The boat insurance crew
who really care

What sets us apart from other insurers

As boat owners we don’t ever see ourselves having to claim on our insurance policy. It’s one of those boating essentials which we begrudgingly purchase each year, just in case. After all, we are responsible boaters taking care to be safe out on the water and protect our boat back ashore. However, the unexpected happens and that is when the quality of our chosen insurance policy and almost as importantly, the team behind it, suddenly become vital. It’s why it is key to spend time looking at the fine detail of the policy and everything that comes around it before purchase.

For us here at Haven Knox-Johnston, generating customer loyalty and building trust to create long term relationships with our clients is at the forefront of our business. And with 85 percent of renewals, it’s something we hope we are pretty good at! We are always striving to be even better though and one of the reasons our customers are so loyal is the customer service that our crew work hard to provide.

Our crew

We are a close knit bunch, and most have been with the business for many years. Some are sailors themselves, so do actually know one end of a boat from another! Not all are, but it’s important for us that each and every member of our crew takes an interest in boating, and we are working on ways to get them out and about to learn more about boating.

Rest assured we don’t contract out our customer service. Whether you’re calling for a quote, or to make a claim, rest assured our phones take you directly through to a human being. We have a specific claims team who will personally take charge of your claim.

At Purchase

A positive customer experience is about way more than simply providing a quick quote in order for boaters to buy our insurance as fast as possible. We aren’t always the cheapest – so there needs to be another reason as to why people purchase a policy with HKJ. We think it often boils down to their interaction with our award winning team together with other benefits we offer.

Boats are unique and come in so many shapes and sizes, as well as a huge difference in their age, construction, where they’re moored and how they’re used. For some boat owners, a quick quote is sufficient, but for many others, a discussion with our knowledgeable customer service crew on the end of a phone is a must. It is this touchpoint where customers first get a taste of the type of customer service that they can expect from us.

It’s our aim for anyone who calls us to leave feeling satisfied, happy even! We try to minimise the pain of buying insurance. We also make sure that you know what you’re getting which enables you to feel confident that the policy meets your needs. We wouldn’t be happy with anything other than your full trust that your boat is in safe hands with us.

It’s not just about having people on the end of a phone. Many of our customers prefer to communicate via email, and we try and make this as quick and easy as possible. It’s about giving our customers options that suit them. At the end of the day, our goal is to resolve complex queries efficiently, whilst at the same time providing a personal and meaningful interaction.

What we’re working on…

For renewals, we know that some customers don’t want the hassle of calling up to pay. We are all used to real-time, secure, easy payments – and that is what our customers expect of us. We get that. Our renewal payment options are something that we’re working on improving. The process needs to be as easy as possible. However, automating renewal payments is not what every customer wants, and it’s important that we always have a crew of people available to take your call. Again, it’s about giving our customers’ options.

Feedback

We love receiving feedback from our customers, and we listen to every word they tell us! And where we can improve, we will. When writing this, over the last 10 months, we have had 2,034 Feefo reviews, of which 1,678 were 5 stars. For the 89 reviews that were 3 stars or lower, we contact each customer to try and find out what happened, and more importantly, how we can improve. For us, those negative reviews are almost more important than the positive reviews in helping us constantly assess and improve our service. We aim to provide a consistent, reliable and predictable experience – albeit our crew are human and have an occasional bad day! Sometimes we need to put our hands up, apologise and investigate. Turning a conflict situation into a positive is important to us and we have built some great client relationships off the back of problems.

Making a claim

When it comes to claims, understanding our customer is of the utmost importance. They are already upset and frustrated that something has gone wrong, so the last thing they want is a long, painful claims process. It’s not just the inconvenience and upset of the actual damage to the boat, it’s also the lost opportunity to go out and enjoy time on the water. Let’s face it, British weather isn’t the best, and missing the best few weeks of the summer because of delays in getting a claim processed is not what any boat owner wants.

We have an in-house claims team who are hugely experienced in processing boat insurance claims. Treating our customers with empathy and in a helpful, knowledgeable manner in their time of need is essential, and our claims team are experts in doing exactly that.

The claims experience doesn’t just stop at our lovely crew though. We have numerous trusted surveyors that we use to help us assess the claim. These guys really know their stuff and are an extension of the excellent customer service that we offer in house.

We pride ourselves on making the claims process as streamlined and pain free as possible. A simple phone call or email to our lovely claims team to report the circumstances is all it takes to get the ball rolling. From a small bump to a large loss, our experienced claims team will assist you through every step of the way from first notification to settlement. We endeavour to get the matter resolved as quickly as possible, in order to have you enjoying life back on the water again.

Throughout the year

We are also working to be in “constant communication”, through our Haven Collective. Providing useful and interesting content to enrich your boating life. From webinars, such as the Storms Webinar hosted in January, or the Sailing Round Britain one of our most recent webinars, to creating interesting articles in conjunction with famous sailors like Dee Caffari. Or even offering you useful loyalty benefits such as discounts at Rooster Sailing! We are working to increase our offering of useful stuff which will enrich your life – watch this space! We also aim to be there at various shows across the country so you can meet us face to face.

GoGreener

We have had some great feedback on our GoGreener campaign. Customers are really getting behind our aim to go paper free. They appreciate that we are trying to do our bit – and whilst a positive customer thought wasn’t the reason we launched it, it’s been a great plus point!

You’ll be pleased to know that we aren’t just trying to reduce our paper. We’re questioning every promo item we order and every advertising method chosen. And it’s wonderful to pair up with events that are also taking the environment seriously, such as Poole Regatta. And teaming up with Dee Caffari on certain Go Greener activities such as the Women’s Open Keel Boat Championship couldn’t be a better fit. Her work with ocean plastics is renowned.

Ultimately, our customer service is only as good as the people on the end of the phoneline. And as a business we recognise the need to create a positive workplace – an engaged, happy employee who creates a personal, meaningful connection with a customer is worth their weight in gold.

For enquiries, call us:

+353 (0)57 8694069

For a boat insurance quote:

Get a Quote

Why insure your boat with HK-J?

Boat insurance, shipshaped around you

Useful Links

Directors: Robert Kennedy, Mark Nolan, Mark Boland, Mark Whelan, Denise Behan. Howden Insurance (Ireland) Limited trading as Haven Knox Johnston is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Howden Insurance (Ireland) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, No. 973308. Registered in Ireland under company registration number 338916. Registered Office: 10 The Courtyard, Kilcarbery Park, Nangor Road, Dublin 22, Ireland. Calls may be monitored and recorded for quality assurance purposes.

The boat insurance crew who really care