- Liveaboard cover available
- Personal Accident cover
- Over 195 years of marine insurance experience*
- 24-hour emergency claims helpline
Narrowboat Insurance
What is narrowboat insurance?
Narrowboat insurance protects you from the financial risks of owning a canal boat, whether it’s a narrowboat, barge, widebeam, or houseboat. It typically covers accidental damage, theft, fire, or liability for third-party, whether you’re cruising the canals or moored.
At GJW Direct, we arrange specialist narrowboat insurance designed to give you peace of mind. You’ll receive third-party liability and RCR retainer membership as standard, so you can enjoy life on the water worry-free.
Why choose us
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Contents Cover
We will pay the reasonable cost of repair or replacement for loss or damage to contents in the vessel.
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Protected No Claims Bonus
Once you earn no claims bonus it is protected. This means that you will not lose your no claims bonus if you have one claim in any one policy period. Two or more claims will result in a loss of no claims bonus.
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RCR Cover
GJW Direct has teamed up with the only dedicated waterways breakdown service River Canal Rescue (RCR), to offer retainer membership as standard for customers insured under our Narrowboat & Barge policy.
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Marina Scheme Benefits
If you keep your vessel in a recognised UK marina, you are entitled to Special Endorsements as part of our Marina Scheme.
What does narrowboat insurance cover?
Narrowboat Insurance
- Liveaboard cover—available subject to an additional premium, you just need to inform us that your narrowboat is your permanent place of residence.
- Third-party liability—cover for you and others using your narrowboat.
- Agreed value—we’ll pay your narrowboat’s agreed value in the event of a total loss.
- Protected no-claims bonus—you won’t lose your no claims bonus if you have one claim in any one policy period.
- Legal protection—up to £100k legal expenses to pursue damages or defend criminal prosecutions.
- Medical expenses—for you and your narrowboat crew per incident.
- Personal accident cover—for accidental injury or death.
- Contents—we’ll pay the reasonable cost of repair or replacement for loss or damage to contents in the vessel, up to £50k.
- Wear and tear and lack of maintenance.
- The cost of repairing or replacing a latently defective part/item.
- Rot, mildew, dampness or weathering or any other gradually operating cause.
- Wilful misconduct.
- A fault in design or construction.
- Defective workmanship.
- Mechanical or electrical breakdown.
- Galvanic or electrolytic corrosion unless you are able to demonstrate that anodes of sufficient size and appropriate type have been installed and inspected annually.
For more cover details, please visit our important documents page.
Why consider narrowboat insurance?
Narrowboat insurance protects your boat from risks like theft, damage, and accidents involving third parties.
Imagine the costs if your boat was stolen or vandalised, or if you accidentally steered it into another boat—specialist narrowboat insurance helps you handle these situations without financial stress.
Through GJW Direct, you have the option to cover your contents too, so you can deck out your boat with all the gear and mod cons you like with peace of mind.
Does your narrowboat insurance policy include widebeams?
Yes—widebeams are included under the narrowboat insurance policy arranged by GJW Direct. It is designed to cover various types of canal boats, including widebeams, barges, and houseboats.
Simply visit our online quote process and select widebeam insurance to set up your policy.
How much does narrowboat insurance cost?
Several factors can influence how much you’ll pay for a narrowboat or other canal boat insurance policy, including:
- your number of years no claims bonus
- whether or not you live aboard
- age and value of the vessel
Get an instant quote here to learn the cost of narrowboat insurance through GJW Direct.
Partnering with the RNLI
Since 2018, we've partnered with the RNLI to aid their target of halving preventable coastal drownings by 2024. By sharing important safety information with our customers, we've raised over £120,000.
Narrowboat insurance FAQs
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Whilst not a legal requirement, if you own a narrowboat, widebeam, barge, or houseboat, the Canal & River Trust requires valid third-party canal boat insurance cover in order for you to obtain a boating licence. Without this, you cannot use the UK’s inland waterways.
Get an online quote and start cruising today or visit our important documents page for more cover details.
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Whether or not you need a survey to take out narrowboat insurance varies by provider, but it’s more likely for older or high-value boats.
At GJW Direct, a full out-of-water survey conducted by a qualified marine surveyor is required for boats aged 30 years or older.
If the insured vessel is over 30 years of age, you must have in your possession an out of water condition including ultrasonic readings of no less than 4mm below the waterline and valuation survey, carried out and completed within the last ten years by an independent qualified marine surveyor and any surveyor recommendations are carried out in the timescales and all ‘ongoing recommendations’ shall be complied with throughout the Period of Insurance. A Hull-only report is not acceptable.
Where the vessel is under 26ft and valued below £15k a survey is not required until the Vessel is 50 years of ages subject to the conditions in this survey clause.
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You don’t need a river licence to take out narrowboat insurance. However, you’ll need at least £2m third-party liability cover to get a river licence from the Canal & River Trust, which enables you to travel on the UK’s inland waterways. All GJW Direct narrowboat insurance policies come with £5m third-party liability cover as standard.
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Yes—for an additional premium, you can select liveaboard cover when taking out narrowboat insurance through GJW Direct. This gives you the reassurance that your narrowboat, widebeam, or houseboat is fully covered for this use.
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Yes—you can either live at a long-term mooring or become a continuous cruiser, which involves moving your boat every 14 days as per the Canal & River Trust’s guidelines. There are benefits to both lifestyles, so researching them both beforehand is a good idea before setting off on your narrowboat adventures.
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If you live on a narrowboat as a continuous cruiser, you don’t need to pay council tax as you lack a fixed mooring or permanent address. However, if you have a long-term residential mooring, you will need to pay council tax, as this is considered your permanent residence.
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Yes, we will pay the reasonable cost of repair or replacement for loss or damage to contents in the vessel, up to £50k.
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If your narrowboat is your permanent residence and becomes uninhabitable following a claim, we will pay towards the cost of similar alternative accommodation or rent up to a maximum of £2.5k while your vessel is being repaired.
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We will cover replacement locks and keys to your vessel, its safe, or alarms, up to a maximum of £500.
Discover our partner discounts
As a GJW direct customer, you’ll get access to a large selection of discounts. Explore the list of brands we work with.
Narrowboat guides
*GJW Direct has been arranging marine insurance since 1826
