Insurance and licensing (host)
Most standard private or pleasure craft policies do not cover letting your boat to paying guests. If you are thinking about hosting, this is the first thing to check, and it usually takes one phone call.
Here is what you need, what to ask, and what to do if the answer is no.
What your boat needs before it can go live
These are the things we may ask to see evidence of.
- A current hire boat Boat Safety Scheme certificate, kept renewed. The Canal & River Trust has required a hire boat BSS certificate for all hire boats since 1 April 2018, whatever the age of the boat. It is a stricter examination than the private one, and a standard private BSS certificate is not enough.
- A valid licence from the Canal & River Trust, the Environment Agency or the relevant waterway authority, covering every water the boat will be used on. Private licences do not cover commercial use. You will usually need a hire licence or endorsement, which typically costs £200 to £800 a year depending on the length of the boat and the authority.
- Insurance with third party and public liability cover of at least £2,000,000 for each claim, and that cover has to apply to hire use. £2,000,000 for each claim is the minimum required by the Canal & River Trust and the Broads Authority. The policy must be written by an insurer authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
- A written handover procedure, used on every hire, covering navigation rules, waterway structures, and the safe operation of the boat and its equipment. This is a Canal & River Trust condition for self-drive hire, not an optional extra.
- A 24 hour emergency call-out service available to guests for the whole of their hire. Also a Canal & River Trust condition for self-drive hire.
Both sit with you as the owner. We provide handover and pre-departure templates you can adapt, and we will talk through your call-out arrangements with you before your listing goes live.
The Hire Boat Code
The Canal & River Trust requires self-drive day hire and holiday hire boats to comply with the Hire Boat Code (revised May 2021). It sits alongside the licence, the hire boat BSS certificate and your insurance, and it is worth reading before you apply.
Four questions to ask your insurer
The answers take about five minutes.
- Does my policy cover hire and reward use, meaning paying guests staying on board?
- Does it still apply when the booking is arranged through an online platform rather than directly by me?
- Is my third party and public liability cover at least £2,000,000 for each claim, and is the insurer authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority?
- Does cover apply both moored and underway, and who is covered to be at the helm?
Ask for the answer in writing. You will need to show it to us before your boat goes live, and it is worth having on file anyway.
If the answer is no
That is the normal answer, and it is not the end of it. Several UK marine specialists write policies that include commercial hire. It is worth getting more than one quote, because owners regularly report large differences between them.
Brokers who work in this space include Craftinsure and GJW Direct (both part of Ripe Insurance Services), Towergate, Haven Knox-Johnston and Navigators & General.
We are not insurance brokers and we cannot tell you which policy to buy. This is a starting point for your own research, not a recommendation.
What BoatStays does and does not do
BoatStays is a marketplace. We are not the owner, operator or insurer of any boat listed with us, and we do not insure your boat. Cover is your responsibility as the operator.
We may ask to see your licence, insurance and hire boat Boat Safety Scheme certificate, and we may hold a listing back until we have them. Those checks are for our own risk management. They do not make us responsible for confirming that your boat is legally available for hire.
If a licence, certificate or policy expires, is cancelled or changes in any way, tell us straight away at help@boatstays.org.
Still not sure?
Ring or email and we will talk it through. It comes up constantly and it is rarely as complicated as it first looks.
Still stuck?
Email support@boatstays.org and we'll get back to you within one working day.