Insurance not paying for stern gear

andyball

andyball

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Bloke in our marina hit a big bundle of net floating loose while doing 20Kts..... trashed the outdrive & props rather badly, to the tune of £4K ( single volvo drive )

according to him, gjw won't pay up since the boat's under 27' ( or some particular length ) . Of course, he should have seen it clearly in the fine print; but this is just a reminder to others to check the cover very carefully, before you need to make a claim. or actually, before you take out the cover.
 
quite usual for there to be added excess on the underwater gear but this seems somewhat bizarre - either they are insuring the craft at that size or they are not.

4k seems a lot for a single volvo OD although the props will be a fair bit of that obviously.

he did tell them the boat would do over 15 knots I presume?
 
4K was the full cost incl lifts out/in + wasted labour stripping the drive only to find it wasn't worth repairing. Seems that a sleeve designed to shear(?) had sheared a bit too late & gear teeth were missing etc

I know when we had a fast boat & looked for insurance, several companies terms were such that damage to sterngear wasn't covered cuz the boat went faster than x knots or something.
 
Insurance contracts are not like other contracts. There is a legal presumption that all material facts have been disclosed. Many people sign them thinking that x doesn't matter and then find that the insurer won't pay.

Even more commonly, people renew policies without checking anything.

Everyone should be aware that there is much more to it than simply having an insurance certificate and check that the information which has been given (on which the insurer is basing the policy) is not only accurate when the policy is first taken out, but continues to be accurate when the policy is renewed.
 
Agreed.

Also like to add most Insurance Polices I have read automatically exclude underwater gear if the boat has a designed speed in excess of 17 knots.

The only exception to this that I am aware of is the latest Haven Knox Johnston Policy.

Many reputable Insurers then delete the exclusion by endorsement for boats that are deemed to be cruisers.

I had the exclusion deleted on a 26 ft Bayliner on my request.

Was the boat an open speed boat ?
Did he ask his Broker about any clauses or did he do it on line and not bother to read it ?
 
I would challenge it.

The clause (if I have the right one) says:

3. In addition to the other exclusions in the Policy, the Policy does not cover:-
...
if the Vessel is less than 26 feet in length physical loss of or damage
to rudder, strut, shaft, propeller, electrical equipment, cables and
fittings unless the loss or damage is caused by:-

(a) heavy weather; or
(b) the stranding or sinking of the Vessel; or
(c) the Vessel being on fire; or
(d) collision between the Vessel and any other vessel, jetty or pier;
or
(e) theft of the entire Vessel; or
(f) theft of the items referred to in Endorsement 7.3 (iii) [page 23]
above but subject to the provisions of Section 2A (v) (a) and (b)
[page 5]; or
(g) fire at the place of storage; or
(h) malicious act;
...


A Sterndrive is quite clearly NOT a rudder, strut, shaft, propeller, electrical equipment, cable or fitting.

dv.
 
I am staggered and will be checking my insurance policy very carefully, although I am not with gjw.

Can anyone post gjw's standard policy?

In fact, maybe we ought to post an example of every insurance standard policy and make annotations as and when peculiarities are known or discovered.

No doubt akegustavson will use this thread to make his nineteenth MALFE post. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
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most Insurance Polices I have read automatically exclude underwater gear if the boat has a designed speed in excess of 17 knots

[/ QUOTE ]

now this is a rather large generalisation surely?

bit like me saying 'all the insurance policies I have ever taken out cover it but latterly they have been increasing the excess significantly'. Easier if I say Royal and Sun Alliance then 'all the insurance policies'.
 
Not really.
Many Polices until recently were written under the same standard Yacht clauses.

They were called 'standard Yacht clauses' /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I can't help feeling a sterndrive is a 'shaft+prop+rudder+fitting' and maybe a strut too.............

whatever it certainly reinforces the fact that this craft adn this policy are fundamentally incompatable
 
[ QUOTE ]
The only exception to this that I am aware of is the latest Haven Knox Johnston Policy.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes - though they are being a little bit disingenuous. My old policy with them had the standard exclusion for damage to underwater gear, together with an endorsement to the effect that the exclusion was deleted for my policy (if you see what I mean).

New policy has, as you say, cover for damage to sterngear included but, erm, the excess on any such claim is doubled. Not sure this is an improvement........ /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Whilst people are thinking about what might not be covered...

My experience involved change of cruising area...

Additional premium paid for new cruising region, monthly DD (quite a bit more).
(My asumption, as this was detailed as an additional premium, was that I would still be covered in the original area on my return...wrong)

Still paying the additional premium monthly I returned to old cruising ground....had an incident...insurance company refused to pay as I was paying the additional premium for a different area!

So be very careful, this could have cost me my boat.
 
Mine is Navigators and General to whom I explained that the boat was designed for 34 knots max. The policy excess was duly loaded in respect of underwater gear.
 
Documents tend to be written in legalese because it has a precise meaning which has been tested in court and there is a fear of trying to explain in different terms because no-one knows how these will be interpreted by the courts. At so many levels this is fundamentally wrong but it is how it is I'm afraid.

I'm a lawyer and spend a lot of time reading obscure legalese but I still find insurance policies all but impossible.
 
I thought that was normal, "national inst. speedboat clause applies" unless a policy endorsement deletes it. Our last boat was under 27ft and with GJW, just asked for an endorsement for the clause to be deleted and they did it, only proviso was an increased exess for underwater damage.

David
 
I'm with "Craftinsure" and they cover underwater gear for a double excess
really needed for Humber,Trent,Ouse and Witham as you could run a successful scrappie from all the crap in these Rivers

cheers Joe
 
[ QUOTE ]

I'm with "Craftinsure" and they cover underwater gear for a double excess

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I just checked my Craftinsure policy as well.

Double excess seems reasonable. 340 beer tokens in my case.
 
[ QUOTE ]

Also like to add most Insurance Polices I have read automatically exclude underwater gear if the boat has a designed speed in excess of 17 knots.

The only exception to this that I am aware of is the latest Haven Knox Johnston Policy.


[/ QUOTE ]

Not quite true. The Institute Yacht Clauses were written in an attempt to standardise yacht policies over 20 years ago. Back then, all policies excluded damage to undewater machinery, however since, most companies have re-written their own version to improve the cover offered. Because of this, cover can vary widely from company to company. The exclusion relating to damage to underwater machinery has been such a bone of contention that many marine policies will include this cover automatically. Sometimes, but not always, a higher excess will apply.

It may be boring, but check the cover details carefully before you buy and don't assume that all policies are the same.
 
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