Marine surveys and boat insurance

When one is asked for

Requirements are set by the insurer rather than by any general rule, and they generally turn on the age and type of the vessel, its value, and how it is used and stored.

A survey is also commonly required at the point of purchase, at intervals afterwards, and after significant damage or a major refit. Lenders frequently want one for their own reasons at the same time.

Because the trigger is the insurer's rather than a fixed one, the reliable answer is to ask before committing to a purchase. A survey requirement discovered afterwards is an expense and a delay in the wrong order.

Condition and valuation are two different jobs

A condition and valuation survey — the one insurers usually want — assesses the state of the vessel and gives an opinion on what it is worth. Both halves matter and they answer different questions.

The condition half is what the insurer underwrites on. The valuation half is what supports the figure written on an agreed value policy, which is why a policy and a survey that disagree about the vessel's worth is a problem worth resolving before a loss.

Other surveys exist for other purposes — pre-purchase, damage, and appraisal surveys among them — and a survey commissioned for one purpose does not always satisfy another. Ask what the insurer needs before commissioning one.

What a surveyor looks at

The structure and the systems, which is a wider list than most owners inspect themselves.

• Hull, deck and structural components, including moisture readings on a laminate
• Through-hulls, seacocks and anything else that can let water in
• Fuel and gas systems, and the electrical installation
• Steering, controls and the engine installation, though a full engine survey is often separate
• Safety equipment, and whether it is current and appropriate
• Ground tackle, canvas and the rig where there is one

Recommendations, and how they are treated

A survey report generally ends with recommendations, and they are usually graded by urgency — items to address before the vessel is used again, items to address within a period, and advisory notes.

Insurers commonly make cover conditional on the urgent items being dealt with, sometimes within a stated period and with evidence. Ignoring them can affect a later claim on the part in question, which is the practical reason to close them out rather than file them.

The report is also a to-do list with prices attached, and it is a reasonable thing to use in negotiating a purchase before it becomes a condition of insuring one.

Keep it, and revisit it

The survey supports the insured value, so keep it alongside the policy along with records of significant work, equipment added, and engine service history.

Insurers frequently ask for a fresh survey at intervals, and a vessel that has had substantial work is worth re-surveying regardless, because the value has moved and the policy has not.

An agreed value rolled forward for years on the strength of an old survey is the most common way this quietly stops matching the boat.