Costas Matheou

He explains a policy in plain language before the client signs, points each enquiry at the market whose product fits the risk, and stays reachable when a claim is filed. If the honest comparison favours the cheaper option, he recommends it.

Areas of expertise

• Yacht and marine insurance
• Cross-border and worldwide cover
• Claims liaison in Greek and English
• Insurance distribution and compliance (EU IDD)
• Cyprus motor, health, property and business insurance

Speaks Greek and English.

Every guide on World Yacht Insurance is written and reviewed by Costas Matheou. Each one answers a single question and cites the documents behind its figures.

• Where to leave your boat for Caribbean hurricane season

  Haul out, stay afloat or sail south. Three options, and each one moves a different clause of the policy you already hold.

• Boat storage contract liability and your own cover

  The yard disclaims storm damage and asks you to hold it harmless. What that does to the policy you already hold, clause by clause.

• Which hurricane holes do insurers accept?

  No insurer publishes a list. What underwriters assess is the signed plan, and what it can show about the destination you picked.

• Med mooring damage and your deductible

  Most stern-to scrapes cost less than the deductible. What the damage runs to, which section of the policy answers for what you hit, and when it is worth claiming.

• Leaving your boat unattended

  There is no time limit in the wording. What the policy actually asks when nobody is aboard is where the boat is, whether a lay-up period is on your Schedule, and whether there is evidence a loss happened.

• What will this actually cost me?

  Worked examples off the real 1% to 1.5% band, and the deductibles that come with it.

• What will not be paid?

  Exclusions transcribed from the policy wording we hold, not generalised from the market.

• Where do I put the boat in storm season?

  46 seasons of NOAA storm counts by island group, with the method stated.

• How do the main insurers compare?

  Eleven carriers against published criteria. Named, and none of them hyperlinked.

• What does the 10% storm deductible actually come off?

  The hull value on your schedule, not the claim, and it applies to a total loss too. Worked figures from the wording we hold.

• Agreed value or actual cash value?

  What each basis pays, worked on one boat, on a total loss and on a partial loss. With the statute and the clause behind it.

• Will they make me survey the boat?

  The age that triggers it, what it costs per foot, and the 30-day window to close out the surveyor's recommendations.

• Will anyone insure a boat this old?

  Which of the three markets writes a 40-year-old hull, why length decides more than age, and what the repair clauses actually pay for.

• Does yacht insurance cover the mast and rigging?

  Is a dismasting covered, and is there a 10-year rigging rule? Two policy wordings compared clause by clause, and what the market says about rig age.

• How much experience do underwriters want?

  What a sailing resume has to contain, whether a charter week counts, and why there is no published step-up rule.

• What does it cost to clear into each country?

  Cruising permits, entry fees and clearance rules for 20 countries, every row sourced to a government page and dated.

• What does it take to cruise the Bahamas legally, and covered?

  The permit schedule effective 1 April 2026, the Click2Clear sequence, and the four things to settle with your insurer before you leave.

• Do you need a licence, and can you race?

  The three documents a UK powerboat licence can mean, what a CPA racing licence costs, and where both scheme wordings stop.

• What does P&I cover that hull insurance does not?

  Hull insures your boat, protection and indemnity answers what you owe other people. The compulsory thresholds, crew liability, and fixed premium versus a mutual club.

• What insurance certificates does a yacht need?

  Which certificates a yacht carries from 300 GT, over 1,000 GT and in US waters, the instrument behind each, and who issues it.

• What insurance does a yacht need for its crew?

  Which policy pays when crew are ill, injured or have to go home: crew liability, a medical plan, personal accident and MLC 2006 security.

• How Is a Yacht Insured During a New Build, Refit or Delivery Voyage?

  Who insures a yacht during a new build, refit or delivery voyage: builder's risk to handover, then the owner's policy, with the clauses that decide each stage.