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Hiring a jet ski on holiday: who pays for damage?
Short answer
Hull cover belongs to a particular craft, not to you.
On a hired machine abroad the hire agreement and the operator's own cover decide most of it,
and both end sooner than many riders assume.
Half an hour on the beach is booked in a minute, which is precisely why almost nobody reads what they are signing. The important point first: hull cover on your own machine at home does not follow you onto somebody else's hire machine abroad. Liability is different: a NAMMERT liability policy covers you as the responsible rider of a hired craft for up to 30 days, with the hire agreement in your name and after any cover the operator has. Damage to the hired machine itself is not covered. What happens on a hired jet ski is governed by the agreement with the operator, by the law of the country you are in, and by whatever insurance that operator has arranged.
Hire operators work almost universally with a deposit and an excess. Damage the machine and the deposit goes first; on a larger repair the claim can run beyond it. It becomes far more serious when someone else is hurt, a swimmer, a bather or the crew of another boat, because the rider is personally liable and those sums are substantial. Whether the operator's liability insurance extends to you as the rider at all is a question the agreement alone answers, and in many countries it says little or nothing on the point.
So before you go out, do three things. Read the liability and excess clauses in the hire agreement and ask to see what insurance is in place for the machine. Photograph the craft from every angle on your phone so that existing scratches do not become yours at the end of the session. And establish what qualification the country requires, because the rules vary sharply from coast to coast. Anyone who hires regularly on holiday should raise the question with their own broker in advance rather than relying on the policy covering the machine at home.
Worth remembering
Your hull cover
belongs to your craft, not to a hire machine
Hire agreement
sets the deposit, the excess and your liability as rider
Read the agreement and photograph the machine before you go out. Together it takes five minutes.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
Does my own jet ski policy follow me onto a hire machine?
Your hull cover does not. With a NAMMERT liability policy, your liability as rider is covered for up to 30 days if the hire agreement is in your name, after the operator's own cover. Damage to the hired machine is not covered.
Will household liability insurance respond?
Powered watercraft are usually excluded or tightly limited in household liability wordings. Check the terms before you travel rather than hoping for the best on the beach.
How do I avoid an argument about older damage?
Photograph the machine from every side before you set off, with the date visible, and have existing damage written into the agreement. Those pictures are the only evidence you will have later.
Do I need a licence to hire a jet ski abroad?
Every country sets its own rules and they differ widely. Ask locally and get the operator's answer in writing, because it is the rider who answers for it if the authorities stop you.
Related
Not sure whether you qualify?
Whether it is “Hiring a jet ski on holiday: who pays for damage?” 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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