How much third party cover do Mediterranean countries require?

Italy sets the highest figure: 6,450,000 euro for injury to people and 1,300,000 euro for damage to property. Croatia wants proof of third party insurance before the boat goes into the water at all, jet skis included, and the check happens at the slipway rather than in an office a week later. Spain, Greece and Denmark also make third party insurance compulsory for pleasure craft, and so do the Swiss waters. None of these authorities is interested in how carefully the wording is drafted. They look at one number, at the dates, and at whether the certificate names the boat in front of them.

Raise a limit before you leave rather than after. The third party limit is one of the few things in a boat policy that can be changed in minutes, and the change is worth nothing once the incident has happened. Ask for the international certificate of insurance at the same time: it is the document a harbour office in Italy or Croatia recognises without translating anything, and it is issued in a run of languages for exactly that reason. Carry a printed copy with the registration and the radio licence, keep a photograph on the phone, and check that the period runs past the last day of the cruise rather than to the end of the season at home.

Staying for the winter is a separate question from cruising there in July. A boat left in a Turkish, Croatian or Spanish marina over the winter sits under somebody else's rules, often ashore in a yard whose own contract limits what the yard answers for, and a seasonal arrangement that stops in October leaves those months open. Before the berth is booked, read what the wording says about lay up outside the sailing season and about lay up abroad, and read the marina contract for what it demands of you: proof of insurance, a named local contact who can move the boat, and for an older hull sometimes a survey.

Worth remembering

Several countries set a figure. The cheapest moment to raise a limit is the week before you leave.