Insurance woes

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nathanlee

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Hi all,

I recently insured my boat (21ft Corribee) with GJW for the quite reasonable price of £125 I thought. I'm not going to go into a slagging match here but for various reasons I am not willing to stay with them, so, I've been looking at alternatives.
On reading some peoples comments on PANTAENIUS, I tried them but they refused to quote me (presumably my boat is too tiny and inexpensive), so can anybody else recommend a good (not cheap) insurance company. I mean, somebody that will payout if I need them too and not make life awkward since there's no point in paying for insurance unless you are assured hey.
Liveaboard friendly would be nice.

Cheers,

Nathan
 
Hi nathan,

I have used Navigators & General for many years, all sorts of vessels from 16ft dinghy/dayboat up to 30ft Cruiser, had several claims, all the other boats fault /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

They were always very helpful, and argued my case with the other insurers so that I got my excess refunded.

They may not be the cheapest, but their service is great.
 
Fastnet Broker in Southampton was very helpful. Went through them, policy with Noble. May not have been the cheapest, but had the cover and conditions I wanted.
also have Dinghy with Noble, directly, very good service.
 
Been with N&G for the last 4-5 years with an owners club policy. At the end of last season, I ended up with a claim which was settled in good time with few discussions. New premium this year wasn't increased any more than the small yearly increase to be expected. They still ahve my satisfied business.
 
Avoid policies underwritten by Underwriting Risk Services as our experience of their claims handling leaves a lot to be desired, then they took a year of increased premiums while the claim was sorted out before refusing to offer renewal.

Also steer clear of Freeman and Partners - they were the surveyors who were appointed by the underwriters for our claim, and were obstructive and plain wrong too many times!

Cheers,

John
 
Bishop Skinner were quite happy to insure my 19ft Seawych, and still insure my Moody 36. Good service fast responses when needed and apparently OK conditions
 
Nobles get my vote. With them for quite a few years but moved to GJW with this boat (can't remember why!). After 2 years of big premium increases moved back to Noble. Made a claim with Noble about 8 years ago and settled quickly without any problem.
 
Have you tried Towergate Mardon? I moved to them this year as their quote was almost half GJW's renewal. No experience of claims, though.
 
Just to add to other suggestions...... I used Yachtmaster in Woodbridge. Reasonable premium for my old, cheap boat. No experience of claims.
 
We use Yachtmaster - very helpful and down to earth guys. Just asked them to get insurance for us to sail to Australia and they took a very objective view on the whole matter including considering timing the policy to save us the most money and provide the cover we need.

No experience of claims, but great customer service.

Jonny
 
For my part I'd try Bishps Skinner. They are the RYA recommendation for boat insurance. They place my policy with AXA.

Your question is not clear as to the nature of yoyr woes but as most boat insurers offer some form of no-claim-discount it may also be worth sticking with your current supplier for the year. That way if you are claim free you might get a better deal than if you change mid term without a year claim free.
 
Second Mardon Marine ( now with Towergate). When I was first looking for insurance on my 29 foot yacht, I had 8 or 9 quotes and they were the cheapest and have remained competitive on each renewal. No experience of claims but have found them very reasonable & flexible eg increasing sum assured at no extra premium & extending required survey intervals. Policy is with Axa.

Bishop Skinner were a close second with RYA membership discount.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Bishop Skinner were quite happy to insure my 19ft Seawych, and still insure my Moody 36. Good service fast responses when needed and apparently OK conditions

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, I'll second that. They're run by actual sailors so there is a definite rapport when you deal with them. Been with them form 22 footer to current 32 footer, and can assure everyone that they were simply superb when I had to make my one and only claim. First class outfit!
 
My boat is insured with Saga. I've no idea what they are like to deal with when the chips are down, so i'd be interested if anyone else has experience of them.

My only gripe was that when I first contacted them they insisted on a survey. Then when I sent them the survey they said it wasn't necessary. I didn't labour the point as a survey was probably a 'good thing' to have done anyway..even if there is not that much to survey on a Dehler 22.

Navig & Gen goes down in my mental notebook though (trouble is pages keep going missing..sometimes whole chapters /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif)

Tim
 
19ft Seawych, Navigators and General (Zurich) £109. Not had any claims so can't make any comments
 
I'm also with Saga, also with a Corribee. No survey needed, but did question my valuation as it was different to the purchase price - explained about the improvements I'd made and seemed to be happy with that. I think it's costing about £93 pa. No claims, but I'm happier now I've changed from Northern Reef.....
 
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