Oh dear Jane Hawkins, the giveaway here is the boat 'was a decent price', writes Linda Edwards.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Would you really trust the seller's say-so that the hull was good and there would be no problem getting it through the BSC? At the very least you would always have an out-of-water hull survey, and if your knowledge of boats was less than expert, a full survey. And also ask for a new BSC before sale if it was that close to expiring.
Unfortunately, a lot of people can't understand the difference between a Boat Safety Scheme examination and a survey.
A BSS examination will only tell you that the boat met a pre-determined set of criteria on the day the boat was examined, in that it did not pose a third-party risk.
The only examination checking point on a private vessel that concerns risk to the occupants is the installation of a CO alarm. It has nothing to do with whether or not a boat might sink (and therefore be deemed unsafe). Hence Boat Safety Examiners have now been rebranded Boat Safety Scheme Examiners.
Whether a boat was bought privately or through a broker, the advice is always Get an Independent Pre Purchase Survey. And Kelvin Alexander-Duggan is quite right, choose your own, not one recommended by the broker or seller.
Caveat Emptor.
Linda Edwards
Cheshire Cat Narrowboat Holidays