BSS Examiner Fees

[Mike Todd]

20 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Lol.

 

The remaining BSS bods will find if they stick to their guns on price the boaters will have to pay up whatever the cost, or boat without a license.

 

The BSS has gone bonkers in my opinion. A few fundamental checks that really do take an hour are all that is necessary. Trouble is, any bureaucracy tends to expand and gold plate its requirements. The BSS is a perfect example. When was the last time a member of the public was killed or injured by a narrowboat with no BSS? 

 

Never, I suspect. 

 

 

 

 

Could, of course, mean that the system is working!

 

And, the pool of boats with no BSS is quite small to start with. No BSS means no licence and no insurance. No insurance means no licence. No licence sooner or later means no boat.

[Arthur Marshall]

20 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

Could, of course, mean that the system is working!

 

And, the pool of boats with no BSS is quite small to start with. No BSS means no licence and no insurance. No insurance means no licence. No licence sooner or later means no boat.

I'd be surprised if the numbers killed by exploding or poisoned boats, or boat fires, are any different now than before the BSS. The system would be working if it was consistent,  which it isn't, and if it was simple to understand, which it isnt either.

[Momac]

1 hour ago, Mike Todd said:

 No BSS means no licence and no insurance. 

 

Having a current BSS is not a requirement of my insurance .

No license does not necessarily mean no boat . The boat near me in the marina has not been licensed since 2015.

 

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

51 minutes ago, MartynG said:

 

Having a current BSS is not a requirement of my insurance .

No license does not necessarily mean no boat . The boat near me in the marina has not been licensed since 2015.

 

 

 

 

Same here - for many years it was simply a requirement to have insurance to get a mooring in the marina, then they decided that it would be a good idea if the 'boats were safe' so the BSSC became a requirement.

 

Current marina requires neither licence or BSSC - just insurance.

[nick.pritchard]

Interesting! So legally a marina’s waters must be private and not bound by the rules applying to the canal hence no need for a boat licence or the BSS needed to acquire one?

[TheBiscuits]

Just now, nick.pritchard said:

Interesting! So legally a marina’s waters must be private and not bound by the rules applying to the canal hence no need for a boat licence or the BSS needed to acquire one?

 

Only some marinas inland.

 

Alan's being naughty because he's moored in a coastal marina, not connected to CRT waters.

[Momac]

4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Same here - for many years it was simply a requirement to have insurance to get a mooring in the marina, then they decided that it would be a good idea if the 'boats were safe' so the BSSC became a requirement.

 

Current marina requires neither licence or BSSC - just insurance.

I would not be without insurance. But the marina has ever asked to see evidence of it.

 

1 minute ago, nick.pritchard said:

Interesting! So legally a marina’s waters must be private and not bound by the rules applying to the canal hence no need for a boat licence or the BSS needed to acquire one?

Correct.

[Alan de Enfield]

10 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Only some marinas inland.

 

Alan's being naughty because he's moored in a coastal marina, not connected to CRT waters.

 

Not at all don't make assumptions - I'm talking about inland waterways (Newark marina being one, another was Shobnall Marina at Burton on Trent, Whilton is another, there are dozens of examples)

[Richard10002]

38 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Current marina requires neither licence or BSSC - just insurance.

When you say current, which marina are you talking about?

[TheBiscuits]

15 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

When you say current, which marina are you talking about?

 

Quite.

[MtB]

4 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

Could, of course, mean that the system is working!

 

And, the pool of boats with no BSS is quite small to start with. No BSS means no licence and no insurance. No insurance means no licence. No licence sooner or later means no boat.

 

 

The stealth boats I see around here seem to survive perfectly well with (presumably) none of the above. 

 

If one has BSS, insurance and a license why would one stealth up one's boat?

 

 

 

[nick.pritchard]

Surely if a marina doesn’t require a BSS or insurance and a fire were to break out, I’ve seen the results, then they are being negligent with regard to the ongoing safety of other boats and anybody living aboard in the proximity? They would surely be opening themselves up to litigation in the event of fire or explosion?

[Momac]

3 minutes ago, nick.pritchard said:

Surely if a marina doesn’t require a BSS or insurance and a fire were to break out, I’ve seen the results, then they are being negligent with regard to the ongoing safety of other boats and anybody living aboard in the proximity? They would surely be opening themselves up to litigation in the event of fire or explosion?

When you park your car in a supermarket car park do you expect to prove to the supermarket  that the car is insured ?

A parked boat is no different .

 

By the way I think going without (at least) third party  boat insurance is bonkers as the liability for damage to third party property could be substantial.

 

Where a BSS is not required due to the marina being off water , why should the marina require a BSS ?

[LadyG]

On 26/09/2014 at 09:03, CaptainJacks said:

Another boater on our moorings was charged £20 for the BSS examiner to get in his car and drive from his office to our moorings which is less than a ten minute drive!

