It’s not the most exciting topic but a good insurance policy allows you to sleep easy. Sam Fortescue looks at the latest offers and developments in the market
Following a year when the cost of living was never far from the headlines, you would be forgiven for expecting boat insurance premiums to skyrocket. Inflation was hovering stubbornly around the 10 per cent mark this time last year, reflecting higher prices across the board. But as some of the hot air has escaped from the economy, that figure slipped to less than 4 per cent in November, and the major insurers canvassed by Sailing Today all forecast below-inflation premium rises in the new year.
We won’t know what that means until the spring, when insurers traditionally set the year’s premiums. Icy conditions currently grip much of the continent, and there is the prospect of further named storms before the weather starts to improve and thoughts turn again to boating. But most marine insurers are talking about a gentle rise in premiums rather than a sharp hike.
“We’ll try to minimise any increase at all, but there are likely to be some increases,” said Mike Wimbridge of Pantaenius UK. “The market as a whole will increase again, but ours will be nothing like as big – just a tickle upwards. It will be less than 3.9% [November’s inflation figure].”Some boatowners might have been hoping for a fall in the cost of insurance, but that is unlikely, because inflation is still in positive territory. “Although inflation is slowly coming down, it doesn’t automatically mean lower premiums,” explains Paul Knox-Johnston of broker Haven knox-Johnston. “This is because costs affecting businesses such as staff, cost of borrowing, energy and raw materials are still much higher than they were less than two years ago.” From labour and electricity to parts, every step of the repair process has become more expensive, and that has pushed up the average amount of insurance claims. “In some areas repair costs appear to have outstripped inflation rates, which has the unfortunate knock-on effect of insurance premiums continuing to harden,” says Keith Lovett, MD of Poole-based Stoneways Insurance.“Outdrive and saildrive units are particular examples where we have noticed a dramatic increase in the cost or repair or replacement,” says Rod Daniel of Craftinsure. “We’ve noticed prices of stainless-steel rigging parts have also soared, along with shipping and delivery co
