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Barge
Insurance – Key Price Determinant factors.
Whether
you own a dutch barge, narrowboat, houseboat or other type of barge in
insurance terms the vast majority of boat insurance companies will
categorise them as the same. The reason for this is perhaps partly due
to simplicity (there are already too many boat types the boat insurance
companies have to create and maintain premium calculation rules for!),
but actually the key reason is because the inherent risk of a claim
between these categories is similar.
Luckily the fact you own a barge
immediately guarantees you lower rates of insurance levy, with fast
powerboats attracting the highest levies for obvious reasons. Regardless
of boat insurance category however all good boat insurance companies
will firstly offer you the option of either comprehensive or third party
only insurance. As you might guess this option is actually the single
biggest criteria in determining your insurance cost as you are
effectively stating whether the insurer must pay a claim on one or two
vessels in the event of an incident and you are found at fault.
Third party insurances are usually quoted at a fixed price, but assuming
you select comprehensive insurance, the second key factor determining
the price of any boat insurance quote is the value of your vessel.
Insurance companies literally take the value of the vessel (plus an
additional quoted items e.g. generator) and multiply it by a specific
percentage rate (i.e. vessel value x 0.#%). When it comes to barge
insurance the rate applied is normally fairly static however the rate
can be on a sliding scale (i.e. reducing gradually for higher valued
boats) but also age may well be classed as a factor (i.e. as boats age
the probability of hull disrepair increases the likelihood of accidental
sinking).
The third key factor that will affect you
quote will be (similar to most insurance types), years no claims bonus.
Most insurers provide 5 years but some do provide 6 years. For each and
every year without a claim a percentage will be knocked off your final
insurance cost up to the maximum number of years.
The final factors determining your insurance cost are often then
optional. Clearly taking up additional optional items incurs a cost (or
risk) for the insurer and as a result inevitably affects the price;
-
Breakdown cover (usually a fixed price)
-
Contents
cover (depends on the type and value of contents being covered &
normally requires direct contact with insurance staff)
-
No
claims bonus protection (when available at a small percentage rate)
Finally
there are also one or two other factors which may be taken into
consideration (this all depends on individual insurers) which perhaps
don’t affect a majority but inevitably will affect some. For example,
not having a mooring (roaming boats are of greater risk to insurers due
to increased movement) or requirement for access to tidal areas e.g. on
the River Severn near Gloucester for instance. Somewhat surprisingly
whilst most insurers will stipulate an age of 18 or over, thereafter age
is not a factor upon boat insurance cost. Those over 70 however may find
exemptions from personal injury claims are applied.
This article was supplied with best intentions only by
www.MerciaMarine.co.uk. The
above was written to be fair and objective to all but we must stress
pricing factors used by insurance companies vary, some may have been
missed or some will inevitably not be relevant for all insurers,
nevertheless we hope you find it useful!
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Last
updated
02 February 2012
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For a new build
barge, we found that insurance
cost seemed to be generally more related to the value of the barge, rather
than size or where moored / cruised, although the later does effect the premium. It would appear that most insurance companies do not request a
structural survey until a new build barge is 20 years old.
Original
(100 year)
old barges
generally
require a
structural survey every 6 years.
For a 60ft new build barge with a value around £180,000 expect to pay
around £1,000 per year for an inland comprehensive insurance, less any
no claims discount. Contents & personal effects extra.
Some Barge Insurance
companies:-
Mercia Marine
01684 564457
Towergate 0844 892 1987
Haven
Knox-Johnson 01732 223600
GJW
Direct 0500 141 141
Collidge
& Partners 01843 295925
Euromarine
01843 603 345
St
Margarets
0800 0180 012
Newton Crum 01424
718 800
Yachtline 020 7403
3884
Craft Insure
01689 889507
Members of the DBA can get a good deal on barge cover here
Please
note that prices shown should be used
for guidance purposes only. How good an insurance company is, should
take into account other 'inclusions & exclusions' within the policy,
and how good they are at dealing with claims.
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