where to get boat insurance?

[wetfoot]

My son has just had a boat insurance renewal quote for his live aboard wide beam. The boat itself is insured for around £60k and this year he upped the value of the contents to £20k.

 

The premium for boat and contents changed from around £300 last year to nearly £550 this year. (with a company called 'compare boat insurance');

This seems very high to me. Our house insurance is only around £350  for  £750k buildings and £150k contents and we don't have solid steel doors and locked porthole windows!

 

Is there a web site similar to money supermarket or compare the market etc. where he can compare boat insurance quotes?

 

He also tried to up the value of the insurance value of the boat to £80k as he has done extensive renovation since buying it but they won't do it without a full survey which means taking the boat out of the water - is this usual? 

[Alan de Enfield]

33 minutes ago, wetfoot said:

The premium for boat and contents changed from around £300 last year to nearly £550 this year. (with a company called 'compare boat insurance');

This seems very high to me. Our house insurance is only around £350  for  £750k buildings and £150k contents and we don't have solid steel doors and locked porthole windows!

Is your house at risk of being hit by another boat, or, sinking.

My boat insurance is £250 (last years premium) and also covers me for tidal waters.

My other boat is £633 (£250,000 value)

33 minutes ago, wetfoot said:

He also tried to up the value of the insurance value of the boat to £80k as he has done extensive renovation since buying it but they won't do it without a full survey which means taking the boat out of the water - is this usual? 

Yes, you could just be upping the value before scuttling the boat. You need evidence from a surveyor that what you consider has added value, has in fact, added value.

 

 

Is the boat in a marina ? (you can normally get a marina base discount)

Is in a high risk area ? (such as a city - particularly London)

Are you a CCer so high mileage and higher risk of 'incident' ?

What is the age of the boat ? (an old boat is more of a risk of sinking)

 

Try the online insurer https://www.craftinsure.com/ they tend to be very competitive but I have no knowledge as to the chance of pay-out. You tend to find that you 'pay' for the cover you get. Look at all the small print in the T&Cs.

Edited June 17, 2020 by Alan de Enfield

[wetfoot]

@Alan de Enfield My house probably won't get hit by a boat but the building it is at risk of being hit by a lorry and if it did 'sink' due to flooding I'd lose ten times more in contents than my son would if his boat sank. I can see your point about scuttling though, so I take it having a survey done before getting a quote is standard practice. 

 

He moves around the lee valley area in North London, not in a marina and only moving every two weeks but I was not so much worried about the actual price if the insurance but the 79% increase in premium this year, apparently just to change contents value from £10k to £20k  (there is a £400 excess on top of that as well)

 

I was also asking about where boaters can go, if anywhere, to easily compare boat insurances like you can with insurances for car, house, travel etc as it's not something we've ever had to do before.

[Alan de Enfield]

10 minutes ago, wetfoot said:

I take it having a survey done before getting a quote is standard practice. 

Not normally necessary, BUT, if you have insured it for (say) £50,000, and remembering the insurers computer system talk to each other, and then declare a value at (say) £80,000 it is not unreasonable to expect to have to justify it.

 

It is always worth discussing things with your insurer when buying a project (just the same with a house project) and arranging for staged insurance values subject to work done. It will need to be 'structural' improvements rather than just new furniture, curtains etc.

If you have major work done (new plating, new engine etc) then presumably you have invoices for work done.

 

10 minutes ago, wetfoot said:

My house probably won't get hit by a boat but the building it is at risk of being hit by a lorry and if it did 'sink' due to flooding I'd lose ten times more in contents than my son would if his boat sank

It is the 'risk' that determines the premium - there may be a 1 in a million chance of your house being hit by a truck, but 1 in a thousand chance of the boat being  'hit hard' by another boat, or losing control and damaging infrastructure.

Try Craftinsure - your current insurer may just be trying it on.

Edited June 17, 2020 by Alan de Enfield

[Mike Adams]

I would have thought that leaving a boat on the towpath in North London is about as risky as it gets on the waterways especially if it looks like there is something worth taking and not like the typical mess. I would not want to leave mine there for five minutes. Trouble with insurers is that you only find out if they are any good when you come to claim. Perhaps insurers have worked out that this sort of boat use is far more risky that the average boat on the waterways and changed their premiums accordingly.

