Part Time Charter Coverage: This is a private pleasure yacht policy that has an endorsement to allow for a certain number of days of charter in a policy period- These are annual policies. Depending on the company, the number of days allowed is between 10 and 20 days a year. The insured is asked to keep a log of charters. Paid crew can be added depending on the company chosen to write the policy. The company understands these may be done primarily for income tax advantages. Full Time Charter Coverage: This is written on a commercial policy �not a modified private pleasure policy. It allows for full time charter �up to 365 days a year and includes day trips, weekly and extended charters. Paid professional crew can always be added to these policies.
Six-Pack Charters: The same as Full Time Charter Coverage with a maximum of 6 paying guests aboard. These are popular with smaller vessels as the US Coast Guard limits the number of guests to 6 for captained charters on non-certified vessels.
Jones Act/Paid Crew: Any paid crew-mate, captain or just a day worker who baits hooks for a few hours should have liability coverage added to the policy. This is due to the Jones Act, a US law that affects paid crew aboard commercial and private yachts. Paid crew is excluded from the standard liability coverage offered on a yacht.
The company must be aware of how many paid crew will be aboard at one time, and in some cases, they will need to know the name of the crew to add to each policy. This can be a problem for �pick up� crew added for just a day but you must make sure you understand the company policy to make sure any paid crew is covered. If they are not covered the insured will not have any coverage from the policy in the event a paid crew person is injured and needs medical attention, or sues for damages for an injury.
Coast Guard Certified Vessels: All vessels that carry more then 6 passengers must be certified by the US Coast Guard. These vessels have water tight bulkheads and many other safety and construction features required to become certified. It is not generally economically feasible to certify a US production yacht made for private pleasure due to the costs involved. Certified vessels have a certificate that allows for a certain number of passengers aboard at one time- it may show 49 passengers plus 3 crew as the max allowed aboard � or some other number.
Bareboat Charters: When the vessel is chartered to a non �owner, without a paid captain provided by the owner, or an owner/ operator aboard, this is called Bareboat Charter and requires a different type of insurance coverage that allows for bareboat. In most cases a company that provides bareboat coverage requires the charterer to sign a hold harmless agreement that states the charterer and guests will not sue owner of the boat for injuries aboard during the bareboat charter. In some cases, a bareboat charter can allow up to 12 guests aboard.