Hire Company Insurance

[steveh]

Most big hire companies provide a £40 damage wavier type insurance, you pay £40 if you cause damage you don't have to pay a thing.

 

Other hire companies ask you to leave a desposit of £300, if you have an accident of break anything you loose your desposit.

 

Do you think if all hire companies insisted on all hirers leaving a substantiel desposit it was increase the amount people taking more care on the waterways?

[charles123]

Most big hire companies provide a £40 damage wavier type insurance, you pay £40 if you cause damage you don't have to pay a thing.

 

Other hire companies ask you to leave a desposit of £300, if you have an accident of break anything you loose your desposit.

 

Do you think if all hire companies insisted on all hirers leaving a substantiel desposit it was increase the amount people taking more care on the waterways?

 

No because no one will do anything the rest are not doing and I cant see it making any difference to care the hirer takes. The hire companies are covered with their insurance. Their principal interest is protecting their profit. I would not be surprised if in the event of an accident thet hireer loses their £300 deposit and the company claims on the insurance and pockets some of the deposit (the balance going on their insurance excess) I doubt if any money is returned to BW for damage to the waterways nor will private boaters see anything back unless they catch the hirer damaging their own boat

[Paul@CW]

The hire companies are covered with their insurance. Their principal interest is protecting their profit. I would not be surprised if in the event of an accident thet hireer loses their £300 deposit and the company claims on the insurance and pockets some of the deposit (the balance going on their insurance excess) I doubt if any money is returned to BW for damage to the waterways nor will private boaters see anything back unless they catch the hirer damaging their own boat

 

Well let me tell you that my families hire company don't charge a deposit and our principal interests are providing an enjoyable holiday and a boatyard service for waterways users and keeping staff earning a living. Money is provided to BW in the form of 15 commercial rate boat licences.

 

If your boat is damaged by a hirer who leaves the scene and you are not around then of course this is wrong of them but the hire company cannot be blamed for this. If your parked car is hit by someone driving a rental car who then drives off you don't blame Hertz!

[Ron]

Most big hire companies provide a £40 damage wavier type insurance, you pay £40 if you cause damage you don't have to pay a thing.

 

Other hire companies ask you to leave a desposit of £300, if you have an accident of break anything you loose your desposit.

 

Do you think if all hire companies insisted on all hirers leaving a substantiel desposit it was increase the amount people taking more care on the waterways?

 

If you look at timeshares: Shakespeare Classic Line and Canaltime do ask for a £500 deposit with a £35? waiver.

 

Our experience is that unless you pay the waiver fee you do end up paying for damages.

The deposit is not a bluff.

 

Furthermore they make the point that further damages will be claimed in cases of gross negligence or deliberate damage (waiver or not ). Obviously this is primarily to protect their own interests, but it does have a beneficial knock on effect for everyone else as the sums are big enough to make people think.

 

I sometimes suspect the biggest problem with both Timeshare and Hire boats is that they actually travel. People do not book the boats to moror up quietly somewhere, unlike many residential or "weekend" boats, which often (and thankfully) spend most of their time stationary

Edited September 8, 2006 by Ron

[stuart]

How many people have actually been hit by a hire boat and it caused considerable damage?

 

I would have thought that the only major damage is done to walls, locks and bridges. And these dont tend to record boat numbers or phone hire bases!

[Hairy-Neil]

This is how it works, at least in the car hire industry, I guess boats are pretty similar.

 

Some companies charge a waiver, say £50. 10 waivers collected = £500. 9 cars go out and do no damage, 1 has a bump. The 500 quid pays the excess on the claim of the one that does the damage.

 

In the boating world some take a deposit of say £300. You return the boat with no damage the cash is returned. you loose a windlass they deduct a fiver, you break a window they deduct 150 to repair it. You sink the boat in a lock they keep the lot and put it towards the excess on an insurance claim.

 

Basically like with car hire companies, if the hirer had to pay all the excess himself in the event of a prang(sometimes ££££1000's) he would think twice about hiring the car in the first place.

[Ron]

How many people have actually been hit by a hire boat and it caused considerable damage?

 

I would have thought that the only major damage is done to walls, locks and bridges. And these dont tend to record boat numbers or phone hire bases!

 

You do get the odd security camera at locks, though I suspect against deliberate vandalism.

 

Major damage to BW property would presumably be covered by insurance. which leaves the "wear & tear" items to cope with, against which some percautionary measures can be taken if financially viable.

 

I suppose one thing that ought to be taken into consideration is that the best justifcation for keeping canals in good condition is the number of people using them, which if large enough becomes politically significant as well as offerring a potential source of income to those local communities that choose to support the canals and their users.

