Insurance

[chrishewett]

Just a thought here.
Last year I had a lot of trouble insuring my Vivacity as it was twenty odd years old. In the end I had to pay nearly 200 sovs to the only company I could find that did not require a survey. This is robbery when you think how much the boat is worth. There are thousands of old boats about that people keep going in perfect safety and that need minimum third party insurance cover. Is it not possible that some insurance companies are making a killing out of a captive audience and does anyone have an alternative?

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[dickh]

I had an old Vivacity too and never had any problem insuring it as long you could produce a recent survey - If I remember I used to pay about £100 - and used the Brokers in Southend on Sea - Powell & Partners, I think, but they advertise in the mags. And I still use them - & actually insured with Royal & Sun Alliance.If you have to get a survey make sure you tell the Surveyor it's for Insurance purposes.

<hr width=100% size=1>dickh
I'd rather be sailing... /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[chriscallender]

Hi Chris,


Out of interest which company gave you that insurance for £200 without a survey? - I thought that it was par for the course that all insurance companies needed surveys now.

I think that you're wrong to say that insurance companies are making a killing, the problem with marine insurance business I am told is that big increases in personal injury claims have made it unprofitable. So they have to find ways to reduce risk and unfortunately they look at statistics rather than individial cases. So although your 20 year old boat is 100% safe, its probably true to say that there are plenty around that aren't and they need a survey to check - if you doubt this, then spend a day going round the brokers and you'll find plenty of unloved old boats as well. At least with new ones, they know that not too much can have deteriorated in a few years.

I'm in the same boat as you so to speak with insurance. Currently I have 3rd party insurance, even that has gone up over a few years from £20-30 a year to £60-70. Ideally I'd like comprehensive insurance. I could go down the route of having the survey done (£250ish) but then I already know that the cooker doesn't have flame failure and thats going to be a survey recommendation, so looking at another £600(?) to have a new cooker professionally installed, - I'm looking at the better part of a grand before I even get to pay the premium!

Keeping everything safe is a big priority to me (I've just replaced all the standing rigging for example). Without flame failure on the cooker, I never leave it unattended without gas off at the bottle and any brewups while underway are from a flask.

Sadly you could get into the situation where you could plough thousands into an older boat to keep the insurers happy - when in truth they probably don't really want your business anyway...!


Chris

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