Insurance claim or not?

RogerJolly

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Is it worth making a claim on your insurance, or do you end up just paying it all back in the end in increased premiums?

If you do end up paying it all back, might as well just bank your premiums and build up your own disaster fund.
 
It depends on your insurance company. I have been with the same insurer for over 20 years and have had a couple of claims which did not affect my premiums. There is no no-claims bonus involved though having a "protected" one for car insurance certainly does not stop them from raising premiums the following year.
 
The O.P could take out third party only insurance for the big risks . Then put some money aside for his own funding of damages to his boat . Thats what I do and marinas etc accept TP insurance so no problem there . I find T.P cover very good value
 
Sorry if cannot afford to insure your boat then you should not have it,
But this thread is/was not about having insurance but about making a claim. I can imagine that for a boat of little value, say <£5,000 it could make sense not to insure its fabric, only third party, but it is less obvious whether one should make a claim for damage costing £800 on a boat worth £50,000. Very many years ago we had an Avon Redcrest stolen which I claimed for, but in the end I probably paid out more in premiums or loss of bonus than I gained, not to mention whatever excess I had to pay.

My general rule is only to insure or claim for what you can’t comfortably afford. It doesn’t make any sense to claim for the loss of a fender, but I would be ill advised to go to sea without being covered for the possibility of being responsible for putting a forumite’s superyacht onto the rocks and a claim of £1,000,000.
 
Is it worth making a claim on your insurance, or do you end up just paying it all back in the end in increased premiums?

If you do end up paying it all back, might as well just bank your premiums and build up your own disaster fund.
Insufficient data to answer the question. Depends hugely on the size of the potential repair bill / claim.
 
Not enough information as it depends on so many variables. Generally speaking valid claims have little effect on future premiums, unlike car insurance. You are paying premiums to fund your future claims so why would you not claim for your losses?
 
My marina has never asked to see my insurance strangely. My last club, self-laid swinging moorings, wanted to see your paperwork twice a year.
When I sailed at Kielder Reservoir the water authority insisted on insurance level. The cost of wreck recovery or damage to a dams internal workings was substantial apparently!
 
My marina has never asked to see my insurance strangely. My last club, self-laid swinging moorings, wanted to see your paperwork twice a year.
When I sailed at Kielder Reservoir the water authority insisted on insurance level. The cost of wreck recovery or damage to a dams internal workings was substantial apparently!
That's the point. We can EASILY cause damage to a third party that would bankrupt all but the richest of us. Someone mentioned damaging a superyacht; that's probably on the low side of potential damages! Sinking in the fairway of a major port would very quickly make the £3,000,000 that my marina asks for in third-party cover look inadequate. And a commercial vessel can't take the attitude that it's only a scratch - if there's a potential for damage, it will require inspection and loss of earnings, delay payments and whatever.
 
Are we not still beneficiaries of the Warsaw Agreement, if I’ve got that right? Our liabilities are supposedly limited by our gross tonnage, so that we are not liable for the total cost of wrecking a mega cruise-ship.
 
When were you last asked for proof of insurance from a marina?
Every time I have been hauled out. Probably 20 times over 40 years.

I always thought renter's insurance was a joke. Paying too much for a very small risk. travel insurance. You can insure practically anything, and unless you are a high risk individual, yes, over time it is a money looser. That's how it works. However, for many it is worth it for the peace of mind it buys, which depends on risk perception. Some folks get nervous. And then there is the matter of big hits:
  • Is there the potential for a hit you cannot pay?
  • If that hit occurs, and you walk away, does that leave the cost to the injured party? That's not fair.
 
might as well just bank your premiums and build up your own disaster fund.
You are not thinking this through logically.
Being uninsured might not end well .
As an example there was a case where a boat caught fire and the fire damaged the marina fuel island and damaged two adjacent boats beyond repair.
I heard the uninsured owner lost everything including his house .
 
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