Blue Water Insurance Rates

Spacewaist

Spacewaist

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Planning a blue water cruise from next summer, my mind has turned to insurance. I have quotations from Pantaenius, Admiral and GH/Topsail. I am UK based.

I have been amazed at some of the "heroic" rates proposed (2.2% of sum insured for the Pacific) and some of the proposed exclusions (losses while the vessel is left unattended other than in a secure marina).

Can anyone point to a good no-nonsense insurer that will provide sensible cruising cover at reasonable rates?
 
Well, as you have quotes from 3 of the major insurers in this field you have probably got a competitive rate. No such thing as cheap insurance - only insurance that covers you for the risk. If the risk is high the premium is high. Reduction in premium usually means reduction in cover.
 
Back in the 90s my deductible (ie excess) for the Pacific was £2000, for the Red Sea it was £5000. It certainly helped to concentrate the mind!

You haven't said where you are starting from. My insurer (Pantaenius) always quoted in stages. Eg UK down to Canaries to Gib sort of thing. When you wanted to cross the Atlantic the cover & cost was adjusted accordingly for one Atlantic crossing & the Carribean Islands. And so on.

As Tranona says, insurance isn't cheap for out of the way destinations. You need to be with an insurer who has a good record of support in times of crisis & of ultimately paying out - Pantaenius is one such insurer.
 
Insurance

I have found also Pantaenius very helpful & often open to last minute negotiation when you may have to go to a country/harbour on passage which is on their excluded list, for example. Their policy for lay up in the Caribbean is also very realistic - you can lay up ashore almost anywhere provided you are on a concrete base and anchored down. This is much better than having to go to (say) Trinidad as an 'out of the hurricane risk zone' (& it is not really!) Trinidad did not comply with Pantaenius requirements anyway at my last check.
Unfortunately sailing around the oceans is not only higher risk but more importantly attracts much higher repair costs if you are remotely situated eg getting a mast to a distant port after a dismasting.
You may wish to consider 3rd party only insurance and carry the risk yourself.
Good hunting!
 
Quite a lot of people don't bother, 2 or even 3k a year soon adds up. In a bar in Brazil the chat went this way and out of maybe half a dozen boats none were insured. Biggest danger is possibly dragging anchor and hitting someone else, that could seriously dent your budget, that and maybe a lightning strike. Pesonal choice, no one blue water goes near marinas, last liftout in Caribbean I just lied like everyone else.
 
SimonJ said:
Unfortunately sailing around the oceans is not only higher risk but more importantly attracts much higher repair costs if you are remotely situated eg getting a mast to a distant port after a dismasting.
You may wish to consider 3rd party only insurance and carry the risk yourself.
Good hunting!
Click to expand...

+1 Spot on, Me Too. Its the cost of repairs allied to the risk of incurring them while sailing in strange "first time" waters that bumps up the cost.
 
Conachair said:
Quite a lot of people don't bother, 2 or even 3k a year soon adds up. In a bar in Brazil the chat went this way and out of maybe half a dozen boats none were insured.
Click to expand...

As the departure date approaches, I've been giving this some thought.
First reflex was not to bother too, but on second thoughts, I don't think I could afford not to insure.
Should anything serious happen to the boat, we'd be penniless.
 
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I went thrid party only. It is one thing accepting the risk of loosing your boat. If you loose it in a harbour/on a reef/get t-boned you have probably slipped up on other things that the premium would have dealt with (bigger anchor, warps, 24 hour watch etc), if you go down at sea (run down, oevrwhelmed etc) you probably go with the boat so who cares?

However, if you damage someone else, or collide with them (Super yacht) and they have deeper pockets, then 3rd party keeps you afloat and out of trouble. I went Pantaenius for very little cost, even Red Sea, then fully comp for the Med only.
 
Guapa said:
As the departure date approaches, I've been giving this some thought.
First reflex was not to bother too, but on second thoughts, I don't think I could afford not to insure.
Should anything serious happen to the boat, we'd be penniless.
Click to expand...

It's a dilemma.

I insured for the same reason - the money I had sunk into my boat in the 90s was something I could not really afford to lose even though I had savings which were invested & gave income for our low-budget cruising lifestyle.

I too met a few boats that weren't insured by choice and a few like me who were.

One insured boat (a friend) ended up on reefs twice in its time in the Pacific - skipper & crew were experienced sailors but had made fundamental errors - one was caused by tiredness after a particularly arduous passage. Both times (the 2nd time being particularly expensive) the insurance company (Pantaenius) arranged repair & paid the bills. Without insurance, their cruising days would have been over.

Another NZ yacht ended a long way up on a reef, pushed by heavy seas in strong SE Trades.

I met the skipper in Tahiti where his badly damaged boat had been towed by the French Salvage tug that had cost him thousands of pounds to hire. The yacht had been dragged unceremoniously & with some violence a couple of hundred metres across the coral into deep water - it was the only way.

I asked him if he was insured. He said no, his boat was steel and his 'insurance' had been 4 big anchors. This wasn't much use to him when he made an error transposing his GPS position to his chart, which was probably 2 miles out in accuracy anyway. I hope he completed his circumnavigation. What he had to pay out would have meant the end of our adventure if it had happened to us.

That year in the Pacific 8 boats that I knew of ended up on reefs.

All I know is that I prefer to have cover if I can afford it. If there was no option I would take my chance with the boat but would look for 3rd party cover.

Below - 1 of the 8
A yacht’s dying moments on the reef at Manihi Atoll.The skipper
had fallen a sleep waiting for daylight before entering the pass. The two
men and two women with an eighteen month old baby waded ashore
suffering cuts and bruises. The GRP yacht broke up soon after.
 
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Spacewaist said:
Planning a blue water cruise from next summer, my mind has turned to insurance. I have quotations from Pantaenius, Admiral and GH/Topsail. I am UK based.

I have been amazed at some of the "heroic" rates proposed (2.2% of sum insured for the Pacific) and some of the proposed exclusions (losses while the vessel is left unattended other than in a secure marina).

Can anyone point to a good no-nonsense insurer that will provide sensible cruising cover at reasonable rates?
Click to expand...

I have been sailing without a claim for many many years. I am now having a bit of difficulty insuring because the brokers I have contacted will not insure a boat older than 15 years old.

The Insurance I have now (mis-named Atlantic IMHO) will not insure anything below a certain size but they have recommended Pantaenius. However, I will have to accept third Party only. Seems that insurance companies are cherry picking on the yacht details rather than Skipper experience.

EDIT ... Atlantic Ins Co Ltd mis-named because they will not insure any boat sailing in Atlantic coast irrespective of size. Weird eh.
 
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Insurance

We had our boat severely damaged in Hurricane Ivan in Grenada in 2004. Many of the boats in the yard had no insurance and had to pay just to get their boats lifted $7000 was the going rate at one stage, although I think it got cheaper. Pantaenius had to lift loads of them to get to their boats. We were insured with Pantaenius and it was worth every penny for the oustanding services they provided and for our peace of mind.
 
an example of cost grand soleil 46.3 fully comp.

My boat costs £1000 yr for cruising /racing as far as la rochelle from base in Jersey
£1600 to include skippered charter with commercially endorsed y'master(day sailing).
6 month trip to canaries and carribean +£1500 non charter. so that 6 months costs £2000 or £80/week for insurance.

bob
 
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