Dive Accident Insurance Limitations

[LI-er]

Given that you continu to dodge the questions you are asked, i am going to give up. Good luck .

No one is going to tell @Blackcrusader that OW divers can't dive to 130 feet.

 

[rjack321]

Do you have to communicate with them before every dive >130m?

Well those would in theory be fairly rare

 

[boulderjohn]

Here is an explanation of the PADI 130 foot limit.

It is not a legally enforceable limit. It is different from the other limits because it is the end of the line for NDL diving. If using the PADI tables, that is where the tables end, except for contingency. After that, you are in the realm of technical diving and new and different training and equipment.

 

[Blackcrusader]

No one is going to tell @Blackcrusader that OW divers can't dive to 130 feet.

I don't tell any diver how dive they can deep. I am not their DM. I don't tell you what kit to have either.
Should I refuse to dive with you because you don't have a reef hook or satellite beacon. You solo dive and could get swept away by a current and never found but don't have a satellite beacon.

My son is OW. I do dives with him. We have never dived deeper than 25m depth together even though he has a couple hundred dives. He went to Hawaii for his honeymoon. Operator said OW certs don't have the skills for deeper dives. After they saw his buoyancy and trim on his first dive with them they said ok you can come on the dives for AOW. Their policy is flexible. But they take AOW divers who they wished they could have refused as their diving skills were lacking.

 

[LI-er]

I don't tell any diver how dive they can deep.

I should have phrased that sentence differently.

No one is going to tell @Blackcrusader that insurance companies won't cover OW divers who dive to 130 feet.

 

[boulderjohn]

No one is going to tell @Blackcrusader that insurance companies won't cover OW divers who dive to 130 feet.

He specifically said DAN in the original posts, the ones that triggered this thread. If you look at the first post in the thread, it talks about DAN only and asks other to provide information about other companies.

 

[therookie]

New diver here, currently uninsured, reminded by this thread to get back to my insurance shopping. Reviewing the FAQ on the website for DiveAssure Worldwide, I found this question and its answer:

Q: What’s not covered?
A: The policy isn’t designed to cover everything. Take the time to read the terms and conditions of your program to review coverages.
Here are the main things that aren’t covered:
Any dive which takes you below your current qualification limits.
Anything mentioned in the General Exclusions.
Any non-recreational dive.

(The italics are mine)

I noticed it says "qualification", not "certification". So in the light of the many comments in this thread I contacted DiveAssure Worldwide through their website with this question:

The wording in the FAQ leaves me feeling that with my AOW certification I would not be covered for a dive that went even slightly below 100 feet. Could you please clarify the coverage specifically with respect to the depth at which a potential open-circuit recreational scuba diving related accident occurs?

The response, received by email early this morning:

To address your concerns, DiveAssure policies do not cover diving beyond a diver's certification limits unless the diver is actively participating in a training course for a higher certification level.

It seems clear enough to me from that response that "certification limits" is interpreted by DiveAssure Worldwide (can't speak to any other regions - my question was specifically related to the division that covers my place of residence as defined by DiveAssure) as referring to my PADI AOW certification that I have received training and have demonstrated the skills necessary to dive to a depth of 30 metres / 100 feet. I intepret their response as stating that diving below that depth is not covered.

 

[boulderjohn]

It seems clear enough to me from that response that "certification limits" is interpreted by DiveAssure Worldwide (can't speak to any other regions - my question was specifically related to the division that covers my place of residence as defined by DiveAssure) as referring to my PADI AOW certification that I have received training and have demonstrated the skills necessary to dive to a depth of 30 metres / 100 feet. I intepret their response as stating that diving below that depth is not covered.

That's how I would understand it as well. Reading that, I cannot understand why anyone would choose DiveAssure.

 

[tursiops]

That's how I would understand it as well. Reading that, I cannot understand why anyone would choose DiveAssure.

In addition, DiveAssure covers you outside your country of residence, not inside.

 

[therookie]

In addition, DiveAssure covers you outside your country of residence, not inside.

That seems to be dependent on your country, or in the case of the United States, state of residence. From their website:

For residents of: AK, AR, AS, CO, GU, LA, MD, ME, MN, MT, NV, NM, NY, NC, MP, OR, PA, PR, TT, UT, VT, VI, WA, CANADA

For US Residents: Coverage is valid outside of home country, worldwide.

For Canadian Residents: Coverage is valid domestically and worldwide.

But for US residents of : AL, AZ, CA, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MA, MI, MO, MS, NE, NH, NJ, ND, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV, WY

Coverage is valid domestically and worldwide.

Seems to depend on which insurance company is actually underwriting the policy.

For my country of residence, coverage is also valid domestically and worldwide.