Travellers in the south of Croatia will be aware of the short stretch of Bosnian territory ,between Split and the southern city of Dubrovnik. In effect, this salient cuts Dubrovnik and the southern part of Croatia off from the rest of the country. About 3 miles (5 km) of Bosnian territory has to be crossed on the coastal road (the Magistrale) and some motorhomers have been concerned about the possible need for extra insurance.
The correspondence copied below followed the publication of Graham Peacock's letter on this subject, in the UK motorhoming magazine 'MMM'. Graham and his wife are overseas site inspectors for the Caravan Club and their area of responsibility includes former states of the Jugoslav Federation.
This exchange of emails summarises the position, as we know it, at the time of writing this article.
Letter from Graham Peacock in the October 2005 edition of the MMM
INSURANCE IN CROATIA
Please may I ask for your indulgence in arranging for my letter to be published in a future edition of MMM? The result could be of some significant help to many motorcaravanners who travel to Eastern Europe - particularly Croatia - and who are put off by the draconian motor insurance limitations applied by the UK's insurers.
My wife and I are overseas site inspectors for the Caravan Club and our area of responsibility includes former states of the Jugoslav Federation such as Croatia and Slovenia. For visitors driving to southern Croatia, a big problem is passing through a very small (5.5 km) coastal area of Bosnia. After three years of research, we have found that virtually no British motor/motorcaravan insurer will issue a Green Card for Bosnia.
We have spoken to one or two motorists who have found appropriate insurers (Saga being one) but we would now like to find out which other companies will provide it. This will enable us to make recommendations for travel to this area and enable travellers to visit, without worry, this beautiful part of Europe. We have approached all the sources we can think of to get this information without success, so we now need readers' help.
Whilst here in Croatia, we have met many motorcaravanners who would also like to visit countries further east (such as Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey). Therefore, anyone with insurance information on those countries could contribute to this plea for help.
Finally, the British seem, again, to be the odd ones out - as all the other Europeans we have spoken to have no problem at all in getting automatic insurance cover for these countries.
Will anyone who can help please contact me by e-mail?
Graham Peacock Email:
MMM Editor's note: If you e-mail Graham with information, would you please be kind enough to copy your e-mail to: , so I can let other readers know.
Our email to Graham Peacock, 3 May 2006
Dear Graham
We were motorhoming on the west coast of the USA last autumn and have spent the winter and early spring in Greece. We have, therefore, only just come across a copy of the October 2005 edition of the MMM with your interesting letter about travel in the Balkans.
We occupy the role of MMM 'Travel Consultants' for Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia, answering individual queries and referring readers to the information on our website: www.magbaztravels.com.
We have had several queries about crossing the Bosnian enclave on the road south to Dubrovnik and we have motorhomed through there ourselves. Our assumption is that the enclave does not provide an entry point into Bosnia or a re-entry point into Croatia. There are no check points and no side road east into Bosnia. Bosnians wishing to access their enclave for a seaside holiday have to do so via Croatia. We therefore saw no need for extra formalities, other than those required for Croatia itself.
We agree with you about the travel restrictions applied by UK insurance companies, which our French, German and Italian fellow-travellers do not share. UK companies severely restrict both the countries they cover and the periods they allow you out of the country. Comfort Insurance (agents for Norwich Union) suit us in giving 12-months cover out of the UK for a large number of countries, adding others (including Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Morocco) for a total of 120 days in any one year, for a small fee.
For some other Balkan countries (eg Montenegro) we would have to buy 3rd-party cover locally, perhaps at the border, as one used to do for the Baltic Republics. For others, such as Albania, we would postpone travel until it is safer, the roads improve and fuller insurance is available.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Reply from Graham Peacock, 3 May 2006
Great to hear from you. I seem to remember, I did correspond with you some time ago, but the records have been erased! Your 'traveller' status is well known in the caravan world! Have had a look at your comprehensive web site, which is very informative - well done.
I tend to agree with your contention that Neum does not need extra Insurance formalities as it is just a seaside resort for the Bosnains & a transit area - it does, however have a road connecting inland Bosnia from the East! Also, Croatians do have to go through customs & are charged on their duty free purchases! The Croats are very upset about the Bosnians actions vis a vis Neum and the customs posts as they did not expect this when they negotiated a sea access with Bosnia after the war. They now are worried that, in the event of disagreement with Bosnia, they will be denied access to the south on the Magistrale. Accordingly, plans are being drawn up (surveying has already been started) to build a bridge from the mainland north of Neum across to the Peljesac peninsula and so avoid Neum altogether.
When I go through Neum I use the 'Transit only' lane but I see a regular queue of other traffic patiently waiting to be waved through....I just wave to the border officials and have never yet been stopped.
I have not published the information I got in feedback from the MMM article, but have responded individually to the emails and have passed the information I did get on to the Caravan Club for their files. The information only confirmed my existing knowledge that Saga do provide cover and so do the NFU (for farmers who already have comprehensive NFU insurance). So the information is available through the Caravan Club and you could give a link on your web site.
Our email to Graham Peacock, 3 May 2006
Thank you very much for this information and for your kind remarks about our website. We will add what you have written to our information on Croatia where it will be very useful.
When we passed through the enclave in October 2003, there were no check points, lanes, queues, nothing. Perhaps there has been a recent increase in pressure by the Bosnians or perhaps it's something they put on in the busier months. It seems that the sooner the Croats build the bridge the better.
Our map, bought in Croatia, shows a road going inland into Bosnia, from Duzi in the enclave, but terminating after a short distance in the Bosnian town of Hutovo.
We are returning to the UK at the moment (sailing Patras-Ancona tomorrow) for some repairs, but we then aim to drive the motorhome out to Romania by the end of May for some cycling in the north and east. We may well return via Slovenia and Croatia (with a ferry across to Italy) to give ourselves an update, among other things.
Reply from Graham Peacock, 3 May 2006
"Our map, bought in Croatia, shows a road going inland, into Bosnia, from Duzi in the enclave, but terminating after a short distance in the Bosnian town of Hutovo." You are of course correct! I think to get to central BiH you do have to go into Croatia, through Metokvic etc. I recall the road from the centre of Neum, just past one of the many shopping areas on the Magistrale which I calculated would take us inland to Medjugorje, but we did not take it eventually. Had we done so, we would have had to return.
.JPG)
