Checklist
Buying a used boat, the checklist for the viewing
Two A4 pages to take down to the pontoon. Page 1 takes the boat, the engine and the seller and walks you through papers, hull, deck and rig, page 2 through the order in which a purchase gets cheaper, through what belongs in the contract, and leaves room for notes. The points marked with a triangle are the ones that cannot be insured afterwards.
Diese Seite auf DeutschEsta página en español
Only the two sheets are printed, without the navigation and the footer. A working aid without legal force, neither a survey nor legal advice. Whether a boat can be insured is decided by underwriting in each case.
Buying a used boat
The checklist of an underwriter: what leads to an exclusion later, and therefore counts before you buy
NAMMERT
Page 1 of 2
Papers and hull
Why this list comes from an insurer
A buying adviser tells you what brings the price down. We tell you what cannot be insured afterwards. A defect you can see and price in is something to negotiate about. A defect that counts as wear, ageing or previous damage stays your problem for as long as you own the boat, excluded everywhere in the market. The points marked ▲ are of that kind.
01Boat, engine, seller
Yard, type, year of build
Hull number (CIN)
Length, beam, draught
Price asked
Seller: private / dealer
Where it lies, viewed on
Engine: type, year
Engine hours
02Papers, this is where it is decided whether we underwrite at all
| Document | there | missing | What happens without it |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▲ Proof of ownership, chain of title | Without an unbroken chain ownership cannot be shown; where theft is suspected nobody underwrites. | ||
| ▲ CE declaration of conformity | Missing from year of build 1998 on, or on a home build, it takes a survey, and in case of doubt there is no cover. | ||
| Hull number legible on the boat | Ground off, or different from the papers: walk away. | ||
| Engine documents, servicing | Without a record every engine failure becomes a question of wear. | ||
| ▲ Previous damage and repairs, in writing | What you do not know you cannot declare, and that affects the whole policy later. | ||
| Service intervals: liferaft, gas, extinguishers, seacocks | Expired intervals cost you money; on the gas system they are a condition of cover. | ||
| Proof of tax and duty on an import | Without Union status import charges loom, and no hull cover carries them. |
03Hull, deck and rig, the ageing damage
| What to check | OK | defect | The finding and what it means for your cover |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▲ Osmosis: blisters, moisture readings | An ageing process, excluded everywhere. After the purchase nobody pays for it, only the price reflects it. | ||
| ▲ Age of the standing rigging, terminals, chainplates | A dismasting from a cracked terminal is wear. Aged rigging belongs in the price or gets replaced. | ||
| Moisture in deck and core | Soft spots are old leaks, expensive and not an insured loss. | ||
| Keel joint, crack pattern, traces of a grounding | The most important hidden previous damage. Where we suspect it we insist on a survey. | ||
| Rudder: play, bearings, delamination | Play in the bearing announces the failure that turns into an emergency at sea. | ||
| ▲ Seacocks, hoses, clamps | The commonest cause of sinking on the berth. The material is wear, the consequential damage can be covered. | ||
| Electrics, charger, shore power | Amateur rewiring is the classic seat of a fire; with lithium we ask questions. | ||
| Engine: sea trial under load | No sea trial, no purchase. Many hours without service records means budgeting for an overhaul. |
NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, Karl-Marx-Straße 4, 15711 Königs Wusterhausen, Germany · +49 3375 29 12 77 · A working aid without legal force, neither a survey nor legal advice. Whether a boat can be insured is decided by underwriting in each case.
Buying and handover
The order of things, the price talk, the start of cover, and the four cases where we advise against
Page 2
Handover and
insurance
04The order in which it gets cheaper
| When | Step | Why in this order |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Look at the papers before you travel | Ask for the proof of ownership and the CE declaration as photographs. If both are missing, save yourself the trip. |
| 2 | View it yourself with page 1 | What you find here is material to negotiate with. What you miss becomes your loss later. |
| 3 | Sea trial under load, then lift out | You only see the underwater hull ashore. Settle the cost and the date in writing beforehand. |
| 4 | A surveyor, where it pays | On older boats, at a high price and on any suspicion of a grounding. A survey costs a fraction of what an overlooked laminate damage costs. |
| 5 | Settle insurability before you sign | Call with type, year of build, value and cruising area. An “only with a condition” or “only without hull cover” changes your offer. |
| 6 | Contract of sale, payment, handover record | Our sale contract template settles the passing of risk and the inventory list, and both decide whose insurer pays on which day. |
| 7 | The policy before the first delivery trip | The delivery trip is the riskiest trip of the year: an unknown boat, unknown machinery. It has to be covered before you set off. |
05What belongs in the contract, so that the cover fits
- The passing of risk with a date and a time of day, not “on handover”. Until then his policy pays, after that yours.
- The inventory list as an annex, with values: rig, sails, electronics, tender, outboard. That is the basis of your sum insured.
- A declaration on previous damage, in writing, signed by the seller.
- Gear that does not come with the boat, named expressly. Otherwise you insure value you do not have.
- Outstanding finance and any certificate of security interest settled before payment, not after.
- Berth and winter storage: who pays the rent and the lift, and until when?
- A handover record with photographs and the engine hour meter, your proof of condition from day one.
06 · Notes from the viewing
What struck you, with the price it carries: what is a point to negotiate, what is a reason to walk away? Photograph every defect and note here what the seller said about it.
07 · Call before you sign
Four details are enough for a reliable answer: type and year of build, the value you plan, the cruising area, the berth. We tell you whether and how the boat can be insured, what it costs and which conditions come with it, and you know it while you can still negotiate. +49 3375 29 12 77 · info@nammert.com · The sale contract template, the handover record and the emergency sheet are at nammert.com under the forms.
Viewed on, by
Surveyor, appointment
Decision, date
This list is a working aid for the viewing and not an underwriting guideline. Whether and on what terms a boat can be insured is decided by underwriting in each case; ask before you buy, then you know it while you can still negotiate. NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, Königs Wusterhausen, Germany.