If he took the boat to the BSS examiners marina he would have not been charged or given a £20 discount for making it convenient for the examiner to work!

I'm not sure how other people feel about this and wondered if this is a commen practise?

A local garage one hundred metres from me proposed to charge £45 for a call out then £45 an hour for labour. I did not use him, just as well as my last van had numerous callouts. 

 

55 minutes ago, MartynG said:

When you park your car in a supermarket car park do you expect to prove to the supermarket  that the car is insured ?

A parked boat is no different .

 

By the way I think going without (at least) third party  boat insurance is bonkers as the liability for damage to third party property could be substantial.

 

Where a BSS is not required due to the marina being off water , why should the marina require a BSS ?

They can make whatever conditions they like, having a BSC is one test of financial proberty. Imho

[MtB]

20 minutes ago, LadyG said:

A local garage one hundred metres from me proposed to charge £45 for a call out then £45 an hour for labour. I did not use him, just as well as my last van had numerous callouts. 

 

That was the whole point of the charge, to persuade you not to call him out to your numerous breakdowns! 

[LadyG]

4 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

That was the whole point of the charge, to persuade you not to call him out to your numerous breakdowns! 

My preferred garage said I was his best customer, but in the end he advised getting rid.

The other garage would have made a fortune from the  £45 call outs!

 

[Mike Todd]

2 hours ago, MartynG said:

When you park your car in a supermarket car park do you expect to prove to the supermarket  that the car is insured ?

A parked boat is no different .

 

By the way I think going without (at least) third party  boat insurance is bonkers as the liability for damage to third party property could be substantial.

 

Where a BSS is not required due to the marina being off water , why should the marina require a BSS ?

As has been pointed earlier, I think, the formal purpose of BSS is the safety of people and property not on/in the boat. Hence, a marina may consider it in its interests of a duty of care to all moorers that a BSWS is in place, even if many folk do not rate its actual efficacy. These kinds of issues are often about due diligence when the crunch happens. It may be the issue that, not that you did not prevent harm to others, but that you did not take all reasonable steps to prevent it. (and have documented those steps)

 

It may also be the case that the marina's insurers require it (which they are perfectly entitled to).

 

In any case, I made my comment in the (perhaps mistaken) belief that at the time we were talking about inland navigable waterways, not other places. Regular readers of these threads will surely know that there are a number of marinas which were first opened back in the mists of time when the contract with the then BWB was less stringent than those entered into more recently. As such they are exempt from certain CaRT requirements such as the need for a licence - at least whilst the vessel remains in the marina. My previous comments are, I think, correct, if seen in the context of boats on navigable waterways - EA, NT, Basingstoke, IWA, also in my experience - require similarly. (Last year we visited the Basingstoke for the first time and, despite coming from EA waters - and CaRT before that - we had to produce copies of BSS and insurance. Fortunately so far everyone has been content with viewing the document5s on my tablet)

 

Finally, it is incorrect to say that a parked car and a parked boat are the same - they are subject to quite different legislation as well as those of private land owners. Your local supermarket likely monitors your car by automatic checking with DVLA. If only CaRT could do the same  . . . (oops - stirring!)

[MtB]

31 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

Your local supermarket likely monitors your car by automatic checking with DVLA. If only CaRT could do the same  . . . (oops - stirring!)

 

 

Yes that would require all boats to display their CRT number, which appears to be optional once you start looking for it on the boats....

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

43 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

In any case, I made my comment in the (perhaps mistaken) belief that at the time we were talking about inland navigable waterways, not other places.

 

Just for clarity - I was referring to the 'dozens' of (Inland navigable waterways) marinas that do not demand or require a BSSC (which was the subject under discussion). Some marinas require a BSS and insurance, some marinas require a BSSC, Insurance and a licence.

 

In my experience all marinas require a minimum of 3rd party insurance.

[Richard10002]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Just for clarity - I was referring to the 'dozens' of (Inland navigable waterways) marinas

That may have been in your mind, (although I doubt it  ), but it's not what you wrote.

 

You said "current marina", which is not only singular, but also personal to you.

 

 

[Momac]

3 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

Finally, it is incorrect to say that a parked car and a parked boat are the same - they are subject to quite different legislation as well as those of private land owners. 

I think it's a fair analogy. How many times have you been asked for evidence of insurance when you have moored your boat?

[Momac]

4 hours ago, LadyG said:

financial proberty

What is that?

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

22 minutes ago, MartynG said:

What is that?

 

 

 

Isn't that what happens around the age of 12-14.

[Momac]

40 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Isn't that what happens around the age of 12-14.

I see . Perhaps it's the Scottish spelling. 

[ditchcrawler]

I will tell you what mine costs next week. The very first one I had 20 years ago cost me £200+ on the Broads and I probably knew more than the examiner