Boat insurance

[peggy sue]

Hi all

Finally we have moved aboard the Peggy Sue, but are having to hang around in the Marina here at Northwich while they carry out the snaggings.

Need to get licence and boat insured now we have BSS certificate, any recommendations for reasonably priced, reputable boat insurance company(is there such a thing) been on lap top most of day - it is a minefield.

 

thanks

Laura

[steelaway]

Hi all

Finally we have moved aboard the Peggy Sue, but are having to hang around in the Marina here at Northwich while they carry out the snaggings.

Need to get licence and boat insured now we have BSS certificate, any recommendations for reasonably priced, reputable boat insurance company(is there such a thing) been on lap top most of day - it is a minefield.

 

thanks

Laura

 

 

Hi

 

I use Saga (its an age thing).

Dont go over the top with personal possessions, I have the minimum £500 as only the Tv/Dvd are the only valuable that is left on the boat. (forgot the booze)

Some food and secondhand clothes are worthless.

Everything else is screwed to the boat therefor is covered.

Have a low claim excess as the no claims discount maxs out at 25% (£50 on a £200 premium).

 

Alex

[barge sara]

Hi all

Finally we have moved aboard the Peggy Sue, but are having to hang around in the Marina here at Northwich while they carry out the snaggings.

Need to get licence and boat insured now we have BSS certificate, any recommendations for reasonably priced, reputable boat insurance company(is there such a thing) been on lap top most of day - it is a minefield.

 

thanks

Laura

 

For a narrowboat, Craftinsure.com are good.

I would still use them but they don't insure old barges.

[WotEver]

We use Collidge. I don't know if they're the cheapest; they were recommended to us by the previous owners of our boat and I've been a bit lazy in finding alternative quotes. They have a handy online quotation request for here: http://www.collidgeandpartners.co.uk/Insapp1.htm

 

Tony

[alan_fincher]

Don't know your age, but if old enough to qualify then Saga were easily the cheapest we found.

 

I must admit I've not shopped around since, as it's hardly one of our biggest boating costs.

 

There has been concern voiced that Saga's policy wording could allow them to wriggle out of certain types of claim, but in many ways their cover looked more clearly stated to us, and (for example) use on tidal waters is OK without needing to ask, and I've not been able to find any restriction on either towing, or being towed. (Both these points can be restricted with other insurers).

 

We are not allowed to tow water skiers or parascenders, but although some reckon we can travel that fast, I don't actually think Chalice could manage either, so not really a "real" restriction.

[Machpoint005]

Craftinsure - Plus points: entirely online, no messing about, not expensive, tidal waters included.

Possible negative points: 200 squid excess, personal effects cover not that generous (so don't take expensive toys with you).

 

Renewal is dead easy, too, if online is OK for you.

[Nickhlx]

Craftinsure - Plus points: entirely online, no messing about, not expensive, tidal waters included.

Possible negative points: 200 squid excess, personal effects cover not that generous (so don't take expensive toys with you).

 

Renewal is dead easy, too, if online is OK for you.

 

 

Another one for Craftinsure... as above

 

Nick

[ambuvanner]

Another one for Craftinsure... as above

 

Nick

Tried most of them but found Newton Crum to be the most economic by far.

[Nightwatch]

Craftinsure - Plus points: entirely online, no messing about, not expensive, tidal waters included.

Possible negative points: 200 squid excess, personal effects cover not that generous (so don't take expensive toys with you).

 

Renewal is dead easy, too, if online is OK for you.

We have £100.00 excess.

 

Have a claim going through at the moment (following break in and damage) so won't comment to avoid tempting fate.

 

Martyn

[journeyperson]

Tried most of them but found Newton Crum to be the most economic by far.

 

I insured my sailing dinghy with them years ago and went back to them for a narrowboat quote. £113 this year and that covers my tender too and includes sheltered tidal waters for inland access. Newton Crum are agents and insure with a Lloyds syndicate.

[MartinC]

personal effects cover not that generous (so don't take expensive toys with you).

 

It is usually a lot cheaper to rely on a personal effects all risks extension on your house policy. Only use the boat policy for any things like household utensils that you may find are excluded from the personal effects definition in your house policy. Such are the strange ways of the insurance world.

[kendo]

I can sympathise, peggy sue. We had quite a time finding fully comprehensive liveaboard insurance.

Most insurers assumed we were a jolly boat (that is.. occasionally used, and taking all our stuff 'home'

when we'd finished boating). Our hull was also built in 1985, so a lot of the 'get an instant web quote'

engines were no use.

 

In the end, we went with Towergate Mardon. Not the cheapest, but they understood

the concept of 'liveaboard boating', and were very helpful in getting us sorted out.

 

Edited March 31, 2010 by kendo

[rolimo]

Hi all

Finally we have moved aboard the Peggy Sue, but are having to hang around in the Marina here at Northwich while they carry out the snaggings.

Need to get licence and boat insured now we have BSS certificate, any recommendations for reasonably priced, reputable boat insurance company(is there such a thing) been on lap top most of day - it is a minefield.

 

thanks

Laura

 

towergate mardon, latitude policy. they insure my 74yo boat and its wooden.

they do live aboard and contents.

