Marine Insurance Broker Policy and Claims Software in London: Cost

The verdict in three sentences

A broker specialising in yacht and marine insurance cannot rate a 12-metre sailing yacht or a charter fleet with a CRM built for motor policies. An off-the-shelf broking CRM costs £70 to £170 per user per month, while custom software runs £50,000 to £120,000, paying off once the book exceeds a few thousand policies. Custom becomes worthwhile when agreed value and navigation area rating and claims handling matter more than simple contact management.

The business specifics of a marine broker

Yacht insurance relies on parameters generic tools ignore: agreed value or market value, cruising range (inland waters, coastal, offshore, worldwide), laying-up period, skipper qualifications, private or charter use, and excess expressed as a percentage of hull value. Charter and yard fleets add frequent endorsements, vessels joining and leaving mid-year, and instalment premium schedules.

On the regulatory side, the firm is authorised by the FCA and subject to the Insurance Distribution Directive rules carried into the ICOBS sourcebook and the Consumer Duty: demands and needs statements, suitable advice, the insurance product information document (IPID), 15 hours of CPD per year for each adviser, and a conflicts of interest policy. Placements with Lloyd's syndicates add binding authority and bordereaux reporting. The software must log each step to withstand an FCA review.

Broking CRM or custom: 2026 budgets

Off-the-shelf broking CRMs cover personal lines and group health well. They rarely handle marine risks natively, so teams repurpose free-text fields, which makes rating and reporting fragile. A custom build embeds your rating grids, your partner insurers and your claims flows.

Over 5 years the costs converge. The difference is productivity: a marine rating engine cuts a quote from 45 minutes to 10 minutes.

Mini case study

James, managing director of a marine broking firm near Lime Street in London, employs 8 staff and manages 3,500 policies, including 40 charter fleets. The book generates £6.5 million in premium and £950,000 in commission. Each year the firm issues 1,200 quotes at 45 minutes each, or 900 hours.

With custom software at £85,000, a quote drops to 10 minutes: 700 hours freed, valued at £40 an hour, or £28,000. Automatic chasers cut lapses for non-payment from 2% to 1% of policies, saving 35 policies at £270 of average commission, about £9,500. The gain reaches £37,500 a year and the project pays back in about 27 months, faster if the freed hours go into new business.

FAQ

How much does marine insurance broker software cost in 2026?

A broking CRM costs £70 to £170 per user per month. Custom software built for marine risks costs £50,000 to £120,000, plus £6,000 to £15,000 a year in maintenance.

Does the software handle FCA and IDD obligations?

Yes, each policy stores the demands and needs statement, the advice given and the IPID sent to the client, all time-stamped. Tracking of the 15 hours of annual CPD per adviser can be included too.

Can a client notify a claim from the marina?

Yes, the client reports from a phone with photos and GPS position, and the file reaches the insurer within 24 hours. The firm tracks the surveyor and settlement from a single dashboard.

How are charter fleets managed?

Vessels joining and leaving trigger endorsements with pro rata premium. For a fleet of 30 yachts, endorsement admin time falls by around 70%.

Do we need to migrate the full history?

Usually live policies and 5 years of claims history are migrated for rating purposes. Migrating 3,500 policies takes 2 to 3 weeks of the project.

Let's scope your project. We define the scope (marine rating, fleets, claims, FCA compliance), an indicative budget and a 4 to 6 month timeline before any commitment. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.