Insurance for a boat rental company

What the law makes mandatory

Information article, based on the official texts consulted on 26 September 2026. It replaces neither legal advice nor the opinion of the competent State services for your case.

The DGCCRF (the French consumer protection authority) sums it up: “taking out insurance is optional for pleasure navigation, at sea or on inland waterways” (DGCCRF). The insurance obligations in the French Transport Code (code des transports) cover vessels of 300 gross tonnage and over, and passenger carriers (art. L5123-1 et seq.); carriers’ insurance only covers vessels authorised to carry more than 12 passengers and contracts of carriage (DGTIM note). Division 240 does not mention insurance.

What ports require

The general port police regulations exclude basins reserved for pleasure boating and refer to each port’s own regulations (French Transport Code, art. R5333-1 and R5333-6). So it is your port’s regulations or contract that, most often, requires third-party liability insurance: ask the harbour master’s office (capitainerie).

A rental company’s usual cover

According to France Assureurs (the French insurance federation), the rental company’s insurance most often covers damage to the boat and to third parties, but not the people on board, their belongings or their own liability, and leaves an excess for the renter to pay (France Assureurs). A claim must be notified within five working days at most, two in the event of theft (French Insurance Code (code des assurances), art. L113-2).

Excess, security deposit and informing the customer

The security deposit often covers the insurer’s excess: say so in the contract. The Commission des clauses abusives (the French unfair terms commission) recommends eliminating terms that hold the renter to an insurance policy they were not given, and those that retain charges not listed in an excess waiver (recommendation 96-02). Hand over the terms of cover with the contract, and set out what remains payable by the customer — see the security deposit.

In SunSea Hub

The incidents and insurance module tracks each boat’s policies with their expiry dates, the claims filed and their follow-up; damage discovered after the return is filed as a claim, not as a return charge. See return charges.

Read next

• Return charges

  At the return of a boat rental, the inspection becomes amounts due: fuel, missing items, breakage, cleaning, lateness, taken from the security deposit.

• Maintenance

  Fix sorts boats by urgency, keeps work orders, maintenance plans by date or engine hours, and the real cost of every job.

• Boat rental security deposit: what the law says

  How much, and how do you get it back? No legal cap, but a pre-authorisation for the exact amount, a joint inspection and a mandatory mediator.

• Skippered rental: what the law requires

  Once the operator provides the skipper, the boat becomes a NUC: permis d’armement, Division 241, professional certificate (capitaine 200), status and ENIM.