Having a slow start to the morning so thought I'd share.....

Having received my reminder for insurance this week, and jolted into action by the other insurance thread, I went on line for comparative quotes for the 'fleet' of the Merlin and 2 lasers - existing renewal with Bishop Skinner £340 - with Insurance4dinghies / Towergate Mardon, the premiums were a bit less than £200, for apparently identical risks/cover. Newton Crumb were about the same as BS.
I'm hovering somwhere between 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' and 'if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is'

Is the old addage that 'you get what you pay for ' the one to be guided by here?
I'll interrogate them by phone and report back.

Kieron just had exactley this with Smokin.
My Bishop skinner quote for renewal was £232 last years premium was £103, I called to ask about this and was told that they place dinghies in one of five groups with one being the cheapest. Last year Merlins were group two, now they are group four, this is due to all of the mast claims that have gone in over the last eighteen months over 20 masts at close on 2K a claim compared to a policy premium of less than £200 means they are seriously out of pocket, so said Mr Southgate of Bishop Skinner.
I have not renewed with them, although I have always found their service to be excellent, I have taken a leap of faith and paid £70 with a company who I know have just paid out to two other Merlin Owner without difficulty one a mast claim the other a main sail.

I have always used Craftinsure personally. They have been very good over the years and rewarded my loyalty this year by dropping my premium on the Winder from £300 PA to £190 PA
They have always been good with a claim and Richard Knows the class well. I also have my NSM 2 with them which is £75 PA and my OK which I think was £58 PA.

Looks like the increase probably reflects the number of claims for broken masts etc. Bishop Skinner was heavily towted as the cheaper option last winter and so imagine a lot headed to that haven. As they say, you get what you pay for. Any of the big 5 seem to offer a good service.

I have used Towergate Mardon, and had to have a claim on a broken mast and boom. They paid out without any problem, and actually chased me to settle it as it took Jacko a while to get round to my repairs due to Whitstable NAtional breakages.

Premium stayed the same on the renewal.

I was very impressed with them.

The insurance world must be a complex place - I think I'll take the £100 saving with Towergate Mardon on that reccomendation, having found a pressing need for a new jib sheet and cleats it's come at a very handy time!

Thanks for the posts

Same here, have just been quoted £311 for renewal by BS, an increase of 67% for the same reasons as quoted above, although I personally had no claims.

Chat to them.  I had a huge hike in the quote until I phoned and pointed out that there was no carbon on the boat, never will be in my ownership then the premium for the two boats (111 and 252) fell to the previous year's very acceptable level.   Looks as if the Morris Minor equivalents have been lumped in with the Ferraris and the Moggy owners suffer.

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/?article=159458

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/?article=159458

Have to say they were pretty good when I lost e 400 one evening whilst returning from dinner on a greek flotilla holiday.
Thhey were the company I was refering to in my earlier post too.

It is the carbon breakages that have caused the hike with BS.  I rang them to explain my 578 and 1791 boats do not have carbon and are raced with respect for their age (and that of the owner)  They put the boats into a different group and reduced the premium.

The problem is that to many people pay a premium and look to the fact that they have paid the money and any knock of breakage, claim on the insurance and be done with it. The bigger picture is that the group/class buys into a syndicate of policies and the insurer takes a view on whether it is tenable over a period of time. Unfortunately to many classes run their kit on the edge and over a period of time as kit is pushed either beyond its designed limit or tires and breaks, a claim goes in and hey presto, a few more follow and suddenly the underwriter is showing a loss. Over the years numerous classes have fallen fowl of this, especially with the arrival of carbon kit, which though repairable costs more than an alloy extrusion. It is a fine balancing act, and if St Margaret's experience is anything to go by, others will be shore to follow. So be warned and be careful or the premiums will creep up, or as the I14s found out at some point they could not insure their rigs. A culture of do we really need to claim should be adopted by all and only make claims where a big payout is required. If one was to adopt the policy as a class, the insurance levels would be much healthier. We broke our B14 carbon mast recently and kept Towergate in the loop just in case. However, Jacko did a really good repair and we did not claim but teh cost did hurt, but you never know, one day we may really need that policy to make a big payout and hopefully it will be there at a reasonable cost.
Anyway, back to assembling more masts and boats.
Bye for now

Barnsie

Apologies, meant Bishop Skinner