Boat, yacht and narrowboat insurance, cruising cover and marine claims support.
Written by Sophie Bennett, Marine Insurance & Ownership EditorLast updated
Marine insurance in the UK is sold three ways, and the difference matters. A specialist marine broker shops your risk around several underwriters and argues your corner at claim time. A managing general agent or scheme underwrites within a delegated authority, which usually means faster quotes but a fixed appetite. A direct insurer or comparison-style provider is cheapest to buy and thinnest on advice. All three are regulated by the FCA, and you can check any of them on the register in under a minute.
What you are buying is a set of decisions, not a price. Agreed value or market value at the time of loss. New-for-old on tenders, outboards and electronics, or depreciation. A third-party liability limit — £3m is common, though many UK marinas and European canal authorities now demand £5m or more. A cruising range, from UK coastal waters out to Biscay, the Baltic or the Med, with a lay-up period and often a named-storm or hurricane-season exclusion. Then the conditions that quietly decide claims: survey requirements on older hulls, rigging age, mooring and winter-storage terms, and single-handed or crewed passage restrictions.
The companies listed on this page place, underwrite or administer that cover. Talk to more than one, and give each identical information about the boat and how you use her, or the quotes are not comparable.
Check the firm on the FCA register and establish whether they are a broker acting for you, an agent acting for an insurer, or the insurer itself. It determines who owes you advice and who decides your claim.
Agreed-value policies pay the sum insured on a total loss without argument about depreciation. Market-value policies are cheaper and can leave a serious shortfall on an older boat that has been well maintained.
Confirm the third-party limit meets your marina's and any inland waterway authority's requirement. Ask what it costs to raise the limit — the increment is usually small and the exposure is not.
Read the navigational limits before you sign. Offshore passages, single-handed sailing, delivery trips and winter cruising are commonly restricted, and a claim outside limits is a declined claim.
Older hulls often need a satisfactory out-of-water survey every five years, and yachts a rig report or replacement at ten to fifteen years. Get the requirement in writing at quote stage so it is not a surprise at renewal.
Ask who handles a claim, whether they use their own adjusters and surveyors, and what their typical settlement time looks like. This is the part of the product you actually buy, and price comparison never shows it.
Where the boat lives is one of the largest rating factors. A secure, staffed marina with CCTV and gated pontoons prices better than a swinging mooring or an unattended drying berth, and East and South Coast tidal moorings attract more scrutiny because of grounding and storm-surge exposure. Winter storage matters too: ashore in a chocked cradle on hardstanding is the underwriter's preferred answer, and afloat all winter in an exposed berth is the one that raises questions.
Season and weather drive claims. UK autumn and winter gales generate the bulk of mooring, chafe and pontoon-contact losses, which is why almost every policy carries a lay-up period and specific mooring conditions. If you cruise beyond home waters, the Channel, Biscay, Baltic and Mediterranean each sit in different rating bands, and Mediterranean summer berthing brings its own named-storm and fire clauses.
Not by statute for private leisure use at sea, but third-party liability is effectively compulsory in practice: virtually every marina, harbour authority and inland navigation licence — including the Canal & River Trust — requires it as a condition of a berth or licence.
As a broad guide, expect roughly 0.75% to 1.5% of the insured value a year for a UK-based leisure yacht or motorboat in good condition, so about £500 to £1,000 on a £60,000 boat. Age, cruising range, claims history, mooring and how the boat is stored in winter all move that figure.
Buy direct for a simple, low-value, UK-only boat where price is the priority. Use a specialist broker for older, higher-value, liveaboard, commercial or extended-cruising boats, where the wording and the claims handling matter far more than the saving.
Often, once the boat is over about 25 to 30 years old, and typically every five years thereafter. Some underwriters will hold cover on a recent purchase survey, so check before commissioning a second one.
Only within the navigational limits stated. UK coastal cover usually stops a fixed distance offshore; the Channel, Biscay, Baltic and Mediterranean are extensions you must request, and inland European waterways may require a higher liability limit and a certificate.
Newark, Nottinghamshire
Specialist small craft and boat insurer covering dinghies, yachts, motorboats, RIBs, rowing boats and sailing equipment.
Covers United Kingdom and specified cruising areas
Regional coverage
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