Insurance for support boat duties

[scrambler]

I've been asked by a yacht/rowing club that I belong to to provide safety boat cover for a coastal rowing race in four man + cox gigs. However my insurance won't cover me and I've been unable to find any insurance companies that will provide cover whilst the boat is undertaking safety/support duties. All the standard policies appear to cover "social,domestic and pleasure" only. It seems that the only way to get cover would be to take out a much more expensive commercial policy and maybe that would then involve getting the rib coded? I'd be covering the fuel costs myself so there's no question of it being a commercial transaction.
Has anyone been in this situation and if so how did you get insurance cover?
I'm now slightly concerned that if I do go out on the day of the event and someone needs assistance should I say "Sorry mate can't help you I won't be insured"



There was an earlier thread on this topic but it mainly discussed the question of reward which doesn't arise in my case:
https://www.rib.net/forum/f8/boating...his-81734.html

[Pikey Dave]

We have provided safety cover for The Great River Race a couple of times & for the Platinum Jubilee River Pageant. I told my insurance company & they were happy with it & didn’t charge any extras. Have you tried speaking to a real person? Often they will refer it to the underwriters & get the nod.

[scrambler]

Yes I've spoken to real people at all the companies I've tried but the response is always negative with no offer even of speaking to the underwriters. Makes me wonder what the situation is if you do provide assistance to anyone in trouble. Only last week I responded to a coastguard call for "any boats in the vicinity of". Nothing came of it as others were there before me but just suppose I hit a rock or something on the way to the location would my "social, domestic and pleasure" insurance have covered me?

[willk]

Maybe the route here is to ask the Yacht Club to co-opt you under their own insurance for the day? Presumably they have safety boats of their own?

Personally I wouldn't worry about responding to emergencies - it's not the same deal as signing up to oversee an event for a day. If someone drowns at the event, it might be deemed "your bad" for not keeping adequate watch, or having the required equipment or training. Those concerns don't apply to your requirement to offer assistance in what are "humanitarian scenarios". Try to drive past a sinking vessel and use "no insurance" as a rational - doesn't work.

[scrambler]

Originally Posted by willk

Maybe the route here is to ask the Yacht Club to co-opt you under their own insurance for the day? Presumably they have safety boats of their own?

Thanks yes I'll explore that option as they do have a club launch which is presumably covered under the club's insurance. It's on other duties on the day of the rowing race which is why I was approached.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by willk

Maybe the route here is to ask the Yacht Club to co-opt you under their own insurance for the day? Presumably they have safety boats of their own?

Personally I wouldn't worry about responding to emergencies - it's not the same deal as signing up to oversee an event for a day. If someone drowns at the event, it might be deemed "your bad" for not keeping adequate watch, or having the required equipment or training. Those concerns don't apply to your requirement to offer assistance in what are "humanitarian scenarios". Try to drive past a sinking vessel and use "no insurance" as a rational - doesn't work.

When our two older kids sailed dinghys we used our rib for safety cover but the insurance was covered by the clubs insurance, we basically loaned the club our boat to keep the ratio of dinghys to safety boats right