Insurance for your home (boat)?

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ross84

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Hi all,

I understand 3rd party insurance for your yacht won't break the bank - but if I'm going to drop my life savings on a 32ft yacht, which doubles as my house, I guess I'd be reluctant to take it out of the marina without full insurance i.e. that which will pay out incase the boat is lost or wrecked. At the moment I'm looking at Sadler 32/29s in the range of 12,000k to 20,000k. Is 'full comp' insurance very expensive? Does it work like travel insurance i.e. if you take it across the Atlantic it is more expensive than UK waters, etc? Would be interested to know as trying to figure out the true costs of being a liveaboard and as mentioned if I lost the boat I'd basically lose everything!

Cheers :)
 
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Why not ring a broker and get a quote?

To give you an idea, my boat is 42' and insured "fully comp" in car terms, for agreed value of 200k. Plus about 10k of kit and owner's possessions. Premium is 700 a year for N Europe cruising area, limited single handing. If I went transat i'd expect that to rise a bit.
 
For use in UK and nearer European waters you're probably looking at £300-£350-ish comprehensive. Premiums for ocean passages much much higher: some insurers won't cover at all, some will only issue 3rd-party.
 
I think you could find cheaper offers but some of these companies have terms that may not be the most open handed. Y Insurance of Plymouth are well regarded and said to offer good value. It would be worth approaching them when you have a better idea of your chosen target.

Some companies will want a survey, or a condition report and valuation so it is an extra reason to have you boat looked at professionally before purchase.

Let us know how you get on.
 
Scala said:
Why not ring a broker and get a quote?

To give you an idea, my boat is 42' and insured "fully comp" in car terms, for agreed value of 200k. Plus about 10k of kit and owner's possessions. Premium is 700 a year for N Europe cruising area, limited single handing. If I went transat i'd expect that to rise a bit.
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"Agreed Value" is the key thing, NOT market value
 
I wouldn't be looking at going with one that is known to pay if there a problem .
I can't tell you how many people we know that when the brown stuff hit the fan there insurance found reason why not to pay .
 
Decide whether you are serious about a transat, and if so tell insurers when you approach them. The companies that are best for this sort of cover may be different from those best for coastal sailing.

It is difficult to get cover for single-handed long-distance sailing, specially if you have no previous experience of doing so.

P.S. Don't trust a company that doesn't want a survey (or to see a recent one).
 
sailaboutvic said:
I wouldn't be looking at going with one that is known to pay if there a problem .
I can't tell you how many people we know that when the brown stuff hit the fan there insurance found reason why not to pay .
Click to expand...

From experience Amlin payed out, in full, with no quibble when we were struck by a tornado and it didn’t even hit our no claims bonus✔️
 
Good advice above. Be aware we found it hard to find fully comp insurance for Atlantic crossing Brazil and Caribbean.
Because our boat is not worth as much.
Pants who we started with, we had to be more than £70k to go south/west of the canaries.
Topsail gave us insurance to cross and for Brazil but have now changed there policies on who they will insure.
Carribbean/American brokers seem the best for once you have crossed.
3 years ago when we researched before leaving it was much easier.
35k boat. Atlantic crossing Inc Brazil £1900 (only quote we found). We were very close to just buying 3rd party.
Despite trying we have now failed to stay with the same insurer and build up a record with them.
 
Dantp said:
Pants who we started with, we had to be more than £70k to go south/west of the canaries.
Click to expand...

The rumour a couple of years ago was £80k but I queried it and it turned out to be less than that: I thought it was £60k but just found on their wen site that it's (now anyway) £50k and min 10m:
https://www.pantaenius.com/uk-en/service/frequently-asked-questions/yacht-hull-insurance/

(it's the FAQ most of the way down the list about whether pants are only interested in expensive boats)

To the op if most insurance is anything like mine, most of it is the 3rd party part. I considered dropping the comp part on the grounds that buying insurance makes about as much probabilistic sense as buying scratch cards but the low incremental cost over 3rd party (which you need if you want to stay in a marina ever) meant I was probably worth if for the peace of mind should I ever need legal advice
 
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