Hi Luke,
I made a few calls today and by coincidence we have just taken delivery of a new Parker Ally Cat with full bells and whistles as an Advanced Training Boat for the School - worth 45 K.
Our broker who is as shocked as I am
came to me today with a quote for 1400 through Allianz who we have been with for 10 years with no claims!!!!!
He explained that a private user would be paying more and that the low cost reflected our " extensive experience " !!!!!
I have asked our broker to come back with a different quote !!
I called Allianz direct today . It took 20 minutes to get through to be told that there was no marine guy there and that they would call me back at 11.
No call back so I rang 4 times this afternoon before getting through at 4 .30 after 20 mins on hold.
The lady who answered said we dont insure boats over 17 knots.
But says I, You refer people to us for training before you will insure them and you have an ad for RIB insurance ( a google ad) on RIB.Net. "Hold" says she ........and disappears Then I got cut off after 5 minutes....
Maybe they will call me back tomorrow !!
In the meantime I now welcome advice on UK Insurance or feedback from the other Irish guys here who I felt were being ripped off at 500 quotes !!
I do know that clients were insuring new 50k RIBs last year for 300. My feeling is that the predominant factor is the value rather than the power of the boat...However, that said, I know that other clients here are paying less than 500 for Shannon Cruisers worth 150 K
Looks like Fast water Craft ( a new legal definition here in Ireland since the 2004 Fast Craft Legislation arrived) are the new Pariahs, Insurance wise.
Stuart