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Insurance for home-built boats
Short answer
We insure home-built boats. The one condition is a value you can prove: without invoices and build records there is no basis for the sum insured.
On a home-built boat there is no purchase price to anchor the value to. That is exactly what justifies the sum insured on any other boat. The solution is a documented calculation: material invoices, kit costs, engine and equipment, plus a defensible figure for your own labour.
The second point is CE marking. Anyone building a boat for their own use is exempt from CE marking under certain conditions; if it is sold on within a set period, that changes. What matters for insurance is that construction and equipment match the intended use; a boat with no defensible design for its cruising area is one we cannot write.
In practice we suggest bringing us in during the build rather than afterwards. Builder’s risk cover protects the phase in which the boat sits in the shed and is not yet a vessel, and the records we need at the end are created along the way anyway.
Questions and answers
What owners of these boats ask
Do you insure home-built boats?
Yes.
We insure home-built and kit boats as soon as the value is properly documented.
Come to us during the build if you can.
How is the value of a home-built boat established?
Through material invoices, kit and equipment costs and a defensible figure for the hours worked.
At higher values a survey is added.
Do I need CE marking?
For your own use there is an exemption under certain conditions.
What counts for insurance is that design and equipment match the intended cruising area.
Is the boat covered while it is being built?
With builder’s risk cover, yes.
Talk to us before you start; this phase cannot be insured after the fact.
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