Marine mortgages: is your paperwork up to date?

Sales of boats are being delayed in the UK because cleared mortgages continue to show up as outstanding on the UK Ship Register, according to the Association of Brokers & Yacht Agents

Boat owners who took out marine mortgages and paid them off are being advised to check their paperwork is up to date with the UK Ship Register or risk delays when selling their boat.

The Association of Brokers & Yacht Agents (ABYA) has dealt with a number of cases where cleared mortgages continue to show up as outstanding on Part 1 of the register, preventing the sale from going ahead.

ABYA chairman, Peter Norris said the closure of marine mortgage departments by high street banks has meant some mortgages are still listed as outstanding when they have been paid off, and tracking down the paperwork is difficult.

Norris would like to see measures in place so there are checks to make sure paperwork is up to date before marine mortgage departments are closed.

The Financial Conduct Authority said any bank closing their marine lending business needed to make sure staff were able to deal with the administrative aspects of any loans, so that consumers were ‘not disadvantaged’, including ‘de-registering any charges with the UK Ship Register.’

The UK Ship Register falls under the remit of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

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