Narrowboat, Barge & Inland Waterways FAQs

A boat licence is only required in the UK for inland waterways and is usually issued by the Canal & River Trust. When it comes to buying your boat licence, you’ll first need to have obtained boat insurance and a Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) certificate. 

The cost of your boat licence will depend upon the width and length of your vessel, but it is important to consider what duration you’ll need to obtain for your licence. This will depend upon how often you intend to use your boat. If you’re intending to use your vessel for holidays, you might consider a short-term option. These are available as a one-week, one-month, or 30-day explorer licence. 

You can choose to have a full licence, which covers all inland waterways, or you can choose to limit your cover to specifically rivers if you know you’ll never need to travel via the likes of canals. 

For full information on the parameters of choosing a boat licence, visit the Canal & River Trust’s website to browse their licensing FAQs. 

Have a query about the RCR cover provided with your policy or broken down, and need their help? See below for more information on how to reach them. 

If you have any queries relating to the RCR cover included in our Narrowboat/Barge policies, then you can view a summary of the cover on offer here. 

Alternatively, please contact RCR directly on:

• Freephone: 08000718021 or 
• Landline: 01785248793. 

For further information, please visit the RCR website.