[wetfoot]

Thanks for your comments. As I say, I am not so much querying the price, as I'm sure both the company and yourself can justify it based upon risk, but I'm mainly asking if there is a 'Go Compare' type of web site for boat insurance. - Apparently not.

Thanks anyway

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, wetfoot said:

I'm mainly asking if there is a 'Go Compare' type of web site for boat insurance.

Not that I am aware of, there are only half-a-dozen providers so the market is probably not complicated enough to warrant a special website.

[pearley]

Try Craftinsure as Alan has suggested. My premium for a narrowboat with a valuation of £60000 plus contents of £15000 and a £400 excess was £197.43 with 10 years if no claims.

[OldGoat]

Most of the so called insurers are just brokers and the cover they offer is handled by some outfit in Zurich.

It's a specialist market, thus very little competition. The UK companies backed out some years ago

[wetfoot]

OK, thanks to all who replied. We'll take a look at Craftinsure. It does no harm to shop around. You're correct that they probably all use the same underwriter anyway so payout is likely to be similar even if the top slice profit for the broker is different.

Cheers

[ditchcrawler]

26 minutes ago, wetfoot said:

OK, thanks to all who replied. We'll take a look at Craftinsure. It does no harm to shop around. You're correct that they probably all use the same underwriter anyway so payout is likely to be similar even if the top slice profit for the broker is different.

Cheers

I would ring Towergate and GJW as well

[Keeping Up]

Most (not all) insurers charge a similar price for the boat insurance, but the price for contents insurance varies tremendously from "ridiculous" up to "what planet are they on". As do their T's & C's, such as Saga whose insurance against breakage of contents specifically excludes "anything breakable"

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, Keeping Up said:

Saga whose insurance against breakage of contents specifically excludes "anything breakable"

[Momac]

7 hours ago, wetfoot said:

Our house insurance is only around £350  for  £750k buildings and £150k contents and we don't have solid steel doors and locked porthole windows!

Its probably the contents that's costing you there . Or could be bedroom or postcode related .

If not a bedroom policy - try that next time.

[Momac]

7 hours ago, wetfoot said:

My son has just had a boat insurance renewal quote for his live aboard wide beam. The boat itself is insured for around £60k and this year he upped the value of the contents to £20k.

The premium for boat and contents changed from around £300 last year to nearly £550 this year. (with a company called 'compare boat insurance');

 

 

He also tried to up the value of the insurance value of the boat to £80k as he has done extensive renovation since buying it but they won't do it without a full survey which means taking the boat out of the water - is this usual? 

Contents  seem high . How on earth do you get £20k contents on a boat? If that is inflated its waste of money.

I don't have enough contents  to justify insurance . All the furniture is built in so contents is  just clothes , bed linen  a few plates and stuff and some tools - aren't most boats the same in this regard?

 

Not surprised they want a survey for enhanced value .

 

 

 

 

[Jim Batty]

On 17/06/2020 at 23:17, MartynG said:

Contents  seem high . How on earth do you get £20k contents on a boat? If that is inflated its waste of money.

I don't have enough contents  to justify insurance . All the furniture is built in so contents is  just clothes , bed linen  a few plates and stuff and some tools - aren't most boats the same in this regard? ...

 

 

Just searching for new insurance and came across this.

 

If you live aboard (and the OP lives on a wide beam with space to store lots) it's surprising how much the value of your stuff can mount up: laptops, radios, phones, tools, clothing (boaty clothing, work clothing, good outdoor gear, walking boot and shoes), bedding, kitchen utensils, books (for us this = £1000s), craft items/art, masses of removable boat equipment ...

 

If a boat is your home ... and you've decided NOT to store stuff at family and friends and self-store warehouses ... and everything you've ever bought, loved, needed and kept is on board ... and you want to cover yourself from a worst-case complete loss of everything ... then £10K+ contents is easy to hit!