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Narrow boat insurance


tosher

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As a first time buyer I am looking to insure my new boat, could anyone advise me on the best companies to deal with and the companies that should be avoided. many thanks.

 

Thanks Pie Eater and NB Alnwick for your replies, I have contacted michael Stimpson for a quote (along with a few others).

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We will shortly be insuring our boat for the first time..

I have been looking around online but none of the companies I have looked at seem to do contents...

I found one but they only do items up to £250...

I am really thinking about things like lap tops and camera equipment...

Is it the norm that the narrowboat insurance does not cover personal effects??

 

:D

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We will shortly be insuring our boat for the first time..

I have been looking around online but none of the companies I have looked at seem to do contents...

I found one but they only do items up to £250...

I am really thinking about things like lap tops and camera equipment...

Is it the norm that the narrowboat insurance does not cover personal effects??

 

:D

Most of them will do it as an extra but at a horrible price.

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As a first time buyer I am looking to insure my new boat, could anyone advise me on the best companies to deal with and the companies that should be avoided. many thanks.

 

Hi tosher, and welcome to the forum.

 

Many of us on here are with craftinsure.com

 

Prices are very reasonable and everything's a doddle to do online.

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Hi

Mardon (Micheal Stimpson) do normal narrow boat insurance, also do insurance specifically for live aboard and houseboats which will cover in much the same way as house insurance covers a house.

There rates are competitive with others when you compare the cover offered.

david

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My narrow boats have been insured with Nautical Insurance Services, Leigh-on-Sea, (01702 470811) for many years.

I have just renewed, and did an on-line quotation check with craftinsure. I found NIS to be a few quid cheaper than craftinsure, no more that £20 difference. I am paying £133 for 57ft bankside mooring being-fitted-out value £30k. They want a valuation once complete.

I have never made a claim, so can't say how they perform when under pressure.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I use Haven Knox Johnson - no issues to date.

 

The only issue I had with Stimpson (who was an absolute gentleman) was he wanted a fully up to date survey undertaken and I wasn't prepared to fork out over £400

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My narrow boats have been insured with Nautical Insurance Services, Leigh-on-Sea, (01702 470811) for many years.

I have just renewed, and did an on-line quotation check with craftinsure. I found NIS to be a few quid cheaper than craftinsure, no more that £20 difference. I am paying £133 for 57ft bankside mooring being-fitted-out value £30k. They want a valuation once complete.

I have never made a claim, so can't say how they perform when under pressure.

 

I've also been with NIS for the last 18 months but I found them quite unhelpful and obstructive when it came to raising the insured amount at my last renewal, and will go with Craftinsure next time. For higher amounts insured they are definately cheaper. Spoke to Michael Stimpson who encouraged me to insure my contents & personal effects for much more than their worth. About a week later I got a rather expensive quote over the phone and then he dropped the bombshell that the policy didn't include the personal effects and that was extra!

Edited by blackrose
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Spoke to Michael Stimpson who encouraged me to insure my contents & personal effects for much more than their worth. About a week later I got a rather expensive quote over the phone and then he dropped the bombshell that the policy didn't include the personal effects and that was extra!

That's just about the opposite of what I found with Michael Stimpson. His quote for insurance was by far the cheapest of all, this year and in the years before because I always look around when it's renewal time, and his rates for contents & personal effects were very reasonable indeed (and without a lot of the hidden small-print that made some of the other contents policies worse than useless).

 

Originally he required a survey when the boat was 15 years old, but that's now been relaxed to 20 years.

 

Allan

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That's just about the opposite of what I found with Michael Stimpson. His quote for insurance was by far the cheapest of all, this year and in the years before because I always look around when it's renewal time, and his rates for contents & personal effects were very reasonable indeed (and without a lot of the hidden small-print that made some of the other contents policies worse than useless).

 

Originally he required a survey when the boat was 15 years old, but that's now been relaxed to 20 years.

