Choosing the deductible

The deductible is the part of every claim you carry yourself, and the trade is simple enough: the more you carry, the less you pay each year. The useful question is not which figure is best in the abstract but which one you could write a cheque for without hesitating on a bad day. If the answer is that a claim below a certain sum would never be reported anyway, then that sum is roughly where your deductible belongs, and the premium saving is money you were going to keep regardless.

The detail that decides more than the figure itself is how many figures there are. A clear policy names one amount and applies it. Others vary it by type of damage, by region, by who was steering, or apply a percentage of the sum insured for certain events such as grounding or storm, which on a valuable boat is a very different number from the headline. Look for a separate excess for other helmsmen, for machinery and for named weather events, and add them up against the scenarios you actually expect.

Two more points are worth checking. Whether the excess applies once per event or per item, which matters when the same storm damages the cover, the mast and the electronics. And how it interacts with any no claims discount, because a low deductible tempts you into small claims that cost more in future premium than they recover. On a boat of modest value a low excess can still be right; on a well found yacht it usually pays to carry more and keep the small stuff to yourself.

Worth remembering

Compare the excesses, not just the premiums, or you are comparing two different products.