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Local Boat Insurance Brokers: Are they the cheapest way to insure your boat?

If you’re a boat owner you might assume that your best plan is to buy your insurance policy via a local boat insurance broker – after all, you might think to yourself, surely a boat insurance broker near me will be best placed to find me a cheap boat insurance quote?

Unfortunately, it’s rarely that straightforward. In fact, you could be costing yourself a lot of money and missing out on some of the best boat insurance deals if you limit yourself to just one source of information when you’re comparing boat insurance policies.

That’s because some brokers only have access to a limited number of UK insurers and their customers might not be aware that there could be far better deals to be had elsewhere.

With that in mind, even if you are keen to check what a local boat insurance broker might be able to offer, it’s a good idea to use a price comparison site like Quotezone.co.uk to compare boat insurance quotes from a wider range of insurance providers.

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Won’t I get a cheaper quote, or at least a more tailored policy, if I use a boat insurance broker near me?

Local boat insurance brokers will obviously know the marinas, sailing clubs, yacht clubs or canal networks in your local area better than a large, centralised insurer is likely to do, but unfortunately that local knowledge isn’t likely to result in a more tailored policy or a cheaper quote.

Insurance providers use a wide range of data points when calculating their premiums, including local crime rates, but they use official police data and insurance claims data when assessing those factors so local knowledge plays very little role.

The relationship your local boat insurance broker has with insurance companies is likely to have a more significant impact on your quotes than the broker’s local knowledge, because some brokers are able to negotiate preferential deals with some insurance providers.

However, since there’s no way to be sure ahead of time which boat insurance broker has the best relationship with particular insurance providers, the best approach is to compare quotes from a wide range of different providers at the same time and then go with the firm that offers the best overall boat insurance policy at the most competitive price.

How do local boat insurance brokers make money?

Local boat insurance brokers usually receive some kind of arrangement fee, which can either be charged to the policyholder as a standalone fee, added to the overall cost of the boat insurance policy or paid as a commission by the insurer, but either way it usually takes into account the time taken to source the most cost-effective policy with the right amount of cover.

However, the advent of the internet means the insurance comparison process is something that those looking for a new policy could easily be doing themselves from the comfort of their own homes (or the deck of their own boat, for that matter), so there’s less need to pay for someone else to do it for you. Whether you own a catamaran, a RIB or a dinghy, Quotezone.co.uk’s boat insurance comparison service enables you to search policies from a wide range of UK-based insurance providers free of charge.