 

If you restrict use by regulation you may in the short term protect a few locks and bridges, but the longer term consequences could be dire if canal useage fell as a result

[John Orentas]

Have we got an anti hire boat thing going again. I must say I have had far more problems with private boats and their arrogant owners than I have ever had with hire boats. As for boats getting bumped about now and them, well so what, all narrowboats have rubbing strakes fitted all they need is a wipe with a paintbrush at the end of the year.

[alan_fincher]

My recent experience has echoed John's.

 

With a few notable exceptions, we generally found hire boats getting themselves into no more difficulties than some privately owned boats.

 

And, as I've said in other threads, we had a lot of positives of newcomers trying very hard to learn the stuff that the boatyards hadn't told them, (or they hadn't taken in), and freely asking for advice, and being greatful when they received it.

 

However, I have noticed a bit of a recent trend of more than just scuffed paintwork on some well used hire boats. We saw several on our last couple of trips that had some very large bashes high up on hull sides, generally higher than any rubbing strake. And I meant seriously large dents that the yards involved were going to find hard to disguise.

 

We also passed one that had lost a side window, as a result of being blown on to a tree branch by a strong cross wind. I'm reminded about the posts in the "slow down" thread about not reducing speed so much that you loose control..... (It WAS highly gusty that day).

 

(Someone's about to say that if they had had a bowthruster, and known how to use, it might just have saved them from that tree, aren't they ? )

Edited September 8, 2006 by alan_fincher

[Hairy-Neil]

 

 

Major damage to BW property would presumably be covered by insurance. which leaves the "wear & tear" items to cope with, against which some percautionary measures can be taken if financially viable.

 

 

I would be very surprised if BW had insurance to cover damage to the property in their charge. Remember when Windsor Castle burned down.......

[Ron]

My recent experience has echoed John's.

 

With a few notable exceptions, we generally found hire boats getting themselves into no more difficulties than some privately owned boats.

 

And, as I've said in other threads, we had a lot of positives of newcomers trying very hard to learn the stuff that the boatyards hadn't told them, (or they hadn't taken in), and freely asking for advice, and being greatful when they received it.

 

However, I have noticed a bit of a recent trend of more than just scuffed paintwork on some well used hire boats. We saw several on our last couple of trips that had some very large bashes high up on hull sides, generally higher than any rubbing strake. And I meant seriously large dents that the yards involved were going to find hard to disguise.

 

We also passed one that had lost a side window, as a result of being blown on to a tree branch by a strong cross wind. I'm reminded about the posts in the "slow down" thread about not reducing speed so much that you loose control..... (It WAS highly gusty that day).

 

(Someone's about to say that if they had had a bowthruster, and known how to use, it might just have saved them from that tree, aren't they ? )

 

I would imagine hire boats do spend a lot more time actually travelling than privately owned boats, so would be exposed to a greater risk of damage while probably being entrusted to less experienced crews. Repairs are also likely to be put off until the end of the season as turnaround times are likely to be about 4 hrs between one hirer and the next.

They are also the learning route for most people, who effectively have the honed their skills at the hire company's risk, enabling themselves to keep future boats in good condition.

 

I am somtimes suprised that there are so many hire boats in such good condition.

Edited September 9, 2006 by Ron

[Hairy-Neil]

I would imagine hire boats do spend a lot more time actually travelling than privately owned boats, so would be exposed to a greater risk of damage while probably being entrusted to less experienced crews.

 

There are people out there who have been regular hirers since the 1970's ........... me included so don't tar all hirers with the inexperienced brush.

[Ron]

There are people out there who have been regular hirers since the 1970's ........... me included so don't tar all hirers with the inexperienced brush.

I was trying to point out that hire boats get damaged because they get a lot of use with few windows for major maintenance.

 

I was not my intention to critisise the users - of which i may be classed as one, and apologies if it has been taken that way.

 

Private boats generally travel less and are likely to repaired more quickly so damage is both less likey to occur in the first place and when it does occur it is not going to be visible for so long.

Given crews of identicle capability for each type of craft

 

Even if I could afford to buy a complete Narrowboat I might still be tempted to do training in or any risky stuff in a hire boat simply so my own property was not at risk. Driving schools fulfill this role on the roads, though they do not double up as general hire vehcles as well.

 

This year I had more trouble with private owners doing daft things than hire boat doing daft things. The major difference between the two was that the private boats were more aware of their faults and less apologetic. Though this is just one persons observation over over a short period in a limited stretch of water and perhaps if I were to include my own errors and behavior ( as a non boat owner ) in an impartial manner, it might be quits.

 

Incovenient as it may be, the future of the canals depends on a constant influx of new interest and the hire companies do a wonderful job in nuturing that and an admirable job in keeping their fleets in good condition considering the range of abilities they have to cope with and short turnaround times.

 

It is in the canal users interest to support and encourage this new interest.

 

Apologies for going way off topic

Edited September 10, 2006 by Ron