Insurance Condition and Valuation Marine Surveys

A marine survey can mean a lot of things, but on most occasions, it describes a condition survey. Sometimes it is used as an “all-rounder” term for different types of vessel survey. As an instance, a singular marine survey can mean ‘yacht survey’, ‘yacht appraisal survey’ or ‘damage survey’.

A marine survey is most times conducted when a party who is interested in buying a vessel wants ‘peace of mind’ before spending their hard earn bucks on it. As everyone knows that the capital required to procure a boat is huge, no investor would like to invest on a crappy one. This is where marine survey comes in handy. This type of survey ensures that you know before-hand, the condition of the boat, the repair likely needed, the seaworthiness and the maintenance.

It is a known fact to sailors and boat owners around New York and New Jersey, as well as Connecticut, Delaware, and Pennsylvania that open water can sometimes turn treacherous and this happens most times due to bad weather conditions. On other occasions, faults developed by vessels can be held responsible for such mishaps. You can therefore reduce the chance of this happening significantly by ensuring your vessel doesn’t have any defect.

More so, a marine survey is always a requirement when you want to finance or insure your boat. There is no way around this! This means you can’t escape the need for one and moreover, why would you even want to? The peace of mind on your investment is very crucial and essential.

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A survey is to give a good idea about the condition of the boat, what is required to maintain and run it in the future. The factors that allow the surveyors pick out the faults in a vessel are their expertise in the field and the specialist equipment they use in conducting surveys.

Even though most buyers know ‘too much’ about boats, they can never rely on their instinct to determine the condition of a vessel and some are not confident enough to decide if a such vessel will be a sound investment. To manage this kind of situation, getting the survey done by a professional is the way to go. The goal of a survey, which is to help make an informed decision, is to fully detail the condition of the boat.

​The full detail of the condition of a boat will contain information such as the name of the boat, the year it was built, and type of it construction. It also offers the registration number of the boat if it is registered.

The other things provided by the survey is the description of all faults found in the boat. The description will come accompanied by graded recommendations with respect to remedial actions. The survey will provide the status detail of the steering, hull underwater, hull internal, bilge, doors and hatches, rod, mast, boom, mooring and anchoring, gas installation, machinery, keel, skin fittings, fuel, rudder, deck fittings, electrical installation, cockpit, deck, coach roof, port-lights and windows, topsides and sails.

There are many organizations and surveyors throughout the country and internet, but finding the right surveyor is not only important but difficult. When on the hunt for a competent surveyor, looking for one with experience should be your topmost priority.

The benefit of having a surveyor with vast experience is that it will help you plan your investment. Many types or models of vessels for example have recurring issues or problems to look out for but with a competent surveyor by your side, you will be able to point them out. This is important because the surveyor will give you tips, ideas and advice on how to get the most out your investment.

Nonetheless, your potential surveyor must be registered with a professional organization that represents surveyor, such as the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors (SAMS). The main reason for this is that you are guaranteed that the surveyor is aware of professional code of conduct and is bound to carry out your survey under such.

As part of the surveyor’s work, he provided the Condition & Valuation (C&V) survey referred to sometimes, as an insurance survey. This survey can be used to refinance boat loan. According to the guidelines of insurance companies, it is required that a C&V survey is conducted on a periodic basis as an important condition for policy renewal.

Likewise, the survey tells the insurance or loan underwriter about the evaluation of vessel’s fair market value,  safety and structural integrity. The underwriter, based on this evaluation, is then left to determine whether the vessel is an acceptable risk or not.

The Condition & Valuation survey of a boat can be conducted in water, or hauled. This however depends on the stipulated conditions written in the owner’s individual policy. The fee for a C&V survey is, however, usually based on the length of your boat.