well now as far as insuring a model boat its a bit of myth that many are covered as this is not really true .
Many are covered - no myth.
for example a model boat 60 inches long with a 15cc engine is not allowed to go over 7mph on the upper thames. FACT
its also supposed to be licenced by the environment agency and meet with their specs, FACT (not possible to pass)
An outlandish example to most people in the UK who go nowhere near the Thames.
so with speed limits being stupidly slow you would be breaking the local bylaws and thus insurance will be null and void.
There are no speed limits on any waters local to me - so an irrelevance, and I suspect to most people too - my opinion, consequently not a fact either.
also no insurance from anyone will cover racing another boat unless its an organised event (read the small print )
as for third party indemnity youl find that your not covered if your breaking the law at the time of accident.
There is no racing except at organised events - it's self explanatory, you need organisation to race, else it'd be just be 'out for a razz around'. There is much case law that suggests that Public Liability insurance does not end where a law is broken.
so for a slow plodding boat insurance can be got, but for anything over 10mph its not worth the paper its written on, unless at organised events.!!!!
You've failed to explain how for most people away from a specific part of the Thames, why this is the case - you do not need to race to go fast, or need to be in the presence of other boats.
would you seriously expect a £12 per year policy to cover a model boat doing 50mph on a river crashing into the side of "£300,000 motor boat and putting a big hole in the side of it causing around £20,000 worth of damage ? there is not a chance of it being covered. definitely not by MPBA.
If reasonable care had been taken, I would expect the insurer to honour their 5000000 pound indemnity - who's to say that the 300 grand boat owner didn't cause the incident? You have absolutely no proof that it would not be covered - You do have your opinion though.
ive put this to many insurance brokers about using models , you will not be covered if exceeding the speed limit !!!!
Brokers do not make the rules - insurers do - so again, an opinion presented as fact.
public liability only is ever in force if your NOT breaking any laws at the time and reasonable safety measures have been put into place.,
this could mean a cordoned off area of river or lake for organised event etc !!
by going faster than the speed limit you are breaking the law and public liability can and will be null and void.
Opinion presented as fact again.
any decent broker will point this out IF YOU ASK THE QUESTION !!!
Any decent broker will point out their opinion - nothing more.
just remember the small bit about as long as you abide by the MPBA rules, and check out exactly what is covered, as if not mentioned its not covered !!!.
Abiding by the rules of the assoc. providing your insurance cover would seem to be taking reasonable care.
MPBA don't mention anything about racing your boats on non club events and on waters where the public have full access to the water at all times.
Those may well be non-mpba sanctioned, so there may be a reasonable expectation of not being covered for events outside the mpba's sanction.
to run a model power boat and be fully insured for the general public liability it would need to be drawn up specifically.
Which is indeed what the MPBA and BMPRS (and many other associations) providers have done.
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