What paperwork do I need for worldwide cover?

For long-distance cruising the difference between providers lies less in the wording than in what comes before it: what you have to submit before anyone will name a price. The lists are long. One provider asks for a condition description, the bill of sale, fit-out and refit records, sailing CVs of owner, skipper and crew, current photographs no older than twelve months, photographs of the valid certificates of every item of life-saving equipment, and rig and engine surveys, each no older than twelve months. Another asks for a survey no older than six months, a passage plan with route and timings, a description of the preparation and the crew’s experience.

That has consequences for your timetable. If you have to assemble all that first, you will wait for a quote for a working day, a week, or several weeks depending on the provider. Two will not quote at all without a survey. In our survey nobody else offers an online calculation with a price for long-distance cruising.

With us it is two pieces of evidence in text form before acceptance: the qualification required for the cruising area, held by the owner or the named skipper, and the sea miles sailed. We may additionally ask for a valuation, a condition report or a rig report, but we do not require them as a matter of course. You work out the premium yourself beforehand, with no form and no contact details.

Worth remembering

Going worldwide is not applying for a policy. It is passing an examination.