In 1991 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) commissioned a study to review the resistance of jack-ups to boat impact. A resulting conclusion was that jack-ups offer only limited resistance to severe damage in such events. Subsequent safety case assessment in the period 1993–1995 highlighted a significant range in the predicted impact resistance of jack-ups, which assessors believe to be more dependent on the approach followed rather than on the basic design. As a result further work was considered necessary to identify key factors that duty holders should be considering as part of the analysis undertaken to demonstrate the case for safety. This paper has been produced in order to disseminate the findings of such a study carried out on behalf of the HSE. The study carried out by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) presents the results of the appropriateness and applicability of a range of typical methodologies used by the offshore industry to analyse the response and impact resistance of jack-up designs to boat impact. The collision between offshore platforms and boats is generally a very complex problem and it is often not practical to perform rigorous finite element analyses to include all effects and sequences during the collision. A significant part of the collision energy is dissipated as strain energy and except for global deformation modes, the contribution from elastic straining can normally be neglected. Hence, many times it is necessary to apply simplified techniques. However, key aspects such as dynamic effects are often ignored, sometimes to the detriment of the final calculated energy absorption capacity of the jack-up. A number of approaches were received and identified by the HSE as typical approaches for design justification of Jack-Ups in the North Sea within safety case submissions. In order to assess and compare the approaches a case study based on a typical jack-up design with three legs was used, each leg consisting of triangular sections and K-bracing. Impact resistance calculations were performed, ranging from simple elastic hand calculations to non-linear dynamic FE analyses. In one approach where an assessment by calculation would have proved too time consuming, a qualitative assessment has been carried out instead. The results of the assessments based on the different approaches are presented, compared and discussed in this paper.