What Is Boat and Yacht Insurance?

What the Hull General Conditions Settle and What They Leave Open

Boat and yacht insurance covers the vessel itself and the insurable interests attached to it against marine perils. The owner who takes the boat out at weekends and the owner who winters a yacht in a marina sit under the same statutory text.

SEDDK publishes that text as the “Hull Policy General Conditions”; the document's own heading reads “Hull Insurance General Conditions (For Ships and Other Sea and Lake Craft)”. It has been in force since 1 August 1996 and was last amended on 11 May 2002.

Article A.3 is the decisive provision. It states that cover extends to loss of and damage to the craft, to liability indemnity where that has been included in the cover, and to related expenses — and then leaves the scope, the perils insured and the exclusions to “the special conditions attached to the policy”. Article C.7 confirms that special conditions, provided they do not contradict the general conditions, take precedence.

The practical consequence: in a hull policy the substance is not in the general conditions but in the clause set attached to it. Saying “I am insured under the general conditions” tells you nothing about the limit.

Are Yachts and Pleasure Craft Inside the Scope?

Article A.1 defines the core scope as cargo and passenger ships. The same article then lists, one by one, the craft that fall within scope where the insurer accepts them: wooden or concrete hulls and combinations of both, sailing boats, pleasure craft, yachts and cutters, service launches, fishing vessels, tugs, pontoons, barges and lighters, floating docks, pile drivers and cranes, floating restaurants and personal watercraft.

The qualifier “where the insurer accepts” matters. A yacht or pleasure boat is not automatically inside the wording; it enters by underwriting acceptance. Age, hull type, mooring location and use pattern drive that decision.

Article A.2 adds a documentary condition. Unless otherwise agreed, the craft must hold a classification society certificate valid throughout the policy period. Craft without such a certificate can be insured only if they were built in accordance with the legislation in force.

Is Third Party Liability Automatically Included?

No. Article A.3 refers to liability indemnity only “where it has been included in the cover”. Damage your boat causes to another vessel, to a jetty or to a third party is therefore not inside hull cover unless liability has been written in separately.

The same distinction applies to salvage and protection costs. Article B.1 governs the protective measures the parties must take after a loss and states expressly that the insurer cannot be treated as having accepted in advance an obligation to pay for those measures. How far such expenses are met is again visible only in the special conditions.

Article B.1 also imposes a duty on the insured: to take timely steps to preserve rights of recourse against liable third parties and to cooperate unconditionally with the insurer. Where that duty is breached and the loss grows as a result, the increase is deducted from the indemnity.

So the question at quotation stage is precise: does this policy carry liability cover, at what limit, and within what sub-limit are salvage costs met?

Is There a Compulsory Cover for Commercial Passenger Craft?

Yes, and it is a separate policy. Article A.1 of the Compulsory Marine Craft Third Party Liability General Conditions limits scope to “the commercial passenger-carrying sea craft specified in the policy”. Cover responds to accidents occurring while the craft is used for its designated purpose, including at stops, and to collision with fixed or floating objects, meeting the operator's or shipowner's liability for bodily injury and property damage suffered by passengers or third parties.

The wording groups cover under four heads: death, disability, medical expenses and property damage. Article A.3.4 states that the third party liability cover also extends to pollution and wreck removal costs. The same text confirms that defence against unfounded claims is covered.

Article A.6 fixes the geographical limit: the cover applies to passenger carriage between ports or jetties of the Republic of Türkiye and between Turkish and foreign ports, including craft laid up whether under repair or not.

A privately used pleasure boat is not the addressee of this compulsory policy. The moment the boat starts carrying passengers commercially, the picture changes.

How Are Insured Value and Underinsurance Calculated?

Article A.4 defines the insured value, unless the parties agree another basis, as the value of the craft at the moment the risk attaches. The same article records that fuel, provisions, stores, crew wages and the insurance charge are not included in that value unless otherwise agreed.

Article A.5 cuts both ways. The sum insured cannot exceed the insured value; any excess is void. If the sum insured is lower than the insured value, the indemnity is paid in proportion to the ratio between the two. Understating the boat's value lowers the premium and lowers the payable claim by the same proportion.

Under article A.6 cover incepts and expires at noon on the dates stated in the policy, local time at the place where the craft lies. Article C.6 provides that all claims arising out of the contract become time barred two years from the date of loss.

Which Documents Does a Claim File Require?

Article B.2 lists the documents the insured must supply, together with a statement of the claim calculation, before the indemnity falls due. The list alone explains why a boat's paperwork has to be kept current:

• Sea protest report
• Certified copies of the deck and engine log books covering the casualty
• Seaworthiness certificate
• Classification society report on the casualty
• Valid class certificate, or evidence of compliance with article A.2 where no class certificate exists
• Survey report and average adjustment report
• Minimum safe manning document and crew list
• Pro forma invoices, receipts and similar evidence of the loss

Where Do We Come In as an Agency?

RYL Sigorta Aracılık Hizmetleri Limited Şirketi is an insurance agency. We do not issue policies and we do not pay claims. We prepare quotations from the insurers we act for and compare the special conditions and clauses that will be attached. Claims are paid by the insurance company that is party to the contract.

In hull insurance the difference between quotations shows up in the attachments: liability limit, navigation area, lay-up and haul-out periods, deductibles and the sub-limit for salvage costs. Send us the boat details and we will go through those lines with you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Hull Policy General Conditions (SEDDK)
• Compulsory Marine Craft Third Party Liability General Conditions (SEDDK)
• SEDDK — Index of Insurance General Conditions

This article is for information only; the scope of cover is set by the policy’s specific and general terms.