Does your travel insurance cover you whilst sailing offshore?
Despite best laid plans, things sometimes do go wrong when sailing. No matter how much training we’ve had, conditions can conspire to throw our journey into chaos – sometimes with embarrassing or costly consequences. It is at times like these that we look to our insurers for support and financial security.
Things to consider when choosing your travel insurance policy: –
Are you adequately covered?
We often assume that our usual travel insurance covers our sailing trips. It seems obvious – if you go abroad, then it counts as travel and you’d naturally expect to be covered by your policy….. BUT if you’re sailing under a typical free travel insurance policy (such as the ones provided as perks to credit cards, home insurance, and bank accounts) then you should check your policy carefully. Many insurance policies do not cover sailing more than twelve nautical miles offshore and a large number of them actually exclude waterborne activities entirely.
Make sure your insurance covers you whilst on the water!
The best way to ensure that you’re covered whilst sailing is with dedicated sailing travel insurance policy specifically designed to cover sailors. The policy should cover you whether you are on your own boat, intend to charter one, plan to cruise locally or are planning a circumnavigation of the globe. Policies should be available as a single trip or annual policy, with worldwide trip coverage available.
Other things to look for in a sailing travel policy….
There are a couple of other points that are important in all travel insurance policies, but especially relevant to sailors. If you want peace of mind on the water, make sure your policy includes the following:
- High Levels of Medical Cover
We often underestimate the cost of medical treatment abroad. Costs Worldwide range from reasonable to expensive, and treatment in the USA can be extremely costly – for example, a simple appendix operation could cost over $40,000. Make sure your policy has ample coverage for medical costs – £5 million should be the minimum really, and of course, the more the better.
- Repatriation and Rejoining
Following a medical incident overseas, your insurance policy should cover your repatriation back to your home country should the need arise and preferably for the return to your boat following your recovery. If due to illness you are unable to look after your vessel, then the policy should pay for a representative when required to ensure the security and safety of your vessel.
- Cancellation Cover
Whether you have paid for flights to your boats location, overnight hotels or any pre-booked costs including charter fees or race fees, you will need the cancellation cover in place to protect the money that you have already spent. Take out insurance as soon as you start paying for things such as flights to make sure that you don’t lose out should you be forced to cancel due to various reasons.
About Topsail Insurance
Topsail Insurance Ltd was established in 1996 and has offices in Brighton in the UK and Perth and Sydney in Australia.
Whilst offering Yacht and Motorboat insurance, their specialist Travel Policies have been designed to be flexible and adaptable to suit every kind of trip from a short journey out of the marina, to a more extensive cruising trip and all the way through to covering a worldwide circumnavigation.
Would you like a quotation?
Visit Topsail’s website at www.topsailinsurance.com or call +44 (0) 1273 57 37 27 and choose between their single trip policies or annual multi trip policies which can cover you for up to a year away from your country of residence any one trip and annually renewable thereafter.
Get your travel insurance sorted and you’ll be free to focus on the important stuff – cruising on the open water, meeting the ocean’s challenges and enjoying every minute of your trip!
