Trip cancellation &
curtailment cover for your charter trip.
Trip cancellation and curtailment insurance protects your charter deposit and final payment if illness or an accident prevents you from starting your trip, or forces you to cut it short. NauticAssure compares all relevant providers – price, cover, and insured reasons at a glance, ready to sign up online.
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Up to 100% reimbursement
Cancellation costs for charter, flights, and travel – depending on cancellation timing and rate.
Sign up right after booking
Best taken out immediately after the charter booking – that way cover applies to every event that follows.
For the whole crew
Available individually or as group cover for the entire charter trip.
We compare leading providers
- Pantaenius
- Gothaer
- Yacht-Pool
- Schomacker
- Sealogy
Trip cancellation & curtailment explained.
In our explainer video, you'll learn everything important about trip cancellation and curtailment insurance for your charter trip.
What is trip cancellation
and curtailment insurance?
Charter boats are usually booked months in advance – with a deposit at booking and the balance due 6 to 8 weeks before the trip starts. If the charter contract is cancelled, these costs stay with the customer under most charter companies' terms and conditions. That's exactly where trip cancellation insurance comes in: it reimburses the cancellation costs if you're unable to start the trip for an insured reason – such as illness or an accident.
Trip curtailment insurance applies once the trip has already begun and must be ended early for an insured reason – such as an emergency on board or in the family. It reimburses unused charter and travel days as well as the extra costs of an early return journey. Because both risks connect directly in time, they're usually offered as a combined rate.
Quick answers
Ideally right after your charter booking. Only then are you also covered for events that happen shortly after booking but long before the trip starts.
The premium is usually based on the insured trip price – i.e. charter costs plus travel. Typical premiums range from around 3% to 7% of the trip price, depending on the rate and scope of cover.
Only with a corresponding rate add-on. Without this extension, acute conditions already known at the time of booking are generally excluded from cover.
"The balance is usually long gone before the trip has even begun."
Trip cancellation or curtailment – what's the difference?
Both components protect against the same underlying risk – unplanned events that prevent your trip – but apply at different points in time. Most providers therefore bundle cancellation and curtailment cover into a single combined rate.
| Criterion | Trip cancellation | Trip curtailment |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Before the trip starts – between booking and the start of the charter | After the trip starts – during the ongoing charter |
| What's reimbursed? | Cancellation costs per the charter company's scale (charter, flight, travel) | Unused trip days plus extra costs of an early return |
| Typical trigger | Illness, accident, job loss, death before departure | Accident on board, acute illness, family emergency during the trip |
| Example | You break your leg 3 days before departure and can't start the trip | On day 3 of a 7-day trip you receive news of a death in the family |
| Recommendation | Worthwhile for any advance payment | Sensible addition to cancellation cover |
You're best off with combined cover for both components. Compare rates in the calculator or learn about the other components of your charter insurance.
Why this matters especially for chartering.
The financial risk of a cancellation is particularly high with yacht charter – for several reasons.
High advance payment
Deposit at booking, balance usually due 6-8 weeks before the trip starts – and generally non-refundable under the charter contract.
Skipper unable to sail
If the only skipper on board is unable to sail due to illness or accident, often no one else can helm the boat – the trip is cancelled for the whole crew. A good policy then reimburses not just the skipper's costs, but the charter costs of everyone travelling.
Fixed crew schedules
A trip often stands or falls with the whole crew. If one person drops out at short notice, it quickly affects the entire booking.
Charter plus travel
Besides the charter contract, flights and transfers are often tied to the cancellation too – a good rate covers both in a single policy.
What does the insurance cover?
A look at typical insured reasons – and their limits.
Typically covered
- Unexpected serious illness or accident of the insured person
- Death, serious illness, or accident of a close relative
- Pregnancy and pregnancy complications
- Significant property damage (e.g. a house fire shortly before departure)
- Loss of employment through operational redundancy
- Early return home for one of the reasons above (curtailment)
Typically not covered
- Pre-existing conditions already known at booking (without an add-on)
- Bad weather or storm warnings for the sailing area
- Simply no longer wanting to go ("cold feet" before departure)
- Events caused by gross negligence
- Failure to show up without a provable reason (no-show)
- Pandemic or epidemic cases – scope strongly depends on the rate
Important if the skipper is unable to sail: Make sure the policy covers reimbursement for the entire travel group if an "indispensable person" – such as the only skipper – is unable to travel for an insured reason. Not every individual rate covers this automatically; our comparison calculator shows you which providers include this case.
Important for storms & weather: A general storm warning or unfavourable weather forecast is not an insured reason for cancellation under most rates. Check the policy terms if this point matters especially to you – our comparison calculator shows you which rates differ here.
Why sign up through NauticAssure?
Same price. More support when it counts.
You pay the same premium as signing up directly – but also get personal support from a registered insurance broker.
Compare ratesNo price premium
Advice is already priced into the rate either way. Go direct and this share stays with the insurer – with us, you get personal, independent support for it instead.
A broker on your side
We represent your interests – not the insurer's.
Support when you claim
If there's a dispute with the insurer, we support you personally and can arrange a free initial legal consultation through our partner law firm.
Don't forget deposit and liability cover.
Trip cancellation and curtailment protect your advance payment. For the trip itself, two more components are worth having.
How to protect your charter trip
Five steps to the right trip protection – ideally right after booking.
Add up your trip price
Add up charter costs, flights, and transfers – this is the basis for the insured sum.
Enter your trip details and crew
Enter the trip duration, trip price, and the number of people to be insured in the calculator.
Compare rates
Check the premium, insured reasons, and excess of each provider.
Sign up online
Pay by credit card or PayPal, and the policy arrives by email.
Best done right after booking
The later you sign up, the more events are already no longer insurable.
Frequently asked questions.
Everything you need to know about trip cancellation and curtailment when chartering.
Why NauticAssure.
NauticAssure is the independent insurance comparison for charter enthusiasts – whether under sail or power. We compare the relevant trip protection rates neutrally, without favoring any provider.
We know from our own experience: the balance for a charter trip is often due weeks before departure. That's why we built a calculator that shows in a few minutes which trip cancellation and curtailment cover fits your trip.
"Fell ill two days before departure – the cancellation costs for charter and flight were fully covered."
Maren R.
Croatia trip, 2026
"Good thing we'd insured the whole crew under one policy – simple, and cheaper than doing it individually."
David H.
Skipper, Greece trip
Your deposit. Well protected.
Compare trip cancellation and curtailment rates now and sign up online in minutes. Free & no obligation.