Check your boat insurance !!

[Roc]

Many marinas have a 'hold-harmless' clause which says that the marina is not liable for any damages.  It may read something like this: "Member (i.e. you, the slip renter) shall indemnify and hold Owner (i.e. Marina) harmless from any and all costs, liabilities and damages incurred by Owner as a result of personal injury or property damage caused by the storage of the vessel at the Marina...unless caused by Owner's negligence...."  For example, the marina's dock burns down from an electical short, and your boat with it, they are not responsible.  The dock master puts a boat next to yours, it catches fire along with yours, they're not responsible.  So you say, no problem, I have boat insurance.  Then you look at your boat insurance policy and it will have a statement saying if you waive your rights against another party (i.e. the Hold/Harmless clause), your policy is void!  In your policy, it would be under a heading stated as 'Subrogation (Right of Recovery)' or 'Impairment of Recovery'.  What they are saying is if you make an insurance claim, the standard procedure is that the insurance co. pays you (that's how it works).  Then, since it's the marina's fault, the insurance co. will try to recover the cost from them....BUT, if you sign the agreement which holds the marina harmless from any liability, then the insurance co. can't recover the funds paid to you.  By signing the hold harmless condition as a slip renter, you now took away any possibility for the insurance co. to recover from the marina.

Check out your insurance policy and the Terms and Conditions you signed when you rented your slip.

I learned all this from looking into new insurance carriers (and reading lots of fine print).

Any feedback/advice/comments from C34'ers that are attorneys would be appreciated.

Roc-

[Stu Jackson]

OK, folks, so how does one get around this and obtain necessary coverage for the very issues that were raised?  Roc, after reading the fine print, what did you do?

[Roc]

What you can try is to cross out the "hold-harmless" clause and sign the slip contract with that change and see if the marina will accept that. The other option, which I plan to take, is to find an insurance carrier that will not void the policy even if you sign your rights away due to a hold-harmless clause.  There are insurance companies which will have this as part of their standard policy, but realize that some don't.  Zurich is one of them that covers you for this as standard policy.  I'm seeing if others will add this to theirs, and if so, at what cost to the premium.  My advice is, read the whole policy.  Understand how things will be replaced, i.e. will they replace damaged items with new equipment or used, etc...

Roc-

[kenkillian]

I am not an attorney, but my brother is and advised me that those hold harmless laws "do not generally" hold up in court.  A marina, parking lot, or whatever cannot require you to sign away your legal rights.  Having said that, none of us want to have to go to court to prove our point.  Crossing the clause out will work if they accept it.  My brother also advises that you initial the area crossed out