaire Aristotle Onassis, or simpler fishing sailboats like the Chanquete. However, whatever your boat, you need to preserve its safety and that of those who travel on it. Therefore, the boat insurance is mandatory for all vessels propelled engine, more than six meters long and foreign vessels sailing in Spanish waters.
Mandatory RC for boats
Legislation requires since July 1, 1999, that recreational or sports boats have Civil Liability insurance. In addition, marinas often require the policy to allow a boat to enter their facilities. On the other hand, it does not matter how long you use the ship, that is, even if you only travel in it during the three summer months, you must take out insurance for the whole year, as if it were a car.
What should it include?
The CR insurance you take out must cover all material and personal damage that the boat and the skipper’s activity may cause to third parties, such as the port, other boats, or maritime facilities. In this case, the compulsory coverage is death or bodily injury to third parties, economic losses suffered by third parties as a direct consequence of death, or damage to ships by collision. In addition, it must also cover the objects that the boat tows, as well as the water skiers who practice sports with the boat.
Complementary coverage
In addition to the Obligatory Civil Liability insurance, the owner of the boat can contract, as in any other insurance, optional complimentary coverage such as voluntary civil liability, rescue and maritime assistance, total loss, personal effects, etc.
Voluntary civil liability
This option allows the policyholder to contract financial limits higher than those required by law. In this case, the legislation determines that the insurance must cover up to a minimum of 120,000 euros per victim with a maximum of about 240,000 euros per claim, while that in material damages and economic losses the maximum is set at about 96,000 euros per claim. In addition, it also covers the civil liability of the boat during its stay on land and the operation of its launching in the water or the destruction of the remains of the boat.
Salvage and Maritime Assistance
The contracting of this guarantee in the insurance of the boat would cover the cost of the towing operations of the boat in case you need help in the event of the possibility of sinking or destruction of the boat. It is a highly recommended guarantee since, after an accident on the high seas, rescue teams can pass the bill for the rescue to the owner of the boat afterwards.
Loss and abandonment of the ship
The total loss and abandonment coverage is responsible for covering the total loss of the insured boat as a result of an event such as a storm at sea, as well as the theft of the entire boat and its auxiliary boat together with the costs of recovery if it would be possible.
Personal effects
With this coverage, the policyholder insures all his personal effects against the risks of total loss, damage or theft. It must be borne in mind that if there is a theft, that is, a misappropriation of goods without any type of violence, the company may not cover it. This is because many companies do not cover theft.
Personal accidents
In the event of accidents that may occur onboard the ship, the personal accident coverage guarantees compensation for the bodily injuries of the policyholder and of all the people who travel on the ship for free when sailing or at the time of boarding and disembarkation.
Legal defence
In the event that the insured needs legal defence, he can resort to this guarantee that covers the defence of the insured, claiming the damages that he has suffered both in his person and in the sports boat he owns.
Travel Assistance
Exactly the same as when you take out Car insurance, you can subscribe travel assistance coverage for your boat. In this way, if some type of accident occurs that covers the insurance while travelling by boat, all the derived expenses would be covered. Some of them, depending on the company, could be the costs of hotel accommodation, custody of the boat, medical expenses abroad or shipping of medicines. This coverage can be especially important if you are travelling to foreign countries.
English and Spanish clauses
When contracting insurance for your boat, you should know that foreign regulations may apply. For this reason, some insurers allow you to contract the Spanish or English clauses for your boat policy. That is, the Spanish conditions work by inclusion, while the English conditions work by exclusion. Furthermore, English women are subject to the law and practices of the British countryside.
Find your Boat insurance at Seguros.es
If you are looking for insurance for Barco s that protects both you and the other crew members, it is important that you compare the offers of the insurance companies before. In this way, you can get the best coverage at the best price. For this, you can use the Seguros.es comparator, with which you can save a lot of time.