The claims record

We do not show what we pay. We show where it fails.

Every insurer advertises settlement ratios. More useful is the other direction: why a claim does not go through. These are the actual reasons from our own register, 231 files from February 2025 to July 2026, without names, without numbers, without places.

The tariff did not cover the cause Five grounding and collision claims failed on the Basis tariff, one on a pure partial cover. Stranding, collision and grounding are full-cover benefits. The choice of tariff decides a payout more often than any other entry on the application. What separates partial and full cover

The policy was dormant at the time of loss Two claims fell into the cover pause of a seasonal policy, one of them a collision on a boat insured for just under €20,000. A seasonal policy saves premium and costs six months of cover. Whoever does not check on their boat in winter needs it least. Seasonal cover in detail

The unit was too old for machinery cover An engine claim was declined because the propulsion engine was older than ten years. Ten years is where this cover ends with every provider, and the limit applies per unit. The cover is not only for the propulsion engine: alternator, pumps and other units come under it as well. Work out what is how old and what a replacement would cost, and drop the module again once it no longer pays. Machinery cover

It was not a sudden event Wear, corrosion on an aluminium hull and a construction fault were declined. Such damage develops over years. Hull cover insures the sudden event, not omitted maintenance. That is so in every set of conditions. Osmosis and age-related damage

The damage was below the deductible Several reports ended without payment because the repair did not exceed the agreed deductible. No dispute, just arithmetic: whoever chooses a €1,000 deductible is better off not reporting small damage at all. Choosing the deductible

The reported cause was not an insured peril A storm claim without a storm, a technical defect, a medical emergency on board, each outside what hull cover carries. For people on board it is not the hull cover that responds but accident cover. That is the most frequent mix-up. What accident cover provides

The policyholder breached an obligation A sunk sailing boat with seacocks left open was reduced by 70 percent, not declined, but clearly cut. Gross negligence does not lead to a total loss of cover with us, but to a reduction; in a policy without that inclusion, to a total loss. Gross negligence

What claims arise from

Almost never on the open sea

The order surprises most owners, and it explains why full cover is the real difference.

1 Collision and impact By far the most frequent case. Harbour manoeuvres, locks, flotsam, almost always close in, almost never in open water.

2 Theft More frequent than almost any owner suspects: outboards, whole jet skis, equipment. Theft of single items is covered only under full cover, and exactly there most of these reports fail.

3 Storm Mostly at the berth or in winter storage, not under way. The bora in the Adriatic appears disproportionately often.

4 Grounding Rarer than assumed, but expensive relative to the boat’s value: rudder, shaft and saildrive forgive little.

5 Fire and lightning Rare, but on average the highest amounts. Lightning in the electronics of a motor yacht costs more than any grounding.

Where they arose

“Worldwide”, backed with country names

In these countries we have handled claims in the past eighteen months. Not brochure copy, the state of the files.

Germanythe majority Croatiasecond-strongest area Spain and Balearicsregularly Netherlandsregularly Italyoccasionally Franceoccasionally Greeceoccasionally Swedenoccasionally United Kingdomoccasionally Cape VerdeAtlantic passage MartiniqueCaribbean Dominican RepublicCaribbean BermudaAtlantic BrazilSouth Atlantic

What is deliberately missing here

We show no settlement ratio. A considerable share of files ends without payment because the customer withdraws, stops answering or stays below the deductible; a ratio built on that could be gamed in any direction. The decline rate for 2025 we do state: 15 percent in hull, 11 percent in liability.

We show no processing times here, because we do not yet record them systematically. Spot checks from 2025 and the promised payout deadline are on the page “When we are not the right provider”.

We show no individual cases with place, boat type and amount together. In a small harbour a boat would be recognisable from that.

Read the cover in full Check your own policy Own claims register: February 2025 to July 2026, 231 files. Anonymised and aggregated.