18 August 2025

Protecting your marine surveying business

By James Nicholas New Business Executive, Worcester
A worker in a safety vest and helmet inspects a boat placed on a stand inside a warehouse with containers in the background.

Navigating insurance, liability, and professional risk

As a marine surveyor, you play a crucial role across the inland waterways.  Your expertise to inspect and report on the condition and seaworthiness of boats, is key to maintaining standards across the industry.  Your findings on structural integrity, machinery, equipment, and systems, identifying potential issues, damage, or necessary repairs, is crucial for insurance, financing, and purchasing decisions.

When it comes to insurance for marine surveyors, the largest exposure to risk is through professional negligence or a breach to a duty of care.  A Professional Indemnity (PI) policy will cover costs and legal fees up to an agreed indemnity should you be sued by a third-party alleging negligence in your work.

Whether it’s a pre purchase or routine survey the risk of a professional negligence claim is ever present. Examples include, providing an incomplete survey report missing sections a customer paid to have included, recommendations not given on a report which result in losses for the boat owner, a negligent pre purchase survey.

If you already have PI insurance, it is vital to keep your cover continuous and remember your retroactive date (the date you first purchased PI insurance and had continuous cover since). This date is important to remember because whoever holds the policy at the time of a claim will handle a loss even if it was from years ago and you have since changed insurers or broker.

Other policies to consider as part of being a marine surveyor include Public Liability insurance to protect against third party risks when visiting locations to conduct surveys and Employers Liability insurance should you have an employee or sub-contractor under your guidance or control.

It’s highly advisable to make sure your terms and conditions of business are reviewed regularly and sent to your customers to ensure they have read and understood them before undertaking work.  It is also important to consider the geographical spread of surveys carried out to ensure cover meets your needs everywhere you work.

To determine indemnity limits on your insurance policy, we can help.  Contact us and let us know the nature and scope of surveys you carry out and we will assist with a professional opinion to establish a reasonable cover limit protecting your business.

Call us today on
01905 930 760
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