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Blocked heads on a charter: who pays for the repair?
Short answer
If the heads block because of wipes, sanitary items or food,
contracts usually treat it as the crew's misuse and it comes off the deposit.
A worn pump or a seized valve is the base's matter.
What settles it is a thorough handover.
A marine toilet is nothing like the one at home. It pumps through a narrow hose and a seacock, either overboard or into a holding tank, and anything that does not break down gets stuck somewhere in the pump, the valve or the pipe. A few wet wipes, a sanitary item or too much paper is all it takes. Then nothing pumps, the hose has to come out, and the bill turns up at check-out against the deposit. For crews new to chartering it is one of the classic arguments at the end of the week.
Who pays depends on the cause. If something went in that should not have, contracts usually count that as misuse by the crew. If the pump is worn out, a valve has seized or a hose has narrowed over the years with scale, the cause lies in the condition of the boat, and that is for the base. The argument goes to whoever can show that the heads worked at handover, that the crew had been shown how to use them, and that the fault was reported at once rather than pumped at for days.
So at handover ask to be shown every toilet on board, try each one yourself and have it noted if one is stiff. On the first evening tell the crew what can go in and what goes in the bin, and put a lidded bin next to it. Work the seacock and the holding tank valve the way the base explains, because in many bays and harbours pumping out into the water is not allowed. If the heads do pack up, ring the base, take photographs and do not start taking hoses apart yourself: loosen a hose with the seacock open and you have made a leak.
Worth remembering
Misuse
wipes, paper, scraps: usually the crew
Wear
old pump or seized valve: the base
Try every toilet at handover and you can show later who should pay.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
Can the base just take the repair out of the deposit?
It can claim what the contract provides for damage caused by the crew, and it has to show the cost. Ask for the invoice and what was found. If the cause was wear on the boat, the deduction should not fall on you.
What can go down a marine toilet?
Only what breaks down quickly: human waste and a little thin paper. Wet wipes, sanitary items, kitchen roll and food scraps go in the bin. Some bases ask for the paper to go in the bin as well.
How do I show the heads were already playing up?
Through the handover checklist. Try every toilet at check-in and have it recorded if one pumps stiffly or water creeps back. Report problems during the week straight away and in writing, so the time is on record.
Related
Not sure whether you qualify?
Whether it is “Blocked heads on a charter: who pays for the repair?” or another question: send us your residence and the flag your boat flies. You will get a straight answer in one email; including a no, if that is the answer.
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