Over the last few days I’ve been trying to secure insurance for Goshawk. There was one obvious choice – Navigators and General. They have a close relationship with the Westerly Owners’ Association, of which I am a member, and offer various incentives to members of the association, including a ten per cent discount. They are not easy to get hold of though! I have had to sit in a queue on the phone on several occasions, and indeed have given up a couple of times. I was also promised an email from them, but this didn’t appear.
There were three reasons that I didn’t sign up to N&G straight away:
- My perception that their communication is poor;
- Their premium was towards the upper end of the range of quotes I secured;
- They stipulated that Goshawk couldn’t be launched until 1st May, and when this was queried stressed that this date could not be changed.
Once I had received several quotes in writing, however, I decided that Navigators and General just seemed to be the most trustworthy, and their added benefits seemed good. I emailed them therefore to ask if the price they had quoted was the best price, and if I could launch Goshawk earlier.
As yet, they have not replied…
I rang them this afternoon, therefore, and put my points to them. The agent took me through the quotation process again, and managed to knock £40 off the premium. Excellent.
When I challenged him on the date that I could launch Goshawk, he agreed, without question, to move this to the beginning of April. Result. This didn’t have any impact on the premium.
I therefore opted to give them my business.
But what’s the warning, I hear you ask?
I used a couple of yacht insurance comparison sites (I thought this market would be too niche for such a thing, but evidently not!). I punched in my details, sat back, and waited for the results.
One of the quotes that I received back came from a company called Edward William. It was significantly lower than any other quote. There was no need to show them a survey. It was fully comprehensive. There was no restriction on launch dates etc. It seemed almost too good to be true.
Not having heard of Edward William I googled them and found mixed reviews. Some of their clients are clearly very happy, others were not. Probably par for the course for any business, I thought.
I then looked them up on the FCA website and found the following warning:
I decided not to give them my business, therefore!
Of course, they may have many happy customers in the U.K. (you may be one), but if the FCA suggest not to deal with them, I would concur!
