Marine Liability insurance for narrowboat and rivercraft owners
We are able to provide stand-alone Marine Third Party Liability insurance for customers with a wide range of pleasure craft. Boats we can cover include:
- Canal Boats
- Narrowboats
- Widebeam Narrowboats
- Residential Narrowboats
- Small Boats
- Dutch Barges
This policy only covers your liabilities, and does not include any insurance for your property, your boat, your gear or any other vessel you are in charge of.
Liability insurance for your narrowboat is not a legal requirement in the UK, but a minimum of £2m public liability is needed prior to buying your boat licence for use on UK inland waterways.
In view of the increasingly litigious environment, and the scale of recent liability awards for personal injury we recommend a minimum of £5 million Public Liability cover.
A summary of the main covers is as follows
This policy covers your liability up to £5,000,000 to compensate other people if someone dies or is injured, or their property is lost or damaged arising from the ownership of your canal boat.
The insurance also covers:
- People who you have given permission to be in control of the vessel
- Your liabilities whilst you are in charge of a boat which you don’t own
Pollution
We will pay any pollution related clean up costs, fines or penalties resulting from a sudden identifiable incident.
Removal of Wreck
Whilst some Insurers do not include Removal of Wreck under their Third Party policies, we will cover reasonable costs associated with Removal of Wreck.
- any loss or damage to your vessel or any boat you are in charge of
- accidents or illness to any person contracted by you, in any capacity whatsoever, in connection with your vessel
- fines, penalties or punitive damages
- apparatus in the engine compartment
- hire, charter, reward or any other commercial activity
- liabilities whilst your vessel is in transit by road
- liabilities assumed under contract
- liabilities whilst racing
- loss or damage to the your boat’s moorings
- wilful misconduct or acts of recklessness by you or other people in control of your vessel including, conduct when under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- your failure to maintain your vessel in a seaworthy condition or in the case of a trailer, roadworthy condition
- your vessel operating outside the cruising range shown in the policy documentation