Thames Registration Changes from 1st January 2011

boat registration

I apologise for any misunderstanding I may have caused. I first heard about this subject from our club rep 3 days before the original posting from boatone. I subsequently e-mailed him about further comments that were made. My posting related to an update I received from my original source.
 
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From Official EA Press Release produced yesterday -

Environment Agency announces new boat registration laws for 2011

The Environment Agency is changing the way it regulates boat registration for its waterways across the country.

From January 2011 it will start using new powers to harmonise registration requirements for keeping and using boats on the non-tidal River Thames, the non-tidal River Medway and also its Anglian waterways. Some of these requirements already exist on certain waterways, but for others they are brand new.

The major change across all Environment Agency waterways is owners of powered boats (boats with an engine) will be required to hold a valid ‘third party’ insurance policy. This has been a requirement for some time on most other UK inland waterways.

Boat owners will also need to register their boats and pay the annual charge simply to keep them on the waterways, even if they don’t use them. Owners of most powered boats will have to show they comply with essential safety standards by obtaining a Boat Safety Scheme Certificate (BSSC) in order to register.

These changes will mean new requirements for many boat owners, but they will start to introduce a simpler and more consistent approach to boat registration that customers will welcome, whilst also making the waterways safer.

Roger Goulding, from the Environment Agency, said: “Our waterways are some of the finest places in the country to visit, and these new changes will make them safer for everyone who uses them.

“Boat owners have previously had to comply with different registration systems depending on where they keep or use their boat. Our new powers mean we can bring in a new, clear and consistent approach which makes the system fairer and easier to understand for everyone.

“We have listened to our customers throughout the process and they have told us this is what they want.”

Main changes for the non-tidal River Thames – from 1 January 2011

  • All owners who keep their boat on the River Thames must register their boat and pay the annual charge, even if they don’t use it. This extends to every part of the waterway including backwaters and marinas. There will be an introductory period from 1 January 2011 until 1 April 2011 to allow owners either to register or remove their boat from the waterway before enforcement action.
  • All powered boat owners also need to hold a valid third party insurance policy.

Main changes for Anglian waterways – from 1 April 2011
  • All powered boat owners need to hold a valid third party insurance policy.

Main changes for the non-tidal River Medway – from 1 April 2011
  • All powered boat owners need to hold a valid third party insurance policy.
  • Most powered boat owners will need to obtain a Boat Safety Scheme Certificate from 1 April 2012.

All boat registration income collected by the Environment Agency is spent on managing and maintaining our waterways for their users. It helps keep structures, such as locks and laybys, in safe working order; helps us provide staff to assist our customers; and helps provide good quality facilities such as moorings, waste disposal and water points.

To find out more about these changes, please see our pages on the Environment Agency website: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/waterwaysorder
 
There will need to be some clarification of procedures, methinks.

It is not possible to register a power vessel without a valid Boat Safety Certificate. So, what happens if a vessel is moored in (say) a marina and fails a BSS exam? Presumably there will need to be a period of grace within which a re-examination will be required, failing which the vessel will need to be removed from the water.

The issue of enforcement is also going to be interesting. Will the marinas be required to ensure compliance? Will we be asked to produce evidence of insurance in the same way as we produce a BSS certificate or will we simply need to confirm that we are insured on the licence renewal?

Probably other issues as well but they will do for now :D
 
More information can be found here: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/policy/116882.aspx along with a briefing note.

Chris_d - Open boats do not need BSS

Boatone - the powers of enforcing something like this would rest with the navigation authority. Marinas cannot take any action, but they could dob you in!! If you failed a BSS test the BSS guy then as far as I know the BSS chappie is nothing more than a certifying body. Again he could dob you in but lets be honest, in most cases you can rectify the problem before anything comes of it. Don't forget in the grand scheme of things a minor failure on a BSS inspection is trivial compare to boats with nothing at all!

Chris
 
Chris_d said:
What about tenders? BSS exempt but do you now need to insure them separately as an open launch to get a license:(
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Most insurance policies include tenders (my 6m rib policy includes a section to enter tender details). Just make sure yours is listed when you renew your policy.

Chris
 
BSS failure is an issue; there was a thread on these forums a couple of years ago where a chap on Anglian waters had his boat engineless in a marina and he couldn't register 'cos no BSS, BSS man wouldn't certify as the boat was incomplete, so despite protestations EA took him to court.

He never posted the result (as many folk don't), so I assume he's in choky.

Let's hope the Thames region will be a bit more pragmatic.

My marina wants to see my Insurance cert: every year. Perhaps my fellow moorers are more dodgy than most......
 
The club wants to see insurance details for boats on the club moorings, which seems a sensible thing to do. I have wondered, privately, whether or not Envag have looked into blagging a bit of law that makes various bodies along its waterways become forcibly co-opted into being licence prodnoses. Eg every month requring that a marina provide details of all craft moored there and afloat during that month and a Boolean "valid licence plate visible" field.
 
