Insurance small print - you ought to read this.

Yesterday I actually got round to thumbing through the small print in our boat insurance policy. (Euromarine Insurance Sailplan policy)  How many of us rarely do that? Well, it’s worth it because I came across a paragraph that took me by surprise.  Under General Policy Exclusions it has the usual stuff about War, Sonic bangs, Cyber attack(!!), Riots, Pestilence (OK not pestilence) etc. Then under “Non standard uses of your craft” it says:

Unless it is noted in your schedule you are not insured if you use your craft:

Hiring  . . blah blah

single handed if your craft is more than 10 metres in length unless endorsement 25 is shown in your schedule

blah blah

Blimey!  I’m not a regular single hander, but I do now and again move Herbie solo for half  a day or so. So for the last ten years I have been periodically unwittingly  uninsured!  I would have thought that there was more of a chance of an accident when single handed, so I thought I ought to do something about it.

I rang up the insurers and explained the problem and to my relief they added the appropriate endorsement to my schedule at no extra charge and with absolutely no fuss.  So the message is, do look at the small print and if you find a problem ring up your insurer. If they’re anything like EIS you’ll find them helpful. I have occasionally looked for cheaper quotes but EIS always wins.

Changing the subject. There seem to be a number of dates which can be said to be the start of spring.  Although I generally go with the equinox, it is getting a bit spring like round our way.  Lots of crocuses, snowdrops and daffs on the road verges and bird action in the hedgerows. In my scruffy garden I’ve got hellebores and primroses as well as a big clematis in full flower as it grows up the huge holly hedge that keeps us from seeing our deceased neighbours. (We back on to a churchyard).

Fountains, the firm who do the hedge and verge maintenance for CRT are forbidden to do any regular hedge work over the nesting period so they’re probably sitting in their huts drinking tea and sharpening their chainsaws for a bit. It’s odd how bird species come and go.  We never see a sparrow or a thrush now, but every morning we get woken by a red kite mewing as it patrols over our house.  Thirty years ago we would have had to go to mid Wales to see one, now we just go into the garden and look up.  One day I’m going to put out some food to tempt it to land in the garden and see if I can grab a good photo.

Toodle pip.