Who pays for the inspection after a grounding?

Short answer

The expensive problem after a grounding is not the damage but the uncertainty. Who pays for the lift-out if nothing is found?

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Grounding is the most frequently reported cause of loss there is. After touching bottom you are in an awkward position: nothing is visible from above, the boat floats, the engine runs. Whether keel, keel bolts, rudder, shaft or saildrive took anything only shows ashore. Lifting out, inspecting and relaunching cost money regardless of the outcome.

This is where many owners decide wrongly. Postponing the inspection to save cost risks two things: consequential damage that an immediate inspection would have prevented, and a later argument about whether the damage came from this event at all. Both cost more than the lift.

So check in your policy whether there is a separate item for inspection costs after a grounding, and whether it applies even when no damage is found. That is the decisive half-sentence. Also check whether those costs touch your no-claims discount; an inspection with no findings should not count as a claim. Report the event in any case before you lift out, and agree the scope.

And if nothing is found?

Then you have certainty and an invoice. Whether the insurer carries it turns on exactly that inspection-costs clause. Ask before the lift, not after.

Must I inspect immediately?

As soon as you can. The longer you wait, the harder it is to link event and damage, and the more likely consequential damage becomes.

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