Boat Insurance

Boat Insurance UK - Compare Cheap boat Insurance Quotes

Let Quotezone.co.uk help find the right boat Insurance cover for you.

Whether you own a catamaran or a sailing boat that you take out on the open seas, or you use a houseboat or narrowboat to navigate the UK’s many inland waterways, it’s a wise idea to compare boat insurance quotes before you take the ship’s wheel.

After all, even the smallest boat can be worth a considerable amount of money, and larger yachts and catamarans can sometimes be worth a small fortune.

In addition, while boat insurance usually isn’t a legal requirement for seafaring vessels, if you plan to use your boat on the UK’s canals or rivers there’s a good chance you will be obliged to take out boat insurance before you can apply for an inland waterways licence. 

Whether insuring your boat is mandatory or simply a good idea, though, you shouldn’t have to pay over the odds for your boat insurance policy. And that’s where we come in.

Quotezone.co.uk’s boat insurance comparison service can help you compare cheap boaters insurance from a range of different boat insurance brokers and specialists, making it more likely that you’ll find the right policy at the right price.

Is boat insurance a legal requirement if my boat has an engine?

Whether or not boat insurance is mandatory is usually based on where you plan to sail your vessel rather than how it is powered. 

If you own a catamaran, yacht, powerboat, sailing boat, motorboat, jet ski, inflatable boat or speedboat that you only ever use on the seas and oceans then boat insurance usually isn’t mandatory, whether your vessel has an engine or not.

By contrast, any boats that are used on UK waterways usually have to be insured. So a river boat or a rowing boat, a speedboat that you use on the river or a houseboat that you use on the canal - in many cases they will each have to be insured before you can apply for a waterways licence to take it out on a UK river or canal. Small boat insurance would be ideal in cases like these.

So even a small rowing boat will have to be insured before I can take it out on my local river?

Yes, on most rivers you will need insurance before you can sail any kind of boat there.

The rules and regulations do vary a little depending on which Navigation Authority manages the inland waterways in your area, but the vast majority of authorities do require you to have boat insurance for any type of vessel you plan to use on the river, including small rowing boats that don’t have an engine.

The reason for that is fairly straightforward - the insurance policy is intended to protect other people and their property when you take to the water, which is why you need third party only insurance at the very least.

What type of insurance do I need if I plan to take my boat out on the river?

Third party boat insurance is usually the minimum requirement for inland waterways, and in most places your third party boat insurance policy will need to provide at least £1 million of coverage.

How much does boat insurance cost?

Boat insurance specialists take a wide range of different risk factors into consideration when they are calculating your premium, so it’s impossible to give an idea of how much you’re likely to pay to insure your boat without taking these variables into consideration.

For instance, the type of boat you own, its estimated market value, its make and model, the year it was built, the type of engine your boat has (if it has one), where you store or moor it and where you normally sail it can all affect the cost of insuring a boat.

The best plan is to use our price comparison service to compare boat insurance quotes from a range of different providers, and then go with the one that offers the best coverage at the best price.

how much is boat insurance monthly?

Paying monthly will likely cost you more on your premiums as you will be paying interest as opposed to if you pay annually.

Does boat insurance cover the contents of my boat too?

Boat contents insurance often isn’t included as standard, but it’s usually possible to add it to your basic boat insurance policy for a small fee.

If you store equipment, appliances, houseware or other valuables on board your boat when you aren’t sailing it then it’s certainly worth considering adding boat contents insurance to your policy, but it’s important to ensure that your boat has adequate security features and insurer-approved locks.

“If you’ve bought a boat in order to explore the open seas you might already know that boat insurance usually isn’t a legal requirement for those sea-bound leisure trips. What many boating enthusiasts may not know, though, is that if you ever plan to take your boat into inland waterways boat insurance is often mandatory. But whether you are legally obliged to take out boat insurance or not, it may still be worth investing in a policy – most boats are worth a lot of money, after all, so it’s a wise idea to protect that investment.” - Greg Wilson, Founder of Quotezone.co.uk.