Boat insurance renewal - again !

[jrudge]

Was with Y now topsail who took them over.

Squadron 58 2004 £350k. Boat in Mallorca moving to Sardinia. They are using cruising area as one red herring which I can't see makes any odds at all.

With Y it was £1200. Last year £2450. This year just on £3k.

Feel scammed to be honest. Over Doubled since topsail got involved.

The marine market is slow to quote. I have made 2 quote requests and not heard back.

I wondered what others were paying for similar ish boats and who with ?

 

[PaulRainbow]

Was with Y now topsail who took them over.

Squadron 58 2004 £350k. Boat in Mallorca moving to Sardinia. They are using cruising area as one red herring which I can't see makes any odds at all.

With Y it was £1200. Last year £2450. This year just on £3k.

Feel scammed to be honest. Over Doubled since topsail got involved.

The marine market is slow to quote. I have made 2 quote requests and not heard back.

I wondered what others were paying for similar ish boats and who with ?

Not a similar boat, but the same experience with Topsail. After they took Y yacht over prices shot up. When i changed to my current boat, 2 years ago, they quoted my three times as much as other insurers, we moved, obviously.

 

[jrudge]

Who did you move to ?

 

[PaulRainbow]

Who did you move to ?

Went with Porthcawl insurance brokers, policy is with MS Amlin Insurance SE

 

[nortada]

Went with Porthcawl insurance brokers, policy is with MS Amlin Insurance SE

I have dealt with Amlin for the past 26 years (sail and power) including one €34,000 claim (not our fault).

Service excellent and premiums remain very competitive so I am completely happy with them.

 

[jfm]

I certainly don’t dispute the Y and topsail stories but my Y premium stayed basically the same after the Topsail acquisition of Y. It was 1/2pc of hull insured value. I have basically paid ballpark 1/2pc since longer than I can remember, at least since 2010 for sure. I have just arranged insurance for a new boat arriving next month and that was/is 1/2%. My brother just insured his CdM at 1/2%. Different insurer from me.

So one of the problems with topsail seems to be pricing inconsistency, which has a badwill effect imho

The only time the 1/2pc might be exceeded is for very small policies where insurer needs to recover their admin overheads - I pay more than 1/2% on an 8m rib worth £200k and insurer would not cover admin costs if premium were only £1000.

 

[jfm]

I have dealt with Amlin for the past 26 years (sail and power) including one €34,000 claim (not our fault) and am completely happy with them.

I like Amlin’s creditworthiness and policy wording too. Had many years covered by them. (Never made a claim!)

 

[Tranona]

Similar experience after Topsail took over Barry's book. OK for the first 2 years then premium shot up. The difference comes about because Y were marketing their "own" policy underwritten by Amlin. Other people were doing similar at the time. However the major insurers have stopped this sort of arrangement and Topsail is now just a broker and offer "standard" policies from for example N&G and HKJ who also market the same policies direct. I changed to GJW Direct for essentially the same cover as Topsail could offer but 30% lower.

 

[Hooligan]

I moved to Curtis Marine based on @Hurricane suggestion. Been there 3 years and premium has hardly risen. It is an Amlin policy which imho has the best wording out there. Curtis effectively been taken over by Howden now via Haven Knox Johnson and that transfer has just taken effect. I sincerely hope this does not go the way of Y/Topsail but in essence Curtis was a onseller of HKJ in effect so I am hopeful things will not change. The Curtis team has remained and I have found them enormously helpful in general. Definitely worth a try.

 

[Portofino]

I have been with the on line “ craftinsure “ for a while . They do an endorsement for Med .
Iirc it’s Zurich who are the underwriters and ( been done death on here ) there leaving the boat unattended clause suits us .In that it’s written down up front you are covered if it’s anchored on a marked anchorage on a chart , and you all go ashore .

As I feel leaving it unattended is where the greatest risk of a claim is likely to generate for our usage circumstances.
The seacocks were all renewed 2015/16 . So the “electrolysis “alleged weakness of the then Zurich policy fell pretty low in my pecking order .However everyone’s pecking orders and perceived risk deck of cards is gonna be shuffled differently.
Like any insurance policy you need to read the T + C s and take advise ….ask them , present scenarios like I did with Amlin and unattended and valuation with Zurich and Amlin .

