President of April Marine, Lionel Boismery is used to working with a remarkable number of boat owners, who own their boats in distinctly different ways from one another. As such, he knows about co-ownership insurance. And he agreed to share with us the best practices to ensure that the relationship between an insurer and the boat's co-owners is healthy.
The interest of having a condominium manager
The manager of a co-ownership, whether it is constituted de facto or legally established, has a primary role within the co-ownership.
" It is with him that the insurance company will exchange. He is the one who will underwrite the contract and who will receive the correspondence from the insurer "says Lionel.
" In the event that the co-ownership created has not elected such a manager, it is the de facto manager who will have this role. Either because he represents the first owner of the boat, or because he is the one who opens the bank accounts. No matter really, he will be the figurehead of the group of this assembly and has the power to act on its behalf ".
At the time of subscription, inform the insurer of the boat of this co-ownership
At the time of underwriting, a simple notification to the insurer of the shared ownership of the boat is satisfactory. " A subscriber (who will be the manager) is designated as such in the contract with the insurer. He will add other co-owners designated in the contract. The principle differs little from the automobile model where a vehicle can be driven by several people while having only one insured ", says April Marine's president to clarify.
For the payment of the insurance premium, things are extremely simple: " The insurer calls the premium from the subscriber. It is then up to the insurer to collect the shares from each of the co-owners, according to the agreements between them. In particular, the insurer must not be aware of the internal structure of the co-ownership in order to avoid confusion between the number of shares in the boat and the levels of potential liability in the event of a claim lionel insists.
Crucially, if the policyholder fails to pay the insurance premium, all co-owners of the boat will be liable to the insurance company for the full amount Premiums and accessories included "says the insurer. In other words, the late fees will also be payable by all persons named in the insurance contract.
In all other respects, condominium insurance contracts are identical to those of traditional owners. It is necessary to ensure, in the same way, that the use foreseen by the contract is really the one realized by all the co-owners. Lionel Boismery emphasizes this point: " If one of the co-owners decides to rent out his or her unit, the entire co-ownership will be covered by a different rental insurance plan ".
When a disaster occurs
When a loss occurs, just as the insurer knows only one payer, it indemnifies only the subscriber. This implies that the co-ownership has organized itself to manage how to take charge of the eventual repairs.
April Marine's manager explains: " The simplest solution is probably to have the person who will be reimbursed by the insurance company make the possible advance payment of the repair costs. This is the responsibility of the internal management of the condominium, but it is certainly the best solution ".
If the boat's co-owners want each party responsible for a loss to pay for it and be reimbursed, it will be necessary for each party to write to the insurance company to waive the claim in favor of the party responsible. " At the time of each claim ", says Lionel " the insurer will ask all the co-owners to send a letter of withdrawal to one of them. He will allocate the funds to this single co-owner. "
Attention, " compensation will never be paid in proportion to the shares held by each member of the co-ownership "insists the insurer.
Here again, the advantages and operating modes of the "insurance" contracts are explained classics " ( degressive deductible, commercial gesture, no deductible ... ) are the same in case of multiple owners.
Last case: what happens if a boat is declared a wreck? " In the same way that the compensation for damage will be paid to the manager of the co-ownership, the market value of the wrecked boat will be paid to him. It is then up to him, according to the internal management rules, to transfer the shares of each co-contractor to the structure "concludes Lionel.
Transparency and information at the time of subscription
As is usually the case with insurance, " The key is to be transparent and to inform the insurer of the existence of the co-ownership, its members and its internal organization at the time of the subscription. Never hesitate to come and talk to the broker so that things are as clear as possible. This will avoid interpretations on the one hand. And delays in the settlement of possible claims on the other hand " advises the specialist.
