Boat insurance
Sailing boat, motorboat or motorised board: on Lake Geneva as on every Swiss lake, liability cover is compulsory from registration onwards; the rest is your choice.
Two minutes is all it takes: tell us who you are and what needs covering. We come back with compared quotes.
The essentials
In Switzerland, every registered boat must carry liability insurance before it sets off: it answers for damage caused to third parties, swimmers, other boats, harbour installations. Without proof of insurance, no navigation permit is issued. Guarantee amounts and extensions vary considerably from one insurer to another, at sometimes very different premiums.
Hull cover protects your own craft: partial cover for theft, fire, natural events and glass breakage, full cover to add damage to your own boat, collision, grounding, handling errors. For a sailing boat or motorboat of value, it makes the difference between an absorbed claim and a dead loss.
Around the hull come the covers that matter day to day: personal effects and equipment on board, refloating and wreck-removal costs, assistance and towing, legal protection for boaters. We put the package together according to the waters, the use and the value of the boat, comparing several insurers.
What this insurance covers
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Boat liability
Compulsory from registration: it covers bodily injury and material damage caused to third parties by your boat, up to the agreed amounts.
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Partial hull cover
Theft, fire, natural events, glass breakage: what happens to your boat without any handling fault, in the harbour as on land.
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Full hull cover
Adds damage to your own boat to the partial cover: collision, grounding, handling errors. The cover that counts for a craft of value.
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Personal effects and equipment
Navigation equipment, sails, auxiliary engine, belongings on board: covered against theft and damage, up to the agreed sums.
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Refloating and assistance
Refloating, wreck-removal and towing costs: heavy items, often required by the authorities, that should never be left uncovered.
Who it is for
- Owners of a sailing boat or motorboat registered on a Swiss lake or waterway.
- Buyers of a first craft who must produce liability certification for the navigation permit.
- Boaters who moor their boat year round and want theft, storm and hail covered in the harbour.
- Families with valuable equipment on board: sails, electronics, water-sports gear.
How we support you
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Analysing your risks
What you have, what is missing, what overlaps: an honest assessment.
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Competitive tenders
Several insurers approached against a precise specification, compared item by item.
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Long-term follow-up
Set-up, renewals, claims: a single point of contact, year after year.
Frequently asked questions
Is boat insurance compulsory in Switzerland?
Liability cover is, for every boat subject to registration, with minimum amounts set by inland-navigation legislation; the insurance certificate is a condition for the navigation permit. Hull cover, personal effects and assistance remain optional: they are chosen according to the value of the craft and how you use it.
Partial or full hull cover: how to choose?
Partial cover deals with what happens to your boat without any handling fault: theft, fire, natural events, glass breakage. Full cover adds navigation damage, collision, grounding, handling errors. The newer and more valuable the craft, the stronger the case for full cover; for an older boat of low market value, a well-calibrated partial cover is often enough. We price both so the choice rests on real premiums.
Is my boat covered outside Switzerland, for instance on the French side of Lake Geneva?
Territorial validity depends on the contract: most policies cover Swiss and border waters, usually the whole of Lake Geneva, but the extension abroad or to road transport of the boat must be checked. If you launch your craft elsewhere, at sea or on foreign waters, the cover is declared and extended before departure, not after the claim.
Are the engine and the equipment on board included?
The fixed engine is part of the insured boat; the auxiliary engine, navigation electronics, spare sails and personal effects run under their own insured sums, which must be declared correctly. Under-declaring costs dearly at claim time: we draw up the inventory with you and have it recorded in the contract, in black and white.
Also worth exploring
Your quote request
Two minutes is all it takes: tell us who you are and what needs covering. We come back with compared quotes.
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Jules Rossier, non-tied insurance intermediary within the meaning of Art. 45 of the Insurance Supervision Act (ISA), registered with FINMA under no. F01581788.