Boat insurance up from £572 to £921 Ouch!

[Hooligan]

By way of an update... I had a second quote from Topsail with an Amlin policy which was better but still way up on last year. Ended up going for the same Amlin policy through Porthcawl for a price which was less than I paid last year with Y!

Personally i think you have the deal of the century on your S58 at last year’s price. I am sure that things like value insured may differ but reading the many posts over the past year on insurance i surmise that for a S58 in the med you would be looking at circa £2k. What baffles me is that it is usually always the same underwriters ie Amlin, N&G etc but vastly different prices. Time for a comment from JFM i think......perhaps persuade him to return to help out.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I just got my renewal from craftinsure. 7.5% lower than last year.

... I cannot fault CraftInsure for settlement of my claim when I wrecked my stbd engine. I had only been with them a fortnight...

Um, interesting. Mine due in about 6 weeks time, currently with Y aka Topsail, I'll get a Craftinsure quote.
Anything bothersome about the policy wording / terms?

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Just done a quick online quote, Craftinsure is coming out about 8% cheaper than current year Y policy. Be interesting to read and compare the policy wording terms.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Proof of the pudding is in the eating and I cannot fault CraftInsure for settlement of my claim when I wrecked my stbd engine. I had only been with them a fortnight ! That was after several years with Y, when I got fed up with compound increases year on year, and nonsense about high claims in the Med. The issue was clearly somone shaping up a business to sell, and it was us mugs who assisted this process.

For me whether or not an insurance company has a record of settling claims fairly and promptly is more important than a few quid either way on the premium. I'm with Y (Topsail) currently but your experience with Craftinsure would give me some comfort to change if Y's premium goes up again this year

So anyone looking at this thread care to tell us about their claim experiences, good or bad, with marine insurance co's?

 

[DavidJ]

Just done a quick online quote, Craftinsure is coming out about 8% cheaper than current year Y policy. Be interesting to read and compare the policy wording terms.

Re Craftinsure
Not keen on
“Unattended = When you, or someone appointed by you, is not in a position to monitor the boat and be able to go to her immediate aid when needed.”

In the Med, attaching to a buoy or anchoring up and visiting a beach restaurant is one of the joys.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Unattended 'except on a recognised mooring'. A buoy would presumably comply but anchoring not? Or what. That term is not defined even though it's linked.

 

[Osmosis]

In terms of insurance coverage check the wording and then the after sales service .

For what its worth and out of general interest MSAmlin now Aston Lark , SAGA, GJW , Nautical , Noble and Navigators and General (direct) I believe offered some of the widest cover from various forum posts that I recall.
Y used to be up there as well .


Craftinsure appeared to have limited insurance coverage including the right to replace your boat or something like that.

Jfm was always on the ball with his views on policy wording .Need him back.

 

[DavidJ]

Unattended 'except on a recognised mooring'. A buoy would presumably comply but anchoring not? Or what. That term is not defined even though it's linked.

The kind of buoys I’m thinking about are the temporary buoys that the local authority put out in bays for environmental reasons and not a marinas swinging moorings which should come under the category “recognised mooring”

Agree JFM recall

 

[DavidJ]

Topsail
Unattended - where the Vessel is unoccupied and neither You nor any permitted user or guardian are in a position to keep it under constant observation and at the same time have a reasonable prospect of preventing any unauthorised interference.

I should add
You are not covered for any claim arising:
from sinking or swamping whilst the Vessel is unattended afloat if the Vessel is less than 17 feet length overall and the Maximum Designed Speed is in excess of 17 knots, unless agreed by Us.

which I guess implies that at 37ft I’m ok

Craftinsure
“Unattended = When you, or someone appointed by you, is not in a position to monitor the boat and be able to go to her immediate aid when needed.”

what is not insured
Loss or damage whilst the craft is left unattended afloat

 

[Elessar]

Um, interesting. Mine due in about 6 weeks time, currently with Y aka Topsail, I'll get a Craftinsure quote.
Anything bothersome about the policy wording / terms?

JFM said it was ok ish worst thing was in a total loss they can give you a boat instead of the cash at their discretion.
Why they’d want to be bothered doing that beats me but if you’ve a very unique or custom boat that could be a show stopper.
As yours is nearly new it has an easily defined value it wouldn’t bother me.
Their claims process has been faultless on the 3 times I’ve used it.

no 1 bloke moved his chocks in the yard and his fell on mine. All monies recovered but they took the hassle.
no 2 a skipper / sailing school owner crunched mine whilst using it with my permission - about £10k.
No 3 a floating block wedged between the marina and my boat and spent a couple of days picking away at the gel coat. About £2k.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

JFM said it was ok ish worst thing was in a total loss they can give you a boat instead of the cash at their discretion.
Why they’d want to be bothered doing that beats me but if you’ve a very unique or custom boat that could be a show stopper.
As yours is nearly new it has an easily defined value it wouldn’t bother me.
Their claims process has been faultless on the 3 times I’ve used it.

no 1 bloke moved his chocks in the yard and his fell on mine. All monies recovered but they took the hassle.
no 2 a skipper / sailing school owner crunched mine whilst using it with my permission - about £10k.
No 3 a floating block wedged between the marina and my boat and spent a couple of days picking away at the gel coat. About £2k.

