Quicksilver Activ 505 Cabin insurance check: what the policy should say

This is the first of four articles about one boat, the Quicksilver Activ 505 Cabin, a motor boat with a cuddy cabin, about five metres long according to our records, which usually travels on a trailer. The idea comes from the multi-part boat tests that boating magazines publish. One thing is different, and it belongs at the very top: we have not driven this boat, not a single metre. This is not a sea trial. We say nothing about how it handles, how it is built or what its quality is like, because we do not know. This insurance check reads the paperwork instead: the proposal form, the policy schedule and the questions that come up after a claim. The model is one of the boats on the NAMMERT books, which is why it appears in this series. The question throughout is what the policy should say about this boat.

The first point is the name. Besides Activ 505 Cabin, we know four other spellings for this model: 505 Cabin, Activ Cabin 505, Activ 505 Open and 505 Open. Going by the name, the last two describe the open version without a cabin. For the cover this is more than a matter of style. Personal accident sections often refer to the craft named in the schedule, and after a loss the insurer compares what the policy says with what is lying at the pontoon. So copy the designation from the bill of sale or the registration papers, say whether it is the cabin or the open version, and enter the hull identification number. It is the one detail that reliably separates two boats with the same name.

The second point is the engine. A boat of this kind almost always has an outboard on the transom, and many hull wordings treat an outboard very differently from a built-in engine. A fixed engine is usually part of the boat and of its sum insured. An outboard is often a separate item that has to be named in the schedule with its own value, and if it is missing there it may not be insured at all. Many wordings also carry a security condition, such as no payment for an outboard that was not locked with a security bolt or kept in a locked building. Enter make, power and serial number in full, fit the lock before the boat spends its first night anywhere, and read the outboard clause before the first trip.

The third point is who may drive. A cuddy cabin boat of this size is often shared with family or friends who sometimes take it out alone. Liability wordings commonly require an authorised skipper, meaning someone who uses the boat with the knowledge and consent of the person entitled to it. Hull wordings often exclude damage caused by a person without the licence that the law requires for that boat or that cruising area. Whether a licence is needed depends mainly on engine power and on the waters, and the rules differ from country to country. If you lend the boat, check whether the duties after a claim also apply to the borrower; in many policies they do.

The fourth point is the cruising area. A boat on a trailer changes waters faster than one with a fixed berth. Policies usually define the area in steps, from inland waters only, through the North Sea and the Baltic, to the Mediterranean, the European Atlantic coast and worldwide. A policy limited to inland waters does not follow the boat when it goes to the coast for the summer. Some wordings allow cover beyond the agreed area only if it was arranged beforehand; others include a short extension for a few weeks a year. Compare the area in your schedule with your holiday plans before you hitch the trailer. What applies on the road and at the ramp is the subject of the fourth part.

The fifth point is the level of hull cover, and it decides more than the price. Basic hull covers often list only named perils such as storm, hail, lightning, fire, explosion and theft of the whole boat. Grounding, collision and sinking as a result of either are frequently missing at that level and only appear in broader wordings, together with theft of parts and vandalism. For a cuddy cabin boat that noses into shallow bays, anchors off beaches and is launched from a ramp several times a season, that is the line that matters in everyday use. The basis of the insured value also depends on the wording, actual cash value or agreed value; the second part looks at that, the third at typical damage.

Finally, the people on board. A cabin invites trips with several people, anchoring in a bay and swimming from the boat. Personal accident sections differ widely in whom they cover: some only the owner, some the owner and close family, some every authorised person on board including friends and guests. Many divide the sum insured by the number of people aboard at the time of the accident. Cover usually applies in connection with using the boat, not around the clock, and some wordings name mooring, slipping, swimming and snorkelling explicitly while others are silent. If you regularly take guests, read that section before the season starts.