Issued by John Cooper, Yacht and Boat Insurance Consultant

These notes are given in general terms: see your policy or quotation for specific terms.

Boats up to 16’6” long, or 5 metres, are treated differently from larger boats by most insurance companies. Policies for small craft may be called Dinghy Policies but also apply to cabin boats of that size. With engines over a certain horsepower or top speed over a certain level, they also become subject to special insurance conditions and higher premiums — never buy a bigger engine until you have checked what effect it has on your insurance terms.

An important effect of these policy differences is that boats up to 16’ 6”, or 5 metres, are normally expected to be kept ashore whenever they are left unattended. Different company policies may say:

a) You must take the boat safely ashore whenever it is left unattended or

b) same as (a) but you can leave boat moored in one named location during certain months only, or

c) like (a) and (b) but you can make special arrangements if say you want to leave the boat moored in a marina or sheltered moorings during a limited time — perhaps your summer holiday. You need advance approval in writing from the insurance company.

d) You can pay a set extra premium and have blanket permission to leave boat moored unattended anywhere in the general policy limits e.g. Great Britain, any time of the year.

However, it is a basic principle of insurance law that you must not be reckless with the boat, so anchoring it off an exposed coast and leaving it long periods unsupervised is not allowed anyway. You must moor the boat in a suitable place.

Obviously a decked boat or cabin boat is a better risk than an open one as regards weather damage. An unwieldy heavy outboard motor can make the risk worse.

When leaving the boat ashore, note that some insurers want boats with masts to be tied down to the ground, unless in a locked building. As a mast crashing down can damage property or injure people, this is understandable.

When asking for insurance quotations, explain what you need as regards the above suggested options. It is pointless to buy a cheap policy in spring only to find it will not cover your eagerly awaited summer holiday activities. This is why it pays to use an experienced boat insurance specialist.

Premiums change, so anything I say now could be out of date when you read this, but a WW Potter insured for £2,000 plus £1,000,000 Third Party liability, always taken ashore if unattended, could cost from £41.00 yearly to insure. If left on a mooring at any time you like, it could cost £97.00 plus, but if you have earned 4 years’ no claims bonus, it could be only £78.00.