 

Allan

 

Odd that we have such different experiences with him. I think that's another reason I'll go with the MacDonalds of boat insurance companies next time - at least Craftinsure will be standardised and you know what you're getting, rather than based on how one person happens to be feeling on that particular day.

Edited by blackrose
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I had the Canal Society boats insured through Michael Stimpson and a couple of years ago, he insisted on a survey for one of the boats as she was probably about 20 years old. She is basically a metal box with a nice canopy and an outboard and the only facility she has is a wooden seat along each side. We use her for litter picks and do short. boat trip sessions on her. We had her insured for carrying passengers. I asked Mr Stimpson what sort of survey he wanted as she had no gas, inboard engine etc. Did he want a hull survey? He just kept saying that the insurance company insisted on a "full survey". Still being unsure what was to be surveyed, I phoned the insurance company on the certificate and when I gave them the policy number, the response was that that was not one of their polices and in fact they did not have the canal society boats insured with them. I spoke to Mr Stimpson about this and he said that he had actually underwritten the insurance. This didn't explain the "certificate" he had sent me. I switched both boats insurance to Mercia Marine who was cheaper and OK to deal with. And, No, they didn't want a survey of any sort. They were happy with the hull survey we had had done about 4 years previously (which Stimpson also had a copy of).

I thought long and had about writing this email as it is based on one experience but it worried me that I had been given at least one false certificate.

Haggis

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I had the Canal Society boats insured through Michael Stimpson and a couple of years ago, he insisted on a survey for one of the boats as she was probably about 20 years old. She is basically a metal box with a nice canopy and an outboard and the only facility she has is a wooden seat along each side. We use her for litter picks and do short. boat trip sessions on her. We had her insured for carrying passengers. I asked Mr Stimpson what sort of survey he wanted as she had no gas, inboard engine etc. Did he want a hull survey? He just kept saying that the insurance company insisted on a "full survey". Still being unsure what was to be surveyed, I phoned the insurance company on the certificate and when I gave them the policy number, the response was that that was not one of their polices and in fact they did not have the canal society boats insured with them. I spoke to Mr Stimpson about this and he said that he had actually underwritten the insurance. This didn't explain the "certificate" he had sent me. I switched both boats insurance to Mercia Marine who was cheaper and OK to deal with. And, No, they didn't want a survey of any sort. They were happy with the hull survey we had had done about 4 years previously (which Stimpson also had a copy of).

I thought long and had about writing this email as it is based on one experience but it worried me that I had been given at least one false certificate.

Haggis

 

Dodgy with a capital D!

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I've just had my renewal notice from Mardon. It's going to be just under £400 for boat and contents. They've insisted that I provide receipts in advance for everything I possess over a certain value; there are quite a few exclusions - my instruments, cameras, jewellery and electronic equipment. It does cover my clothes in the case of an emergency though so that's a relief! I've never claimed so I've no idea how they'd perform under pressure either. Nobody else would offer me any kind of insurance for personal effects though so it's better than nothing.

 

Jill

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I just looked back at mine from December. The boat is insured for £70k, and personal effects for £5k (I'm lucky enough to own a house as well as a boat so I get the privilege of paying for insurance on that too, so a lot of my personal effects are covered by the house insurance when I take them on the boat). The premium was £128.

 

Allan

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I just looked back at mine from December. The boat is insured for £70k, and personal effects for £5k (I'm lucky enough to own a house as well as a boat so I get the privilege of paying for insurance on that too, so a lot of my personal effects are covered by the house insurance when I take them on the boat). The premium was £128.

 

Allan

 

Well, I guess Mr Stimpson must view you as less of an insurance risk than myself then. I can't remember the exact details but I asked for a rising cover as I'm still fitting out - from about £70 - £85K. I was quoted about £400 + another £100 for personal effects.

 

Anyway, although your premium sounds cheap, after reading Haggis's post I'd check with the underwriter to see whether you're actually covered!

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I am with Mardon Marine (Michael Stimpson) as well.

Boat 92k, Personal Effects 4k. Premium is £258.00 including Marine legal cover and IPT tax and a 25% no claim bonus.

 

 

Ian

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