Following my ‘Change of plan’ blog, the question of insurance cover for single handed sailing has been raised by correspondents.
I had already discussed this with my insurers Pantaenius and their helpful and positive response follows:-
Dear Mr Mines,
It was nice to meet you at Southampton, and I hope you enjoyed the show. Thank you for your follow up email. I think perhaps I was not as clear as I might have been when we spoke.
Single handed sailing is not excluded under the terms and conditions of your policy. Indeed many of our competitors do apply caveats, often limiting single handed sailing to daylight hours only, which we do not do as we consider this to be impractical, given the need to amend / extend passage plans in accordance with circumstances and conditions, which could take you into night time sailing conditions.
Pantaenius cover for single handed sailing can then be extended to ocean crossings, subject to underwriters approval. Underwriters will consider factors such as the nature of the ocean crossing, type of yacht, experience of the skipper, cruising area, time of year. This is not an exhaustive list and underwriters will consider the individual circumstances in any given case. Claims experience has shown that even if a skipper is highly experienced, an increased risk remains, simply by being alone on such passages, and the underwriters must consider this prior to a crossing, as would other insurers in the market.
If a cruising area is provided on a policy which includes an ocean crossing, the above information needs to be provided to underwriters ahead of the planned crossing, which has resulted in the application of the clause on the policy schedule that relates to the approval of crew for ocean crossings
If singlehanded cover is a requirement for a planned ocean passage, please do let us know, and underwriters will consider this.
I recall that you are planning to cruise in the Baltic and you asked, when we spoke, whether an additional premium would be charged for this. I can confirm that this is covered within your existing cruising area and no additional premium is charged for this.
You also raised some points about the Named Tropical Storms Clause that was in place on your policy when your vessel was in the Caribbean. Hopefully I was able to clarify this for you when we spoke, however if you do have any other questions about this or indeed any other aspect of your policy, I will of course be very happy to answer these.
I hope that this is helpful.
Kind regards,
Simon
Simon Bowen | Operations Director
PANTAENIUS UK Limited
Marine Building | 1 Queen Anne Place| Plymouth | PL4 0FB | United Kingdom
Tel +44 1752 22 36 56 | Fax +44 1752 22 36 37
[email protected] | www.pantaenius.co.uk
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