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Scale of benefits (disablement), in the boat insurance glossary

Boat insurance term, area: Settlement

Personal accident policies pay for permanent disablement according to a scale that gives each limb and sense a fixed percentage of the sum insured. Total loss of use of an arm, an eye or a finger attracts the percentage in the table; partial loss attracts the matching fraction. The percentages differ noticeably between policies, particularly for hands, thumbs and fingers, which are the injuries most likely on a boat. Example: a thumb is crushed in the anchor windlass and stays permanently stiff. The payment is the scale percentage applied to the sum insured.

What to check: What percentages does your policy's scale give for an arm, a hand, a thumb and an eye, and how is partial loss of use assessed? By what date after the accident must permanent disablement be established and claimed?

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