Big y insurance increase

[jrudge]

Just got my renewal ( which specially mentions that the ybw forum thinks it is a great policy)

premium was £ 1422 now £ 1979. That is 40%

Cover letter

Another year has passed and we are still not aware of the implications of Brexit to trading in the EU. As I explained in last year’s renewal letter, we now have a company Y Yacht Assurances France EURL registered in France and regulated by the French regulator ORIAS. Irrespective of what happens with Brexit in 2020 or beyond we will be able to look after both our UK and EU clients sailing in different parts of the world.
I now come onto the thorny subject of premium rates and increases. Firstly I thank you for your loyalty and understanding for the necessary increase last year, caused by underwriters paying out more on claims than they were receiving in premiums. The need to cover the previous eight years 25% inflationary cost of claims was a major reason for the large increase. Our admitted mistake was not increasing premiums at all during the eight years.
I make no secret of the fact that claims in the Mediterranean have continued to rise at an alarming rate. In 2019 the amount paid out in claims for sailing boats in the Mediterranean by our underwriters MS Amlin SE has been more than double the amount they have received in premiums from us. Lightning strikes are one of the major costs of these claims. Those of you with sailing boats in the Mediterranean will notice a substantial increase in your renewal premium this year. Last year those cruising in all areas suffered a substantial increase in premiums, part of which was to cover Mediterranean losses. This year it must be those cruising in this area who will pay for the higher risk. Motor boat claims in the Mediterranean are less substantial than sailing boat claims.
Another reason for high claims comes from sailing yachts racing. We are no longer covering those seriously racing, and those who have local club racing agreed on their Certificates will have an additional 10% added to their premium. Those who no longer wish to race should let us know and we will remove this addition.
I never wish to have to increase premiums by such a large extent again. In 2020 most will have a small increase in premium of about 5% to cover inflation, and I hope it will only be necessary to ask for similar increases, at the most, every other year.
Some of you who are not in the Mediterranean may have a higher increase in premium than 5% for 2020. The reason for this is that your premium rate needs to be the same as the majority of clients with similar risks in the same area i.e. the Caribbean, and the same as we would quote for new clients.
Once again, I thank you all for your loyalty, and remind you that our clauses offer the highest levels of cover, which is one reason why our claims are proving so expensive to underwriters.
I wish you all a great time at sea and on your boats.

I think it was £1200 2 years ago so the rise is huge.

 

[Portofino]

Are you going to shop around .....and scrutinise any policies if you get a significantly lower quote then the Amlin £1979 ?

For reference I was ( via Coleman’s) with Amlin s @£525 a couple of years ago , now with Zurich circa £800 .Iirc ? Amlins was £1200 @ the last renewal invite ?

As said previously I was also looking for better cover regarding how we use our boat ...leaving it unattended @ anchor .
Zurich s currently is better it’s terms are written down in the policy .
They are fine unattended on a marked anchorages in charts / pilot books .
Amlin are silent so some on here think the “ all risk covers it “ but I ( via the broker ) asked for written clarification and got back something along the lines of it need to be returnable within 1/2 hr and always in line of sight ....talking unattended@ anchor .
They talked of refuting playing the reckless or poor seamanship card .
Just a bit restrictive in the Med if you all go ashore and the skipper has to permanently keep eyes on the boat .
The downer for some , more so high end is a Zurich clause of offering a “similar boat “ instead of cash if a total loss .
I understand that s virtually never happens .As said previously I have no issues with a Pershing , Otam , Baia or Magnum in the unlikely event I ended in that predicament.

Of course each to there own assessment on both of these two risks .

 

[BruceK]

I'm currently with Zurich, got a better quote from Y but hesitating over the whole Brexit thing and being slammed with a major increase after what I presume is an introductory offer. I'll probably do what I always do. Keep my head down and see what next year brings.

 

[Old Harry]

we all had that same letter, mine went up 17.5% UK based, you being Meddy based has caused your greater increase

 

[petem]

Are you going to shop around .....and scrutinise any policies if you get a significantly lower quote then the Amlin £1979 ?

For reference I was ( via Coleman’s) with Amlin s @£525 a couple of years ago , now with Zurich circa £800 .Iirc ? Amlins was £1200 @ the last renewal invite ?

As said previously I was also looking for better cover regarding how we use our boat ...leaving it unattended @ anchor .
Zurich s currently is better it’s terms are written down in the policy .
They are fine unattended on a marked anchorages in charts / pilot books .
Amlin are silent so some on here think the “ all risk covers it “ but I ( via the broker ) asked for written clarification and got back something along the lines of it need to be returnable within 1/2 hr and always in line of sight ....talking unattended@ anchor .
They talked of refuting playing the reckless or poor seamanship card .
Just a bit restrictive in the Med if you all go ashore and the skipper has to permanently keep eyes on the boat .
The downer for some , more so high end is a Zurich clause of offering a “similar boat “ instead of cash if a total loss .
I understand that s virtually never happens .As said previously I have no issues with a Pershing , Otam , Baia or Magnum in the unlikely event I ended in that predicament.

Of course each to there own assessment on both of these two risks .

