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Paid skipper work: which liability cover does a professional skipper need?
Short answer
Once you are paid to skipper, whether charter guests,
yacht deliveries or teaching at an RYA school,
your work needs its own professional liability cover.
Private skipper liability is written for leisure sailing and normally excludes paid work.
Plenty of experienced sailors turn their miles into income. They skipper for charter guests in the Solent or the Ionian, deliver yachts from a yard to a new owner, or teach for an RYA training centre. The day the first fee is paid, the legal position changes. You are no longer a friend helming a friend's boat but a service provider, and guests, owners and charter companies are entitled to expect professional care. If something goes wrong, a claim against you will be judged by that standard.
The skipper liability cover many sailors hold is written for private sailing, and paid work is usually excluded in plain words. A professional liability policy for skippers is a separate contract. When you compare offers, look at the limit of indemnity, whether damage to the vessel in your care is included, whether financial loss claims are covered, the cruising area, and whether deliveries, instruction and day work all count as the insured activity. Ask too how claims from crew and guests are treated.
The licence side matters as much. In the UK a Yachtmaster certificate needs a commercial endorsement from the MCA before you can skipper small commercial vessels for pay, which involves additional courses and a medical certificate; a Commercially Endorsed Yachtmaster is what most charter companies ask for. Other flags have their own rules, so check before you accept work abroad. Keep a written agreement that names the client, the owner of the boat, who insured it and your role on board, because in a claim that decides whose policy responds first.
Worth remembering
Leisure sailing
private skipper liability
Paid work
separate professional liability policy
The first fee is the moment to sort out a professional contract.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
Does my private skipper liability cover paid work?
Usually not. Private skipper liability is written for leisure sailing, and most wordings exclude skippering for pay. A professional skipper needs a separate professional liability policy.
What should a professional skipper policy include?
Check the limit of indemnity, damage to the vessel in your care, financial loss claims, claims from crew and guests, the cruising area, and whether deliveries and instruction count as insured work.
Do I need a commercial endorsement?
To skipper small commercial vessels for pay in the UK, a Yachtmaster certificate needs a commercial endorsement from the MCA. Charter companies abroad often ask for a Commercially Endorsed Yachtmaster as well as proof of liability cover.
Related
Not sure whether you qualify?
Whether it is “Paid skipper work: which liability cover does a professional skipper need?” 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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