CJL said:
Most insurance policies include tenders (my 6m rib policy includes a section to enter tender details). Just make sure yours is listed when you renew your policy.
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Checked with my insurers that tender is also covered for third party to same limit as main vessel and they said yes - but tender MUST carry name of mother ship - eg t/t BigBoysBoat rather than just a name of its own.
 
boatone said:
Checked with my insurers that tender is also covered for third party to same limit as main vessel and they said yes - but tender MUST carry name of mother ship - eg t/t BigBoysBoat rather than just a name of its own.
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That means you can't call your Tender "Little Willy" after a certain piece of your anatomy. :)
 
boatone said:
Checked with my insurers that tender is also covered for third party to same limit as main vessel and they said yes - but tender MUST carry name of mother ship - eg t/t BigBoysBoat rather than just a name of its own.
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Did you actually find that in the Small Print or was it just a comment by whoever you managed to speak to?
 
Blimey, looks as though this is going to affect a heck of a lot of boats! All the regular ones that you see moored up with all sorts of greenery and whatnot that never seem to move from their moorings, and what about boats that are on brokerage, how are they going to treat them as well? There are some boats that you see that have no chance of getting registered and been on moorings for Many, many years, that I reckon even confirming ownership details would be a challenge, so what would happen in that instance, would the EA then be impounding boats, if so, then what? At least there will be no direct impact for us dudes, and the third party is a very good idea.
 
TrueBlue said:
BSS failure is an issue; there was a thread on these forums a couple of years ago where a chap on Anglian waters had his boat engineless in a marina and he couldn't register 'cos no BSS, BSS man wouldn't certify as the boat was incomplete, so despite protestations EA took him to court.

He never posted the result (as many folk don't), so I assume he's in choky.

Let's hope the Thames region will be a bit more pragmatic.

.
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That may well have been me.

Several years back I had a boat in a marina on the Anglian waterways, the engine developed a serious problem and I didn't have the cash to get it fixed at that point. The BSS came in and I couldn't get a certificate as the engine had been removed, I asked the EA for advice and was told the marina was classed as a private backwater, so I wouldn't need a license providing the boat didn't leave the marina.

Only the local river inspector didn't seem to agree and on visiting the marina posted me a warning letter by recorded delivery. I was told unless I got a license within so many days they would take me to court. I posted a cheque to the EA for the value of the river license and a note saying no BSS as I couldn't obtain one due to current condition of the boat. The EA rejected this and sent another recorded letter with a date to appear in court.

I phoned a few lawyers, not one wanted to take the case on!

In the end I managed to get away with an official caution on the condition I sold the boat within 28 days. I got £700 for it, having paid £4000 for it. Pee'd off was an understatement. I couldn't risk getting a criminal record, so had no choice.

I bought a new boat about 5 years ago, thankfully this one had a BSS.
 
SimonA said:
That may well have been me.

Several years back I had a boat in a marina on the Anglian waterways, the engine developed a serious problem and I didn't have the cash to get it fixed at that point. The BSS came in and I couldn't get a certificate as the engine had been removed, I asked the EA for advice and was told the marina was classed as a private backwater, so I wouldn't need a license providing the boat didn't leave the marina.

Only the local river inspector didn't seem to agree and on visiting the marina posted me a warning letter by recorded delivery. I was told unless I got a license within so many days they would take me to court. I posted a cheque to the EA for the value of the river license and a note saying no BSS as I couldn't obtain one due to current condition of the boat. The EA rejected this and sent another recorded letter with a date to appear in court.

I phoned a few lawyers, not one wanted to take the case on!

In the end I managed to get away with an official caution on the condition I sold the boat within 28 days. I got £700 for it, having paid £4000 for it. Pee'd off was an understatement. I couldn't risk getting a criminal record, so had no choice.

I bought a new boat about 5 years ago, thankfully this one had a BSS.
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That is ridiculous and sounds like a job for your local MP.
 
SimonA said:
That may well have been me.

Several years back I had a boat in a marina on the Anglian waterways, the engine developed a serious problem and I didn't have the cash to get it fixed at that point. The BSS came in and I couldn't get a certificate as the engine had been removed, I asked the EA for advice and was told the marina was classed as a private backwater, so I wouldn't need a license providing the boat didn't leave the marina.

Only the local river inspector didn't seem to agree and on visiting the marina posted me a warning letter by recorded delivery. I was told unless I got a license within so many days they would take me to court. I posted a cheque to the EA for the value of the river license and a note saying no BSS as I couldn't obtain one due to current condition of the boat. The EA rejected this and sent another recorded letter with a date to appear in court.

I phoned a few lawyers, not one wanted to take the case on!

In the end I managed to get away with an official caution on the condition I sold the boat within 28 days. I got £700 for it, having paid £4000 for it. Pee'd off was an understatement. I couldn't risk getting a criminal record, so had no choice.

I bought a new boat about 5 years ago, thankfully this one had a BSS.
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Would it not have been cheaper to lift it out of water or buy a trailer?

You could then have sold it for a decent price...?
 
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