How to claim on your boat, yacht or jet ski insurance

Report it, tell your insurer at once, protect the boat, and send complete documents. The law and your policy set deadlines from the day of the incident; check yours with the claim deadlines tool.

Who must you tell after an accident or theft?

The authorities first, then your insurer.

• The authority. Under the federal Maritime Law the captain must report a marine accident immediately, to the nearest port authority and the Ministry.¹ In Abu Dhabi the owner, operator or captain must report any maritime accident within 24 hours at most.² In Dubai the owner or master must immediately notify the authority if a vessel is destroyed, lost or stolen.³
• The police. GIG Gulf will not pay a theft, vandalism or malicious damage claim without a police report.⁴ Sukoon asks you to tell the police after theft, malicious damage, a criminal act or an injury.⁵ In Dubai, report jet ski accidents to the Ports Police on 999.⁶
• Your insurer. GIG Gulf asks for the claim form “as soon as possible”.⁴ ADNIC asks for a jet ski claim within 48 hours.⁷ The Institute Yacht Clauses ask for prompt notice, before any survey.⁸

Write down the date and time you told each one, and who you spoke to.

What must you do while you wait?

Protect the boat from more damage. The Maritime Law says you “shall exercise the utmost care to save the insured items”, and the insurer pays the costs of doing so.¹ GIG Gulf tells you not to admit liability or promise to pay anyone.⁴

Keep every receipt for towing, pumping, salvage or storage.

What documents will the insurer want?

The claim form and the reports. ADNIC asks for a police or coast guard report, the registration card and three repair quotations for a jet ski claim.⁷ Dubai Police issue a To Whom It May Concern certificate setting out what was recorded in a report of damage, a natural disaster or a traffic accident, for use with insurers, in two working days.⁹

The insurer may send a surveyor or loss adjuster. ADNIC says it may appoint a loss adjuster or arrange a survey.⁷ Loss and damage adjusters are licensed by the Central Bank and listed on its register.¹⁰ Under the Institute Yacht Clauses the insurer can decide the port for repairs and can veto the place of repair or the repairer.⁸

Send everything together. The insurer’s clock starts when your documents are complete.

How long does the insurer have to decide?

Fifteen days from receiving the complete documents, unless it tells you the reason it needs longer. If the claim is approved and the amount agreed, it must pay “without delay”. If it rejects the claim in whole or part, it must give you the reasons in writing, not “in general and inaccurate expressions”.¹¹ The federal insurance law also requires written reasons for any rejection.¹²

If the reply is late or you disagree, see how to complain.

What are the legal time limits?

All four are in the Maritime Law.¹ Your policy may ask for notice much sooner.

Diary the one-year date on the day of the incident.

When can you claim for a total loss?

When the boat is destroyed, missing for 90 days, beyond repair, or when repairs would cost at least three quarters of the value in the policy. In those cases the law lets you abandon the boat to the insurer and claim the insured value, with notice within 90 days.¹ Some wordings set their own test: the Institute Yacht Clauses treat it as a constructive total loss only when the cost of recovery and repair would exceed the insured value.⁸

Work out where your boat sits with the agreed value and excess calculator.

The small print

• Maritime Law. Accident reporting is Articles 23(1) and 221(2); the duty to save the insured items Article 294(1); sue and labour costs Article 286(1); abandonment Articles 301 to 305 and 319; ownership transfer Article 322; the one-year bar Article 309; the salvage bar Article 253.¹
• Claims code. Article 9 of Insurance Authority Board Resolution No. 3 of 2010, shown as in force on the Central Bank’s rulebook.¹¹
• Wordings. The Institute Yacht Clauses claims clause is clause 13 and constructive total loss clause 17.⁸