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Saga no longer offering boat insurance


Tim Lewis

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31 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

A friend has mentioned that she now has to find a new insurer ?

 

Get a Quote | Over 50s Boat Insurance | Saga

 

 

 

Another one that have not had their business plan accepted by Lloyds ?

 

 

I recently posted extracts  from my renewal notice that quoted communications from Lloyds of London explaining they were changing some of the 'rules' on marine insurance due to continuing decling value of premiums (price cutting)  and record claims.

Now every company has to provide a business plan to Lloyds explaining how they can achieve sustainable business levels, and this has to be accepted by Lloyds before the provider can offer insurance.

 

One of the extracts :

 

 

For the first time in over 200 years Lloyds intervened in how insurers conduct business and special measures were imposed. The market has spiralled downwards to a fundamentally unsustainable level resulting in unsustainable losses  compounded by catastrophic (storm) claims. A lot of companies have had their 'licence'  revoked from this year.
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Saga placed their risks solely with MS Amlin syndicate 2001 who are still very much in business. I expect that Saga's "book" was no longer worth while to Amlin, after all there are only 34,000 odd potential customers and Zurich, through their various guises, have the majority chunk.

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Well that is a bummer. Saga were the only insurance company where if you had an old boat it did not need to have a survey every so many years. Not sure where i am going to get insurance from now when my Saga one runs out.

  • Greenie 1
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Just rang Saga are stopping new customers as of tomorrow[April 1st] existing policy holders will remain insured until renewal date. Policy holders will be informed nearer to renewal date as to options closer to renewal. Option is get insured else where.

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Seems to me that it is becoming harder and harder to own and use a boat on the inland waterways. I have said for a long long time that if CRT had their way they wouldn't have any boats on their water. As time has gone on I see this "conspiracy theory" becoming more and more a fact. I am so glad that I no longer have a boat. The hassle was just getting too much.

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3 hours ago, pete.i said:

Seems to me that it is becoming harder and harder to own and use a boat on the inland waterways. I have said for a long long time that if CRT had their way they wouldn't have any boats on their water. As time has gone on I see this "conspiracy theory" becoming more and more a fact. I am so glad that I no longer have a boat. The hassle was just getting too much.

More another example of what looks like being a trend towards much reduced competition as, in each market, only one strong operator survives. In the short to medium term this may not be great for consumers but good for the shareholders of those companies that win out (not so good for all the pension holders with , even if they do not know it, a stake in the now worthless failures). Watch for a drift of prices upwards, with an added Brexit kick.

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3 hours ago, pete.i said:

Seems to me that it is becoming harder and harder to own and use a boat on the inland waterways. I have said for a long long time that if CRT had their way they wouldn't have any boats on their water. As time has gone on I see this "conspiracy theory" becoming more and more a fact. I am so glad that I no longer have a boat. The hassle was just getting too much.

 

Another example of a conspiracy theory...  A conspiracy between the waterways authority and insurance underwriters? Really?

 

I have had no problems obtaining boat insurance, waterways license, etc, etc. In fact my insurance premium seems to get a bit cheaper every year. I haven't experienced any more difficulties owning a boat now than I did more than 20 years ago. 

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3 hours ago, pete.i said:

I am so glad that I no longer have a boat. The hassle was just getting too much.

I know just what you mean. After more than 50 years with canal boating as my primary passion, I think I will be selling my boat later this year.

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18 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

Watch for a drift of prices upwards, with an added Brexit kick.

 

 

As I posted earlier - lloyds have instructed the syndicates / insurance prividers to increase their prices (first time in 200 years they have interfered in pricing levels)

Boat insurance has been driven down a spiral and unless the companies produce a business plan that demonstrates they will make a profit they will have their licene revoked.

 

News yesterday showed that LLoyds have lost £6.2 billion in the last year purely because of Covid. payouts ratio to premium incomes is 110%.

 

The insurance market Lloyd’s expects 2020 payouts for claims related to the Covid-19 pandemic to reach £6.2bn, pushing it to a loss for the year.

Lloyd’s reported pre-tax net losses of £0.9bn for the year, blaming natural catastrophe claims and Brexit for hitting earnings alongside the pandemic. In 2019 it made a pre-tax profit of £2.5bn.

The expected £6.2bn Covid-19 payouts are significantly higher than the £5bn it had forecast in September, before second waves of the pandemic had fully hit developed economies.

Lloyd’s is hoping for a much-reduced level of claims during 2021, although the week-long blockage of the Suez canal trade route by the grounded Ever Given ship is likely to cost at least £100m in payouts.