Edited April 13, 2010 by rolimo

[wrigglefingers]

Another big thumbs up for Towergate Mardon. I went to Craftinsure for a year but returned to Mardon after a silly quote this time around. They were the cheapest for Cobbett by a long way, prepared to listen to me and now have her insured to my requirements. Talk to Hayley Wall.

[Strads]

I'm also insured with Towergate mardon,

 

tried to find cheaper last year, but either other had more (unacceptable eclusions/excesses) so they ended up being competitive among those that i deemed suitable - its a 6 year old boat - witha a good survey !!.

 

 

re Saga - a word of caution - they are relentless in up-selling and hassling by mail, email etc, if you dont want weekly sales stuff be careful to either tick no further mail, even then they often dont take NO to mean that..

 

When I tried car and house hold insurance when I "qualified" (turned 50) they were among the most expensive, easily 30-50% out of the majority of resonses...

 

I missed the small box for no other contact - Big mistake...

 

I wrote / emailed and phoned ona number of occasions to no avail,

 

only stopped when i went back in to my profile and changed my contact details to those of their excutive chairman,

email and addrsss of their offices.... it worked quire quickly

 

 

 

[koukouvagia]

...only stopped when i went back in to my profile and changed my contact details to those of their excutive chairman,

email and addrsss of their offices.... it worked quire quickly

 

I never cease to be amazed by the sound advice of forum members. What a brilliant idea.

 

I've been with Towergate Mardon (formerly Stimson Associates) for nearly 25 years. Never had any problems.

Edited April 13, 2010 by koukouvagia

[AKULA]

i also use craft insure

[Robborover]

Wow! I wish all insurance was a simple/quick as craftinsure! Impressive

[john6767]

We use Craftinsure, they seemed to come out about the cheapest, and the renewal came out ok too. As has been said it a very simple on line thing if you are ok with that. They also seem to have relatively fuss free cover, in that my standard questions about cover for tidal, night travelling and towing were all answered straight forwardly and covered. Saga on the other hand seemed very different in that respect, so make certain you have cover that you want. That put me totally off Saga, and now I have to put up with the endless junk mail from them, so be certain you want that before giving them your address. I don't think the Craftinsure content cover is great though, but its the boat to me that's important.

[cotswoldsman]

Craftinsure - Plus points: entirely online, no messing about, not expensive, tidal waters included.

Possible negative points: 200 squid excess, personal effects cover not that generous (so don't take expensive toys with you).

 

Renewal is dead easy, too, if online is OK for you.

 

I have used craftinsure for 4 years and yes they are quite cheap but that does mean you only get what you pay for.

Last year I had to discuss insurance matters with them twice, first when I was going down the Severn from Sharpness to Bristol even though I was going to have a piloy on board I had to pay an extra £40 plus they increased the excess to £500 my friend on his boat with no pilot but following me did not have to pay any extra nor had excess increased.

When I was away between Jan and April my boat was broken into (I was in South America) I notified them of a possible claim for personal effects and damage, they emailed back stating that they would need to see receipts for stolen items now I am not to great with paperwork and certainly do not keep receipts for ever, in the event nothing much was stolen so I did not bother with claim.

[David Schweizer]

Although we have never needed to make a claim, the Insurance Company we are with seem to be OK. However I do get tired of the pointless full hull survey they require every five years or so, which effectively adds about £100 to the annual premium.

 

Does anyone have an Insurance policy which does not require a regular Out of Water survey? Our boat is constructed from steel and is nearly 30 years old. SAGA used to claim "No Survey required" in their advertising, but when I sent for the dtails there was no mention of this in their policy information.

Edited June 22, 2011 by David Schweizer

[Robborover]

Although we have never needed to make a claim, the Insurance Company we are with seem to be OK. However I do get tired of the pointless full hull survey they require every five years or so, which effectively adds about £100 to the annual premium.

 

Does anyone have an Insurance policy which does not require a regular Out of Water survey? Our boat is constructed from steel and is nearly 30 years old. SAGA used to claim "No Survey required" in their advertising, but when I sent for the dtails there was no mention of this in their policy information.

 

Craft insure stated up to 30 years old without survey (from memory) ....

[WotEver]

Craft insure stated up to 30 years old without survey (from memory) ....

Collingwood insisted on one when she turned 21. She's 23 now, so I'll see what happens in another 3 years.

 

Tony

[Chertsey]

This does raise an interesting question.

Most people want comprehensive insurance for their pride and joy, while some like me are happy with third party.

 

My insurer, Basic Boat Liability, does not require a survey however old the boat. Aha, you would think, that is because they are not likely to be faced with a claim as a result of it sinking. But as well as £1m third party liability, I get £5m salvage cover. So they could still face a hefty bill if the boat sank.

 

So what is the logic behind the survey requirement?

Edited June 29, 2011 by Chertsey

[STIG]

We are about to take the plunge and purchase our own boat, nervous isn`t the word. I had a look on line for an insurance quote to get some sort of an idea , came across compare boat insurance. I thought well give it a go as I have always done well with the car. Tonight I got a call from them as they couldn`t quote on line as some information was missing, they needed to know : what value on the hull, what value on the engine/s,what value on the raft I towed, what value on my trailer, by this time I tried to remain calm and explained to the young lady it was a narrowboat not a gin cruiser ( no offence) but she said she needed this information to provide a quote. I remarked that we were wasting each others time and duly hung up.

What bollocks