Yes thanks. And establishing a 'market value' for a popular product sold in volume isn't too difficult. The claims process is a valuable indicator I think. Total loss hopefuly a lot less likely than relatively minor bumps and damages.

 

[Chris H]

Mines due in a few weeks, I’m with only yacht at the min.

 

[Hurricane]

JFM said it was ok ish worst thing was in a total loss they can give you a boat instead of the cash at their discretion.
Why they’d want to be bothered doing that beats me but if you’ve a very unique or custom boat that could be a show stopper.
As yours is nearly new it has an easily defined value it wouldn’t bother me.
Their claims process has been faultless on the 3 times I’ve used it.

no 1 bloke moved his chocks in the yard and his fell on mine. All monies recovered but they took the hassle.
no 2 a skipper / sailing school owner crunched mine whilst using it with my permission - about £10k.
No 3 a floating block wedged between the marina and my boat and spent a couple of days picking away at the gel coat. About £2k.

Are you referring to Craftinsure?
Is it Craftinsure that you are insured with?

 

[superheat6k]

Just as an aside when CraftInsure paid my claim the payment was from Zurich.

 

[Hooligan]

For me whether or not an insurance company has a record of settling claims fairly and promptly is more important than a few quid either way on the premium. I'm with Y (Topsail) currently but your experience with Craftinsure would give me some comfort to change if Y's premium goes up again this year

So anyone looking at this thread care to tell us about their claim experiences, good or bad, with marine insurance co's?

I had what can only be described as a huge claim that ended up being more than the insured value of the boat. It was Amlins. I have to say that they were fantastic throughout the process. The problem however with any claim this big is that it follows you around even if I had no fault for the problem.

On the issue of wording ie leaving the boat unattended, this wording is critical and really needs to be understood. At my renewal I specifically asked and received clarification on this one.

 

[Elessar]

Are you referring to Craftinsure?
Is it Craftinsure that you are insured with?

Yes x2

 

[Portofino]

On the issue of wording ie leaving the boat unattended, this wording is critical and really needs to be understood. At my renewal I specifically asked and received clarification on this one.

Agree ^^^
Its swings it ( scus the pun ) every time at renewal , they do evolve so worth finding out .
Would you mind sharing the last clarification ?

My current due Nov so live this coming season is it’s covered to leave it unattended on a marked anchorage on a chart / plotter .
I can venture out of sight ie roam about inland and theres no specific time limit .Not that I am not gonna return to overnight anyhow , but I did ask and yes , even that wound be ok within reason . For example you end up hospitalised , clipped by a scooter knocked unconscious and are admitted for 24 hrs observation .
Perfectly calm balmy Med evening in a protected bay weather wise , nice to know the boats still covered .

 

[Hooligan]

Agree ^^^
Its swings it ( scus the pun ) every time at renewal , they do evolve so worth finding out .
Would you mind sharing the last clarification ?

My current due Nov so live this coming season is it’s covered to leave it unattended on a marked anchorage on a chart / plotter .
I can venture out of sight ie roam about inland and theres no specific time limit .Not that I am not gonna return to overnight anyhow , but I did ask and yes , even that wound be ok within reason . For example you end up hospitalised , clipped by a scooter knocked unconscious and are admitted for 24 hrs observation .
Perfectly calm balmy Med evening in a protected bay weather wise , nice to know the boats still covered .

The wording of my policy left a little confusion. So i specifically asked whether i was covered if away from the boat when on anchor or a buoy. The answer was Yes provided i was not anchored in a dangerous place. Now i appreciate that this leaves open to some interpretation BUT when i asked again the message was that if i chose to anchor somewhere that was known to be dangerous then i would have liability. Given that we generally anchor in known anchorages on charts etc then i am satisfied. I have all this in writing.

 

[dustywings]

Personally i think you have the deal of the century on your S58 at last year’s price. I am sure that things like value insured may differ but reading the many posts over the past year on insurance i surmise that for a S58 in the med you would be looking at circa £2k. What baffles me is that it is usually always the same underwriters ie Amlin, N&G etc but vastly different prices. Time for a comment from JFM i think......perhaps persuade him to return to help out.

Yes I was happy although I should say it was only £30.00 less than last year but good to be going in the right direction! I was happy with the Amlin policy wording too, Craftinsure were actually £100 cheaper but for me personally the wording was not as good, which has been documented here already.

 

[Chris H]

Mines due in a few weeks, I’m with only yacht at the min.

Just came in at the same cost as last year @ 1850 Euro.