Honestly, Porto that Zurich / N&G policy has some truly awful clauses within it (far worse than your imaginary 'Y' policy defect). Try reading it with a critical eye.

 

[MapisM]

Zurich s currently is better it’s terms are written down in the policy .
They are fine unattended on a marked anchorages in charts / pilot books.

In other words, they are useless to Itama owners, who are known to leave their pride and joy unattended anywhere but in marked anchorages... ?

 

[MapisM]

I think it was £1200 2 years ago so the rise is huge.

Nothing really new under the sun, in fact.
See this other thread on 2019 renewals...

 

[jrudge]

Indeed but the rise was not 40%!

 

[MapisM]

Agreed.
Anyhow, when evaluating the premium, it's fair to consider the percentage vs. insured values, more than anything else.
Imho, up to 0.5% is reasonable, sort of. But I suspect that their last offer which you mention in your OP goes above that limit.
Should they ask me a similar increase upon next renewal, I might consider having no insurance at all.
Aside from the mandatory T.P. coverage, whose cost is trivial anyhow.
After all, with 3 decades of boating (and counting) and a zero claims history, what can possibly go wrong...?

 

[Portofino]

Agreed.
Anyhow, when evaluating the premium, it's fair to consider the percentage vs. insured values, more than anything else.
Imho, up to 0.5% is reasonable, sort of. But I suspect that their last offer which you mention in your OP goes above that limit.
Should they ask me a similar increase upon next renewal, I might consider having no insurance at all.
Aside from the mandatory T.P. coverage, whose cost is trivial anyhow.
After all, with 3 decades of boating (and counting) and a zero claims history, what can possibly go wrong...?

Who are you with at the moment P ?
Reason I ask we have a Generali office across the road from our marina they do boat insurance .
Was wondering before the next renewal of wondering in and working up a quote .


@ Pete I have just re read both Amlin ( from the net - there site ) and the Zurich policy sent from Colemans ......and the difference that potential effect me are the two I quoted ^^^^ in post #2 .
They ( indeed all boat ins ) are regularly adapting .Nothing unusual about hopping about transferring the NCD theses days .

 

[petem]

@ Pete I have just re read both Amlin ( from the net - there site ) and the Zurich policy sent from Colemans ......and the difference that potential effect me are the two I quoted ^^^^ in post #2 .
They ( indeed all boat ins ) are regularly adapting .Nothing unusual about hopping about transferring the NCD theses days .

Good luck then!

 

[Chris H]

I ended up using Only Yacht for 1700euro, including being able to leave the boat on anchor with nobody onboard or line of sight, most were £1900+ Inc Colmans, some wouldnt quote due to lack of experience.

 

[Momac]

Are you old enough to consider Saga Insurance for a comparison?

 

[superheat6k]

I don't care how well spoken on Y Yachts are on here - if they front me with another 40% hike this year that is exactly what I wil be doing - off to another broker !

 

[Momac]

I have tried elsewhere but not found anything cheaper by any significant sum and some a lot more than Y . The only one a little cheaper is Saga but with more get out clauses.
Increases in premiums seem to me industry wide.

Note premiums with Y are proportionate to insured value to anyone asking for a higher agreed value will be charged accordingly.

At the renewal invitation I increased my potential cruising range with Y and they promptly agreed to that at no extra charge. I am sticking with Y.

.

 

[Zing]

I got a 40% increase notice today also. It’ll be back to Pants I expect.

 

[MapisM]

Who are you with at the moment P ?
Reason I ask we have a Generali office across the road from our marina they do boat insurance .
Was wondering before the next renewal of wondering in and working up a quote .

I'm with Y since I bought the DP, mostly along the lines of CYA, with a new to me boat.
In fact, I used to have only a T.P. liability coverage with the previous one.
Which is also the reason why, if the Y premium would become too high, I might consider reverting to self-insure my own boat and pay for T.P. only.
In which case, Generali would definitely be my first port of call, since that's what I used to have with the old boat.
Btw, their premium for T.P. coverage alone was very reasonable indeed.
But afaik they only deal with IT registered boats, so you could be unable to go with them.
Worth checking anyway - something could have changed in the meantime, and I might as well not remember correctly.

 

[Keith-i]

Sadly it’s an insurance wide underwriter issue at the moment. I gather LLoyds have insisted that premiums are raised to match payouts. It has seriously affected PI insurance in construction industry with some premiums doubling and some companies unable to get cover at all.

 

[Illusion]

Have received the same letter and also a significant increase in this years premium, this on top of a large increase last year!
Just to run salt into the wound the reason provided for the increase, bares little relevance to me, with a UK based powerboat.
I’ve been with Y now for several years based on the good reviews the policy got on here and although never made a claim, have always been impressed with their service levels. However this increase has now made me review the situation. Y have suggested a move from MS Amlin and are now offering a quote with Navigators & General, but so far no confirmed price or details of how the cover may differ. However looks like another review of insurance cover and costs is going to be needed?
Does anyone know anything about N&G, how their cover may differ in contrast to someone like Pantaenius, who also seemed to get good reviews?

 

[oldgit]

With Saga and before that Craftinsure, both paid up promptly after two self inflicted damage claims.