Does a jet ski need an immobiliser?

Jet skis get stolen, and often. So several providers manage theft cover through technical warranties. One is the electronic immobiliser: professionally fitted, plus a suitable anti-theft device whenever the machine is left. If you cannot show in a claim that both were in place, you have a problem, because the burden of proof is on you.

That sounds like a formality and in a claim it is not. A warranty built as a condition precedent knows no grading: it is met or it is not. Whether the theft would have happened anyway, immobiliser or no immobiliser, then no longer matters. Which is exactly why it pays to check before you buy whether the security is a condition or a recommendation.

With us cover requires neither the fitting nor the use of an immobiliser. What we do instead is reward security rather than compel it: a tracker fitted to the machine earns ten per cent off the hull premium. The difference is fundamental. A discount you do not take costs you premium. A warranty you do not meet costs you the claim.

Worth remembering

Where it is required, the proof after a theft is yours to produce, for the state of things the day before.