Ship Repairer’s Liability Insurance

Redwood Insurance Brokers makes ship repairers' liability insurance clear, practical, and matched to how you work in New Zealand’s marine environment. We’ll help protect your business if a vessel is damaged while in your care or due to your work, explain the trade-offs in plain English (care, custody and control, contractual liabilities, and key exclusions), and make sure your cover aligns with your contracts, yard rules, and real-world repair risks. If something goes wrong, we’ll back you and help drive the claim through.

Why ship repairer’s liability insurance matters

If you repair, service, maintain, or store vessels, you can be exposed to high-value claims: fire in the shed, a vessel sinking at berth, damage during hauling/launching, accidental damage during repairs, or pollution incidents. These losses can involve the vessel itself, neighbouring vessels, marina infrastructure, and legal costs.

Ship repairers’ liability insurance is designed to help protect marine repairers against certain liabilities arising from work on vessels and vessels in their care, custody or control, subject to policy wording, limits, and conditions.

Plain-English takeaway: it’s the liability cover tailored to marine trades where the “thing you’re working on” is often the biggest exposure

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What we help with:

We can help you organise cover for:

  • Liability for damage to vessels in your care, custody or control (core exposure)

  • Public and products liability related to your operations (where relevant)

  • Haul-out, hardstand, and yard operations exposures

  • Hot works and fire risk (welding, grinding, cutting — often condition-heavy)

  • Pollution liability (fuel/oil spills, clean-up costs — wording dependent)

  • Contractual requirements (marina/yard agreements, service contracts, tender terms)

  • Tools, plant and business assets (often separate cover)

  • Marine transit / movement exposures where applicable

We’ll map your services and site operations, then structure cover that fits.

Care, custody and control (the bit that trips up standard liability policies)

Standard public liability often excludes or limits property that’s in your care, custody or control and/or work on vessels, which is exactly what happens when you’re repairing or storing someone else’s vessel.

Plain-English takeaway: ship repairers’ liability is designed to address that gap. We make sure you’re not relying on a policy that excludes the main risk.

The gaps we look for (so you don’t find them mid-claim)

This is where a broker earns their keep. We check for:

  • Hot works conditions (permits, fire watches, housekeeping, extinguishers, separation)

  • Haul-out/launching and lifting operations (crane/travel lift conditions and limits)

  • Vessel value limits (single vessel limits and aggregation risk on hardstand)

  • Storage arrangements (in-water vs hardstand vs shed; security expectations)

  • Pollution sub-limits (clean-up can be expensive)

  • Subcontractor responsibility (electricians, riggers, antifoulers—who carries what cover)

  • Contractual liability (liabilities you assume by contract may not be automatically covered)

  • Work away from premises exposures

  • Gradual damage and workmanship exclusions (the cost to fix your own work vs resulting damage—wording matters)

  • Claims notification timing (marine incidents need early notification and evidence)

If there’s a gap, we’ll tell you straight and explain your options.

How Redwood does it differently

Independent

We compare options across insurers and specialist marine markets where needed.

Advice, not just a quote

We explain marine liability in plain English — including what’s excluded.

A sharper risk lens

We stress-test your operations: hardstand capacity, hot works exposure, lifting operations, and contract terms.

Claims advocacy

If you need to claim, we help coordinate early, keep momentum, and push for a fair outcome.

Fast-moving

You deal with people who can make progress — not a maze of handoffs.

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Our process (simple, on purpose)

  1. Quick chat: what you do, where you do it, vessel values, and key risk points

  2. Review: we check current cover and contract requirements (or start fresh)

  3. Recommendations: clear options, clear trade-offs (limits, sub-limits, conditions)

  4. Placement: we organise the policy and confirm key details

  5. Ongoing support: changes, renewals, and claims help

If you need to claim

Marine trade claims can escalate quickly and involve multiple parties. We help you:

  • take the right first steps (safety, containment, documentation)

  • notify the insurer promptly and correctly

  • gather the right evidence (job cards, photos, permits, reports, invoices)

  • manage communication with customers, marinas, and other affected parties

  • keep momentum and push for a fair outcome

FAQ’s

  • Not usually. Public liability often excludes property in your care, custody or control. Ship repairers liability is designed for the vessel-in-care exposure.

  • It can, but limits, conditions, and storage arrangements matter. We’ll make sure your setup is reflected properly.

  • Often insurable, but usually with strict conditions. We’ll make sure you understand what’s required.

  • Most policies won’t cover the cost to redo your own defective work, but may cover resulting damage depending on wording. We’ll explain the difference.

  • Often yes. We’ll help clarify responsibilities and avoid gaps between parties.

  • No. We help small marine trades through to larger yards — this page is focused on NZ ship repairers’ liability advice.

Want a free second opinion on ship repairer’s insurance?


Bring your current policy (or just tell us what you want covered). We’ll review it, explain what matters, and show you options.

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This information is general only and does not consider your personal circumstances. Cover, limits, exclusions, and excesses vary by insurer and policy wording.