Most charter money flows in one direction long before you step aboard. Here is what is actually refundable, when, and what to do when a balance does not come back.
A principal pays a substantial deposit, sometimes a full balance, weeks before a charter begins — and then discovers that the rules governing its return are neither obvious nor in their favour. When a charter is cancelled, delayed or cut short, the question of what comes back, and when, is settled almost entirely by the MYBA contract signed at the outset. Few principals read it closely. This page sets out, plainly, which payments are genuinely refundable, how long a legitimate refund takes, and what recourse exists when a deposit is withheld without good cause.
Two quite different sums leave your account before a charter, and they are governed by different rules. The first is the charter fee deposit — conventionally 50% on signing the MYBA agreement and the remaining 50% around four to six weeks before embarkation. This is the owner's money once paid, subject only to the cancellation schedule in the contract. The second is the Advance Provisioning Allowance, typically 25–40% of the base fee, which is emphatically your money: a float from which the captain settles fuel, food and dues at cost, with the unspent balance returned to you after the charter.
The distinction matters because the two are refunded on entirely separate logic. The APA balance should come back in full, less only documented expenses, within a week or two of disembarkation. The charter fee deposit, by contrast, may not come back at all once a cancellation date has passed — and conflating the two is the single most common source of refund disputes. A principal who expects the base fee to be as recoverable as the APA float has misread the contract.
The standard MYBA agreement contains a cancellation clause that is unambiguous once read, and punishing if ignored. The owner is entitled to retain a rising proportion of the charter fee depending on how close to the start date you cancel. The exact figures are negotiated, but the conventional ladder runs roughly as follows.
| Cancellation timing | Owner typically retains |
|---|---|
| More than 60 days before | 50% of the charter fee |
| 31–60 days before | 50–75% of the charter fee |
| Within 30 days | 100% of the charter fee |
There is, however, an important mitigation: if the owner successfully re-charters the yacht for the same period, you are generally entitled to a refund of what you paid, less the owner's costs and any shortfall. This is why prompt, documented notice of cancellation matters — it gives the broker time to re-let the dates and recover your money. The APA, being your float, is returned in full regardless of when you cancel, since none of it has yet been spent.
Several situations entitle you to money back as of right, not as a favour. If the yacht is not delivered in the condition or to the specification contracted — a failed engine, an absent crew member, equipment that does not work — the MYBA agreement provides for a pro-rata refund or, in serious cases, full reimbursement. If a charter is curtailed through the owner's or crew's fault, you are owed the value of the lost days. And the APA balance is always owed: every unspent euro of that float is yours.
The friction is rarely about entitlement and almost always about evidence and timing. A refund owed in principle can still be slow or contested if the paperwork is thin, which is why the discipline you impose at the start determines how easily you are repaid at the end.
A well-run charter returns the APA balance within seven to fourteen days of disembarkation, once the captain has reconciled the float and the central agent has audited the figures. A charter-fee refund following a re-charter or an owner cancellation typically follows within two to four weeks, once the offsetting transaction has settled. Anything materially slower than this is a signal worth heeding.
Refunds stall for predictable reasons: an APA log that was never properly kept, a central agent acting slowly because there is no contractual deadline, an owner disputing alleged damage, or funds tied up because the broker holds client money in a single commingled account rather than a segregated escrow. The remedy is structural and applied before departure — insist on a daily expenditure log, confirm in writing the timetable for the APA return, and establish that client funds are held in a properly segregated account. None of these requests is unusual; a reputable broker expects them.
When a refund is genuinely withheld, principals reach for the chargeback — and find it a blunter instrument than they hoped. A card chargeback can work where a yacht was simply not delivered, because the card scheme will recognise a service paid for and not provided. But most charter sums are paid by bank transfer to a broker's client account, not by card, precisely because the amounts exceed card limits — and a wire offers none of the chargeback protection a card does. Once the money has moved by transfer, recovery is a matter of contract and, if necessary, arbitration.
The MYBA agreement specifies the governing law and the forum — commonly English law and arbitration, or the courts of the central agent's jurisdiction. This is slow and adversarial, and rarely proportionate for sums under six figures. The far better protection is upstream: a vetted central agent who holds your money in segregated escrow, a contract whose cancellation and refund terms you understood before signing, and, where the charter fee is large, charter cancellation insurance to cover the deposit you cannot otherwise recover. The dispute you never have is the one designed out before the wire is sent.
The remedy for a refund problem is almost entirely preventive. Before any money moves, three things should be settled in writing: where your funds will be held, on what schedule they are returnable, and who arbitrates if they are not. A vetted broker confirms each without hesitation; a weak one obscures all three.
Handled this way, the deposit ceases to be a leap of faith. It becomes a documented, recoverable position — which is precisely what engaging counsel before you commit is meant to achieve.
We do not sell yachts and we do not draft the owner's contract in the owner's favour. Through the Obsidian Helm Marketplace we source and vet vessels and brokers on your behalf, introducing you only to central agents who hold client money in segregated escrow and whose cancellation and refund terms we have read ourselves. Your advisor scrutinises the MYBA schedule, confirms the APA return timetable in writing and, where the deposit warrants it, arranges cancellation cover — all before a single euro is wired, and all under NDA. Our remuneration comes by referral arrangement with vetted brokers, never from your deposit or your APA, which keeps our counsel candid. Request a private introduction to begin.
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It depends entirely on timing under the MYBA cancellation schedule. Cancel more than 60 days out and the owner typically retains 50% of the charter fee; cancel within 30 days and the owner may retain the full fee. The crucial mitigation is re-chartering: if the yacht is re-let for your dates, you are generally refunded less the owner's documented costs.
A well-run charter returns the unspent APA within seven to fourteen days of disembarkation, once the captain reconciles the float and the central agent audits it. The entire APA balance is yours; only documented, at-cost expenses are deducted. Anything materially slower is a signal to ask why, which is why a daily expense log and a written return timetable matter from the start.
The charter fee deposit pays for the yacht and crew and becomes the owner's money once paid, subject to the cancellation schedule. The APA is a separate float, typically 25–40% of the base fee, that remains your money and funds running costs at cost, with the unspent balance refunded. Confusing the two is the most common cause of refund disputes.
Rarely, because most charter sums are paid by bank transfer to a broker's client account rather than by card, and a wire carries no chargeback protection. A chargeback can work where a yacht was simply not delivered and was paid by card. For wired deposits, recovery is a matter of contract and arbitration, so segregated escrow and cancellation insurance are the real protections.
When the yacht is not delivered in the contracted condition, when the owner cancels, when a charter is curtailed through owner or crew fault, and always for the unspent APA balance. A successful re-charter after your cancellation also entitles you to a refund less the owner's costs. Entitlement is rarely the problem; evidence and timing usually are, so documentation discipline at the outset is decisive.
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