Design or material defect on a boat: the failed part and the damage it causes

A rigging screw snaps after three seasons because the stainless steel had an inclusion. A weld on the rudder stock cracks because it was never fully penetrated. A through hull fitting made from the wrong alloy dezincifies and lets go in the marina. Defects in design, workmanship or material can stay hidden for years and then show themselves all at once: water over the cabin sole, a rudder with no grip, a mast lying across the deck. Surveyors call this a latent defect, one that a reasonable inspection could not have found.

Most hull policy wordings split such a loss in two. The failed part itself is normally excluded, because a defect is not an accident. The damage the failure causes to other parts of the boat is a separate question, and wordings answer it differently. Some exclude everything that follows from a latent defect, others expressly cover the resulting damage. If the rigging screw breaks and the mast comes down, it makes a real difference whether the policy pays for the mast, sails and deck. When comparing policies, read the latent defect clause word by word and ask how resulting damage is treated. With us the failed part itself is excluded, and the damage it causes elsewhere, such as to mast, sails or deck, is covered from Basis Plus.

For the failed part, turn to the seller, the builder or the boatyard. In the UK the Consumer Rights Act gives buyers rights against a trader when goods are not of satisfactory quality, and similar rules apply across the EU; how long they run and what they cover depends on the case, so take advice before you rely on them. Report the damage to your insurer straight away all the same, and keep the broken part. A surveyor can then establish whether a defect, wear and tear or an accident was the cause, and the insurer can pursue the builder or yard. Do not repair or throw anything away without agreement.

Worth remembering

Keep the broken part, it is the evidence everything turns on.