Boat Insurance

[charles_reed]

As Pete has already pointed out - boat insurance, unlike car insurance is infinitely variable and all the variations are in the policy wording.
So each insurer has his own particular set of requirements and offers.
The best you can do is to go to a good broker (most of the names bandied about are those of brokers).
Unfortunately there is no way you know what you're getting until the offer has been made, the terms wil change from year-to-year. Most insurers don't insist on rigging replacement every 10 years or any other period, most require a survey after 20 years and then at regular periods thereafter (mine demands one @ 7 year periods). Most insurers won't cover single handing, those who do place a limit (usually to daylight hours).
On the whole you get rather more generous terms from Lloyds Underwriters who specialise in leisure boat insurance than you do from big companies. The only claim I know out of which underwriters have wriggled out was Zurich through Navigators General.

 

[Fantasie 19]

Depending on where you will keep your boat, as they are pickey re locations, try Craftinsure for a quote. They are online at http://www.craftinsure.com and underwritten by Pantius. Even if you don't use them you will get the feel for what is asked / required and cost.

+1

Had a dismasting about 3 months after first taking insurance with them four or five years ago - very helpful and paid on the dot (and the following year the price didn't increase) been with them ever since...

 

[V1701]

If you do decide to go for comprehensive, have a look at Yachting 24 (online). They do not insist on a survey for older boats & are underwritten by Pantaenius who have a good (poss. the best) reputation for claims handling. I've read a couple of reports of good claims handling by them on here & have been insured with them myself, premiums are very competitive...

 

[sailorman]

If you do decide to go for comprehensive, have a look at Yachting 24 (online). They do not insist on a survey for older boats & are underwritten by Pantaenius who have a good (poss. the best) reputation for claims handling. I've read a couple of reports of good claims handling by them on here & have been insured with them myself, premiums are very competitive...

Like all boat Ins
Read the policy wording

 

[LadyInBed]

I used Craftinsure for a few years. Their policy is underwritten by Zurich Insurance.

On behalf of Craftinsure Limited trading as craftinsure.com, Underwriting Agents for Navigators & General (a trading
name of Zurich Insurance plc)

I can't think why I thought it was Pants!

 

[macd]

Most insurers won't cover single handing, those who do place a limit (usually to daylight hours).

For the most part yes, but certainly not universally so. The only limit mine (Bluefin/Bishop Skinner) placed on single-handing was for Atlantic crossings, but allowed it for such as Canaries to Cape Verdes (and I did very specifically check). By then I'd been with them for around eight years: they weren't so liberal earlier, although at no time limited me to daylight hours. No specified intervals for rigging replacement, either.

 

[BrianH]

For the most part yes, but certainly not universally so. The only limit mine (Bluefin/Bishop Skinner) placed on single-handing was for Atlantic crossings, but allowed it for such as Canaries to Cape Verdes (and I did very specifically check). By then I'd been with them for around eight years: they weren't so liberal earlier, although at no time limited me to daylight hours. No specified intervals for rigging replacement, either.

This part (in Bold) seems essential to me. I was puzzled by the original post that mentioned only daylight coverage. It seems too restrictive to me ... any passage can take longer than expected and leave one at sea after nightfall, it has happened to me often despite planning to arrive at an anchorage during daylight.

I specifically asked Yachting24 (the online arm of Pantaenius) if I was covered for single-handed cruising - my usual situation - and was answered in the affirmative with no conditional times or area mentioned. I would not have been content with anything else.

 

[johnphilip]

Depending on where you will keep your boat, as they are pickey re locations, try Craftinsure for a quote. They are online at www.craftinsure.com and underwritten by Pantius. Even if you don't use them you will get the feel for what is asked / required and cost.

+1 for Craftinsure, very good when a bashed by a cowboy from Kent from astern who claimed it was our fault. They had to employ solicitors to make him go away but once done restored our No Claim. Good renewal price this year too.

 

[macd]

This part (in Bold) seems essential to me. I was puzzled by the original post that mentioned only daylight coverage. It seems too restrictive to me ... any passage can take longer than expected and leave one at sea after nightfall, it has happened to me often despite planning to arrive at an anchorage during daylight.

You're dead right, but whether it's daylight or a time on passages, such conditions just don't make sense in the real world. Say you're on passage and have two hours to go before night falls or the insurance time limit expires. You can make your intended landfall at Port X in one hour. But in the (unforecast) prevailing conditions as the time the pilot book describes entry as dangerous, so you do the prudent thing and turn back out to sea. There is no viable alternative harbour within the insurance window. (It's easy to envisage such circumstances off south Brittany or Portugal, where plenty of yotties have died making for harbour when it was ill-advised.)

Are you still insured? It's hard to believe your policy could in effect require you to risk your boat, much less your life; but it's equally hard to believe that all insurance companies would adopt a flexible and realistic view of such circumstances.

 

[pvb]

Just another important point if your singlehanded cover says "daylight". Insurers would usually take this as meaning from sunrise to sunset. Sunset time is quite a bit earlier than darkness!

 

[CoVianna]

Thanks chaps. Have insured through CraftInsure. Was very painless online. Just hope I never have to claim!

 

[LadyInBed]

Thanks chaps. Have insured through CraftInsure. Was very painless online. Just hope I never have to claim!

PM me your policy # so I can get my introduction fee

 

[johnphilip]

PM me your policy # so I can get my introduction fee

And me

 

[johnphilip]

PM me your policy # so I can get my introduction fee

Me Too