What should the contract, insurance and payment interviews resolve?

15. “Which promises survive signature—and where are they written into the agreement?”

Draft framing: Map every booking-critical promise to the executed agreement or an expressly incorporated document.

Why buyers should ask: Hill Dickinson identifies an entire-agreement clause among the 2025 MYBA changes and explains that prior broker communications are excluded from the contractual terms. Its June 2025 article also notes that both 2017 and 2025 forms were then circulating. (hilldickinson.com)

Put to: Francesca Conn, subject to engagement scope and conflicts checks.

A strong answer should cover:

• The precise edition, amendments, special conditions and incorporated schedules.
• Whether critical accommodation, access or equipment requirements are contractual obligations.
• How substitutions or material changes are treated.
• Governing law, dispute process and any deadlines requiring advance planning.

Evidence and follow-up: Create a promise-to-contract table: sales statement, importance to the buyer, contractual location, responsible party and unresolved question.

Ask: “Which statement in the proposal would the owner say is only an aspiration—not a commitment?”

This is an issue-identification exercise. Counsel must assess the actual wording rather than treating a template name as sufficient protection.

Expert quote: [Pending interview and approval.]

16. “If the owner cancels or the yacht breaks down, what money comes back—and what remains our problem?”

Draft framing: Separate the reason for disruption, the contractual remedy and the buyer’s remaining loss.

Why buyers should ask: Hill Dickinson’s April 2026 analysis distinguishes owner cancellation involving qualifying force majeure from cancellation for other causes. It also explains that a mechanical failure’s cause matters; lack of maintenance or negligence cannot simply be ignored in the analysis. (hilldickinson.com)

Put to: Francesca Conn, with operational facts supplied by the captain or manager.

A strong answer should cover:

• Charterer cancellation, owner cancellation, delayed delivery and interruption after boarding.
• What evidence supports the asserted cause.
• The treatment of charter payments, expenses and any contractual compensation.
• Whether replacement-yacht costs, flights, hotels or other losses remain outside the remedy.
• Required notices and who must receive them.

Evidence and follow-up: Request a clause-referenced scenario matrix. Ask: “If we receive the charter fee back but an acceptable replacement costs more, who bears the difference?”

Do not conflate a refund entitlement with a guarantee of an equivalent replacement holiday.

Expert quote: [Pending interview and approval.]

17. “Does the proposed insurance cover this household’s actual exposure—not merely the word ‘charter’?”

Draft framing: Match the policy to the insured people, payer, non-refundable expenditure, dates and cancellation scenarios.

Why buyers should ask: MHG describes yacht-charter travel insurance as covering eligible prepaid, non-refundable expenses for covered reasons, subject to policy conditions and limits. It separately identifies Cancel for Any Reason options and jurisdiction-dependent availability. (mhginsurance.com)

Put to: Mark Bononi to nominate the appropriate licensed charter-travel insurance specialist.

A strong answer should cover:

• Who is insured when a principal, family office or other entity pays.
• Whether per-person and aggregate limits fit the allocation of costs.
• Purchase deadlines, exclusions and the distinction between covered-reason cancellation and optional CFAR protection.
• Specific treatment of mechanical failure, weather, itinerary change and supplier failure.
• Separate questions about medical assistance, evacuation, activities and charterer liability.

Evidence and follow-up: Obtain the actual state-appropriate policy wording and written responses to the household’s scenarios. Ask: “Which plausible cancellation would leave this family with the largest uninsured loss?”

A marketing summary is not a coverage determination.

Expert quote: [Pending interview and approval.]

18. “What independently verifies the recipient before the family office wires the deposit?”

Draft framing: Confirm the counterparty and payment instructions through an independently established channel, with a recorded approval process.

Why buyers should ask: The FBI describes business email compromise involving altered payment instructions and compromised correspondence. It recommends independently verifying payment requests and changes to account details rather than relying on the email itself. (fbi.gov)

Put to: Ryan Green for operational process, alongside the brokerage’s finance lead and the household’s treasury approver.

A strong answer should cover:

• The relationship between the contracting party, stakeholder and beneficiary.
• How account details are confirmed using a previously established or independently sourced number.
• A second internal approval and a record of the verification.
• A stop-and-reverify procedure for changed instructions or unusual urgency.
• The immediate response if a transfer is suspected to have been misdirected.

Evidence and follow-up: Require a completed callback record before release. Ask: “If the instruction arrives inside a genuine email chain, what independent check still happens?”

The FBI advises contacting the financial institution immediately after suspected compromise; do not wait for the broker to investigate alone. (fbi.gov)

Expert quote: [Pending interview and approval.]

19. “What family information is genuinely necessary—and who receives, retains or reuses it?”

Draft framing: Separate anonymous suitability research from identity verification and operational information needed by authorised recipients.

Why buyers should ask: The UK Information Commissioner’s guidance describes data minimisation as keeping information adequate, relevant and limited to the purpose. It is a useful procurement benchmark, not a conclusion that UK law governs every US household’s charter. The guidance is itself flagged as under review. (ico.org.uk)

Put to: Francesca Conn for contractual questions, with appropriate privacy counsel and the operator’s data lead.

A strong answer should cover:

• What must be supplied for the shortlist, contract, identity checks and embarkation—and when.
• Which broker, manager, captain, agent or other provider receives each category.
• Secure transfer, access controls, retention and deletion arrangements.
• Photography, publicity, crew social-media expectations and any proposed reuse in automated systems.

Evidence and follow-up: Request a simple information-flow map. Ask: “Can we assess cabin fit using anonymous guest labels, then provide required identity information only through the authorised process?”

Do not promise complete anonymity or withhold information genuinely required for lawful operation.

Expert quote: [Pending interview and approval.]