Pleasure craft and yacht insurance
Insurance for pleasure vessels, from small sailboats to large yachts, covering hull, engines and third-party liability; for large yachts, it belongs to the specialist marine market and carries sanctions risk.
Pleasure craft insurance covers two main parts. Damage to the vessel, hull, mast, engines, equipment, against sinking, grounding, fire, theft, storms in port or at anchor, on an agreed value or an assessed value. And liability toward third parties: swimmers, other boats, port facilities, pollution, wreck removal costs. Liability cover is generally not compulsory for pleasure boats in France, but ports require it to allocate a berth, and wreck removal can be imposed on the owner. Policies set an authorized navigation area and sometimes a period of use, beyond which cover ceases; they make cover conditional on crew qualifications. For large yachts, the market changes nature: values of tens or hundreds of millions, professional crews, conditions close to merchant shipping insurance, war and liability covers through specialized clubs. Since 2022, the segment has also been a sanctions compliance battleground: many yachts owned by designated persons were frozen or seized, and their insurers had to stop covering them, examine ownership structures and handle claims on immobilized vessels.
Hypothetical case: a sailboat insured for coastal navigation up to six miles from shelter is dismasted by a gale twenty miles offshore, during a crossing to Corsica. The insurer declines the damage claim: the vessel was outside the navigation area covered by the policy.
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