Canal Boat Insurance

Do I need Insurance for a Canal Boat?

There may be a few exceptions in private waters but generally the answer is yes.

The majority of Rivers and Canals in the UK come under the control of British Waterways who make basic third party insurance a requirement before they will issue the necessary license to allow your boat on the water.  Other organisations like the Environmental Agency are likely to have similar policies, or run a scheme in common with British Waterways.

Without such insurance they end up paying the bill for damage to their own properties by other people's boats as well as the cost of removing damaged craft from the waterways, when owners have abandoned them. The requirement for insurance also has important knock on effects with regards to general safety as insurance companies are not to want to likely to insure unsafe boats and may set minimum standards, either for individual boats or for an industry or activity as a whole.

In Marine insurance the most obvious example of this is the "Plimsol line" painted on ships sides to indicate maximum loading levels for cargo in a range of different environments.

The insurance required for a private craft  will typically have to  cover a liability of  £1,000,000 for a private boat and probably more for a commercial craft, or for a company hiring out boats, where there is the potentiual for higher claims to be made.

British Waterways will want to check the validity of your insurance before issuing a licence they will also want evidence that your boat complies with the regulations of the Boat Safety Scheme.

Where waters are under the authority of other organisation, such as the Environmental Agency  you can expect similer schemes to apply.

The license fees pay for the upkeep of the Waterways and the Boat Safety Scheme helps ensure minimum standards are enforced with regards to condition and equipment of water craft.

Unpowered craft such as canoes or Dinghies are exempt from the absolute requirement for insurance before being supplied with a license, but a wise owner would still give this some serious consideration.

What type of insurance is required?

The minimum requirement will be for third party insurance, which is basically required to cover any damage the boat might be responsible for while under your or authorised control.

A typical Narrowboat probably weighs something like 17 Tons, which means at three miles an hour it will probably have the same sort of momentum as a Mini travelling at 40mph, furthermore unlike the Mini it is not designed to absorb the impact of crashes when it hits something

 … you can do a lot of damage with a Narrowboat and there are a lot of expensive boats and other structures on the rivers and canals  to do it to.

…  and if you do not have third party insurance the cost will have to come out of your own pocket.

Commercial users or those Hiring out Narrowboats will meet more stringent requirements according to the exact nature of their activities, these should be discussed with British Waterways or the relevant agency

What Other insurance should I consider?

Most people would regard insurance against the risks of Fire and Theft as being essential and would probably want to include Vandalism as well.

 “Acts of God” are also generally covered, as vengeful deities are occasionally inclined to flood rivers etc… which may see your Narrowboat taking a ride over a weir or being abandoned in Tesco’s car park when the waters subside.

And then there is insurance against accidental damage you yourself may inflict on the craft or its fixtures and fitting or insurance to cover damage or losses caused by engine or parts failure, which can place you in embarrassing difficulties, maybe even flooding  the boat in certain circumstances.

Practically it is probably a good idea if the latter is accompanied by subscription to a rescue service as well,  some insurance companies be allied to such services in some way or provide insurance to cover them at  need ... it is worth asking.

However good your insurance is, it is not a substitute for basic maintenance and will not pay out for the consequences of deliberate damage or wilful neglect.

If your boat gets stolen because you have left it unlocked with the keys in it is likely to be a case of “ Bye Bye Boat” without any compensation, similarly if you let the hull rust through and it sinks the insurance company is likely to dispute the claim.

The basic requirement of almost any insurance is that you behave responsibly to minimise the risks under consideration and failure to do so will probably reflect in a reduced amount of compensation for any claim made.

In some circumstances you may even be able to negotiate reduced premiums,if you can demonstrate that you have taken steps like fitting alarms and safety devices against fire and theft etc...

in other cases you may find companies requiring that you have to take certain precautions before they will even consider insuring you.

These issues are about managing the risks to you boat and it is worth taking note of them.

Insurance companies make their money by analysing risks and calculating  what they have to charge to both safely cover that risk and  make a profit, it pays them to get this right which means that insurance statistics and risk analysis are often far more reliable than statistics from other sources as they are well financed and have no political agenda.

If an insurance company refuses to insure your Narrowboat for a journey across the English Channel, they do so because they believe the risk is too high, possibly because they perceive your Narrowboat as ill-equipped for such a venture or possibly because somone else has tried it and sunk.

This does not mean that the Channel cannot be crossed by a Narrowboat, it has and can be done by  adventurous people in suitably calm weather, but it is probably a risk outside the scope of normal insurance and I would be suprised if it was not against the advice of various marine safety agencies.