Never made a claim in 19 yrs of Med boating mind .

They did when the boat passed 20 yr insist on a insurance survey irrc valid for 7 yrs ?- you will need to check that .
This was done by a Italian surveyor which I paid cash ( significantly less than the advertised ) who my guardian put me in touch with .
Simultaneously I had it re valued which the ins Co accepted .

Previously to this I had discussions with Amlin both on the unattended @ anchor and valuation .
Frustratingly hit dead ends with both .

Problem for me is / was my boats increased significantly in value since 2014 when I bought it .This runs against actuarial support so I needed a professional valuation .They didn’t work on tinternet evidence only your original BoS or a recent survey valuation.

Re valuation it was triggered by me simply at one renew application ( both Amlin/ Zurich) the broker coming back and enquiring why it’s gone up .As I said after a telephone conversation with both representative brokers , they said I could only insure it for the BoS value in the absence of a proper professional valuation to support said increase.

Don’t know how many others out there on this forum have had a conversation about valuation payouts ….with the horses mouth ?

You might get yours under £ 2 K if you work up there online application?

 

[dustywings]

I am also with Amlin through Porthcawl, premiums have risen slightly over the last few years but nothing unexpected or to complain about.

 

[Momac]

After the move from Y to Topsail I paid less .
Topsail are brokers while Y wrote their own policy.
Despite an increase in premium this year I am still paying less than when last with 'Y' a few years ago.

The renewal which I have just paid was an above inflation increase over last year. I did not find time to shop for alternatives.
Its a Haven KJ all weather policy which is Amlin and with a modest excess.
I have in the past looked for other competitive prices but Topsail have been competitive within a few pounds. Usually the competitors offer something less eg a bigger excess.

 

[Tranona]

Re valuation it was triggered by me simply at one renew application ( both Amlin/ Zurich) the broker coming back and enquiring why it’s gone up .As I said after a telephone conversation with both representative brokers , they said I could only insure it for the BoS value in the absence of a proper professional valuation to support said increase.

Pretty standard practice to guard against fraud through over insurance. However insurers are aware of increases in value in recent years and in fact my insurer advised to check value of boat to avoid underinsurance. Obviously need some sort of "professional" confirmation of value rather than self declaration.

 

[Hooligan]

There are no issues re unattended with a standard Amlin policy anywhere you would as a sensible person anchor. Unless unattended for over 24 hours which frankly is irresponsible anyway. And they will confirm this. I had a massive claim and I mean massive - not related to unattended at anchor to be clear - and Amlin were unbelievably responsive in every way.

 

[Alicatt]

I'm with AG Insurance in Belgium, original quote for my little boat was €150ish, that was using the boat without a licence, once I had given them my ICC with CEVNI then the insurance dropped to €68.

 

[julians]

We insure our axopar through pantaneous, boat berthed in majorca, the cost follows jfms 0.5% of the boat value rule, or did last year at least, haven't had this year's renewal yet.

 

[jrudge]

So I went to Curtis. It as Topsail had quoted they quoted the same as topsail.

To me this is a cartel. It is not in the consumers interest.

In particular Hooligan has has no significant increases via Curtis

To me this seems well worth a report to the competition and market authority.

The market is thin and if they all collude ( they plainly had as they told me the quote would be the same as I was quoted by topsail as it has already been quoted ) this this is unlawful.

 

[jcwads]

Im with Pantaenius this year. Great deal and seems a good policy. They were miles more efficient and cost effective to others

 

[Chris H]

Was with Y now topsail who took them over.

Squadron 58 2004 £350k. Boat in Mallorca moving to Sardinia. They are using cruising area as one red herring which I can't see makes any odds at all.

With Y it was £1200. Last year £2450. This year just on £3k.

Feel scammed to be honest. Over Doubled since topsail got involved.

The marine market is slow to quote. I have made 2 quote requests and not heard back.

I wondered what others were paying for similar ish boats and who with ?

I’m with GJW, my premium actually dropped this year, just under £1,600.00, with similar boat.

 

[Martxer]

I am with GJW renewal quote £52 less than last year.