I ahve just written a cheque for £73.95 to renew Chertsey's insurance for another year.
If that sounds cheap - I agree, it is. Another massive advantage is that they don't require a survey.
Is there a catch? Well, you might think so, but I don't.
It is, of course, not fully comprehensive insurance. It does not cover me for any damage that occurs to Chertsey. It does, however, meet all CRT's licencing requirements, and gives me the peace of mind of knowing that I'm covered if Chertsey does any damage to someone else's boat, or if she sinks and needs to be moved out of the way. That, after all, is where the big bills are likely to be - not in repairs to an eighty year old boat with scarcely any fit out, no expensive equipment or systems, and which is constantly being patched up anyway.
Of course, if Chertsey was damaged by another boat, I should be able to claim on their third party insurance - so the only gamble I am really taking is that I won't wreck her myself. And I really will try not to. In some ways, The Basic Boat Liability Company would appear to be taking more of one - providing salvage insurance without a survey for an old boat - the fact that they're prepared to underlines how low the risk, actuarily, must be.
I am of course happy to save the costs of comprehensive insurance and regular surveys, but even more valuable is not having the hassle. An added bonus is that I can do it all by post, and better still, they're based in Sidcup.
I've nothing against Sidcup, but I must be missing something if being based there is so advantageous for an insurance company. Perhaps you can enlighten me.
ReplyDeleteIt just feels like an appropriate place to which to send a cheque. I suppose it maight be advantageous in that it has a reassuringly old fashioned ring to it.
DeleteAnd if the boat that bashes into and damages Chertsey is not insured? What then?
ReplyDeleteIt's a question of how likely that is to happen, Halfie. What percentage of boats are uninsured? Of those, how many are actually moving around the waterways (and not in London)? And of those that are, given how little boating I do, how likely am I to encounter one? And if I do encounter one, how likley is it to hit me? And if it hits me, how likely is it to do significant damage? Do the division sum at each stage and this comes out as a vanishingly small risk. I know some people like to try to remove even the smallest risk, but I prefer to direct my limited funds where they will have a greater positive effect.
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