insurance survey

Bodach na mara

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I considered the difference between prepurchase and insurance surveys 5 years ago when I was buying my current boat. In simple terms a repurchase survey highlights every defect that the surveyor can find and includes a list of recommendations to put them right. If you present this to an insurance company they will offer insurance only if "all recommendations in the survey are completed." Which can cost a lot of money and time.

An insurance survey on the other hand focuses on major defects only and concludes with a statement about whether the vessel is an insurable risk and whether anything has to done to ensure that.

I got 3 quotes which ranged from £360 to £800. Generally a repurchase quote was not different from an insurance quote, indeed two surveyors said that they did the same job for either, only the report document differed. As the boat was in good order and a lot younger than the one I had just sold, I went with the cheapest quote from a surveyor who had surveyed another boat that I had previously considered and rejected when his survey found the need for some major repairs. The survey report was supplied either as a PDF or for £25 more in print.
Maybe it was because I was a previous customer but after I bought the boat he offered a free PDF of the insurance version.
 

oldmanofthehills

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I bought recent boat on basis of failed/retracted purchasers survey. My insurers wanted us to have full insurance survey next season (2019) and I wanted one where I could question the surveyor on detail. It cost £380 in Cornwall as far as I recall, and I declared to insurers that I had remedied all defects directly or indirectly, and I also was reassured by surveyor about lightness of standing rigging as he pointed out masts were held up by more stays than on my old boat. Good value

We had our old boat surveyed for insurance at about same time and it cost £420 in Somerset and again I declared all defects remedied, though that was mainly changing sink drain seacocks to modern ball valve type - which helped potential buyer next year to be confident about bidding without putting money down for his own survey. So that boat now sold last year
 
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