A refundable security deposit is a deposit for the safety of the boat, which is paid upon acceptance of the boat and is refundable if there is no damage when the boat is handed over. The deposit is blocked on a bank card and/or taken in cash (depending on the charter company). Usually the security deposit depends on the value of the yacht and can range from 1000 to 5000 euros.
To avoid risking large sums of money, many charter companies offer deposit insurance. Deposit insurance (damage waiver, security deposit insurance) allows you to minimise the risk of losing a substantial amount of your security deposit. There are two types of deposit insurance:
— Partial deposit insurance: when a fixed amount is paid (e.g. €250), the refundable deposit is significantly reduced (e.g. from €3000 to €500). Accordingly, the retention for possible breakdowns of the yacht is limited to €500 instead of €3000.
— Full deposit insurance: if a fixed amount is paid, no refundable security deposit is paid at all.
If the charter company does not offer deposit insurance, you can use the services of insurance companies that provide liability insurance for yacht charters (e.g. Yacht-Pool). In this case, you buy insurance from the insurance company, pay the full deposit to the charter company and if the charter company charges you for the deposit due to a breakdown, the insurance company will then reimburse you.
If we are talking about regattas, then in general there are no positive reviews on the topic of ‘deposit insurance’, because regattas are a priori a sport — not 100% safe, so insurers even if they insure deposits, they include so many restrictions that the positive experience of getting money from them somehow is not observed.
