Survey for insurance

[elv_1986]

Personally, unless the craft has little value anyway, I think third party insurance is a saving too far
for instance i grounded - quite lightly- last month but my rudder broke
The £5-6K repair bill is being met by the insurer with little quibble
more than covers the savings in insurance cost over the last few years

As for surveys- how much would the OP have to pay for the survey?
If I had a boat that had extensive maintenance done I might actually like a survey
Having seen other people's idea of "sensible DIY work" I think a survey would be an absolute necessity
If the Op is baulking at the cost of a survey one might ask if he baulked at getting the upgrades & maintenance done properly
Not necessarily so- but !!!!

From what I can see the survey would cost me about £300 +/-, plus the cost of a lift out, storage and back in which will be done in the winter anyway. So it seems pointless to fork out for a lift out now!
I understand some peoples perceptive of DIY work is horrendous, and when I first purchased my boat she had unfortunately been 'DIY'D' hence the state she was in. The refit has been professional, and done to the British Waterways Safety Standards (Now Canal and River Trust).

So, its not really the cost I am complaining about, its the added cost of duplicating a lift out and storage in the middle of the boating season. Plus, the boat has been professionally reffited with documents to prove that so I cant see the need for a survey.

For the time being I have gone for Third Party with Towergate who are very very helpful!

 

[charles_reed]

Personally, unless the craft has little value anyway, I think third party insurance is a saving too far
for instance i grounded - quite lightly- last month but my rudder broke
The £5-6K repair bill is being met by the insurer with little quibble
more than covers the savings in insurance cost over the last few years

As for surveys- how much would the OP have to pay for the survey?
If I had a boat that had extensive maintenance done I might actually like a survey
Having seen other people's idea of "sensible DIY work" I think a survey would be an absolute necessity
If the Op is baulking at the cost of a survey one might ask if he baulked at getting the upgrades & maintenance done properly
Not necessarily so- but !!!!

Mine cost £400 for a 10m boat. You can understand the insurers wanting to know if the boat they're covering for £55K is really worth it. That was after 20 years.

 

[oldharry]

A much cheaper option is a 'Boat builders report', for which a professional Boat builder gives the boat the once over, and reports on general condition, as well as anything that needs further investigation. As there is no liability for anything he might miss, (he is only expressing his opinion as a pro boat builder) and the inspection takes much less time than a full survey, it costs a great deal less. It could be carried out with the boat dried out on scrubbing piles or alongside a somewhere, as long as the seabed is accessible, saving further cost and hassle.


At the end of the day, its down to the Insurers to decide what is acceptable by way of evidence of the insured risk. But it is not unreasonable that they want better evidence than 'I've fixed it myself' to evaluate their risk.

 

[Woodlouse]

From what I can see the survey would cost me about £300 +/-, plus the cost of a lift out, storage and back in which will be done in the winter anyway. So it seems pointless to fork out for a lift out now!
I understand some peoples perceptive of DIY work is horrendous, and when I first purchased my boat she had unfortunately been 'DIY'D' hence the state she was in. The refit has been professional, and done to the British Waterways Safety Standards (Now Canal and River Trust).

So, its not really the cost I am complaining about, its the added cost of duplicating a lift out and storage in the middle of the boating season. Plus, the boat has been professionally reffited with documents to prove that so I cant see the need for a survey.

For the time being I have gone for Third Party with Towergate who are very very helpful!

Lifts can be cheaper over the summer as there's less demand, you shouldn't have to pay for storage since the survey should only take a few hours. Simply have the boat lifted and held in the slings for the survey and launched the same day. Shouldn't cost you an extortionate amount.

 

[PlanB]

You need to check what the insurer's requirements are. Mine specified the acceptable qualifications of the surveyor.