John Neal, Lloyd’s chief executive, said it had faced a “triple threat” from the pandemic alongside extra “cost and complexity” from Brexit and the fifth-largest year for natural catastrophe payouts, excluding the virus.

 

However, it was the global disruption caused by the coronavirus that took a big toll. After taking into account reinsurance policies, the net cost of Covid-19 for the market was £3.4bn. The pandemic added 13 percentage points to its combined ratio, a measure of claims payouts and other costs v premiums paid by customers, pushing it to 110%.

 

 

 

7 minutes ago, Keeping Up said:

I know just what you mean. After more than 50 years with canal boating as my primary passion, I think I will be selling my boat later this year.

 

 

Welcome to the world of 'ex-canal boaters', quick, grab your seat by the fireside, as we have newcomers coming 'aboard' at an ever increasing rate and space may become limited.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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4 hours ago, pete.i said:

Seems to me that it is becoming harder and harder to own and use a boat on the inland waterways. I have said for a long long time that if CRT had their way they wouldn't have any boats on their water. As time has gone on I see this "conspiracy theory" becoming more and more a fact. I am so glad that I no longer have a boat. The hassle was just getting too much.

 

19 minutes ago, Keeping Up said:

I know just what you mean. After more than 50 years with canal boating as my primary passion, I think I will be selling my boat later this year.

Have we exposed two of the conspiracists?

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I did consider Saga for the boat and have our cars insured with them.

 

However I found Haven KJ / MS Amlin cheaper for the same sum insured etc. In fact cheaper still by 10% through the broker ''Topsail''' against  the premium direct from Haven KJ.

I  insured using  Topsail a couple of weeks ago and saved a tidy sum over the premium I paid last year.

I haven't made a claim of course - which is the real test of insurance.  But Topsail were very keen and worked hard to win my business. Topsail are not tied to one insurer.

https://www.topsailinsurance.com/

 

 

.

 

 

 

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So, we lose Saga, but there are still plenty of options. I've just renewed with GJW at a saving from last year, and if your boat is over 30 years old, an insurer asking you for a survey is only expecting you to do what you should probably do without being asked.

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1 hour ago, Machpoint005 said:

Just because a good or service gets steadily more expensive doesn't mean it is no longer possible to have it. It just means that fewer people can afford it.

 

 

Yes, so perhaps when people say "hassle" what they actually mean is expense? Boat ownership is expensive. I couldn't afford to own a boat if I didn't live on it. As a hobby it's prohibitively expensive for most people.

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21 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

Yes, so perhaps when people say "hassle" what they actually mean is expense? Boat ownership is expensive. I couldn't afford to own a boat if I didn't live on it. As a hobby it's prohibitively expensive for most people.

Not cheap. 

Do live aboard boaters not have any expensive hobbys or  take holidays ?

 

.

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4 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I have never had a refusal from Craftinsure but they will want  a hull survey @30 years. I think their rates are very fair.

Thanks. I had a full hull survey 7 years ago, but am willing to get another to get insurance. I need to get the blacking done this year, so can get both done at the same time hopefully. My insurance with Saga isn't ending until the autumn, but I thought I'd better get a head start on the situation.

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11 minutes ago, MaryP said:

Thanks. I had a full hull survey 7 years ago, but am willing to get another to get insurance. I need to get the blacking done this year, so can get both done at the same time hopefully. My insurance with Saga isn't ending until the autumn, but I thought I'd better get a head start on the situation.

 

Unless you are already insured with Craftinsure they require a survey within the last 5 years, if you are already a customer they extend it to 7 years.

 

(Just been renewing my insurance today)

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15 minutes ago, MaryP said:

Thanks. I had a full hull survey 7 years ago, but am willing to get another to get insurance. I need to get the blacking done this year, so can get both done at the same time hopefully. My insurance with Saga isn't ending until the autumn, but I thought I'd better get a head start on the situation.

You do know that you can get third party insurance only without a hull survey? That means that your boat is not insured for loss or damage but your liabilities to others are covered.

You can licence your boat on 3rd party insurance.

Edited by Tracy D'arth
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14 minutes ago, MaryP said:

Thanks. I had a full hull survey 7 years ago, but am willing to get another to get insurance. I need to get the blacking done this year, so can get both done at the same time hopefully. My insurance with Saga isn't ending until the autumn, but I thought I'd better get a head start on the situation.

No insurer is going to accept a 7 year old survey, so yes, you will need another.

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