Insurance Documents / Policy Wording etc

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Zeke XA3

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
301
Reaction score
32
Location
Queensland - Australia - Most of the time
# of dives
5000 - ∞
Ive just purchased my 4th con-current insurance package (more below), this one is my professional liability insurance from V&B to cover me in case i have a case launched against me in the USA or Canada by a student/supervised diver while working.

Now since i have others, i found the documents they sent me a little ...lacking... ive attached the entire policy to this post but every page pretty much states, "this is an endorsement to the original policy" yet there does not seem to be any "base" policy to which the endorsement would have been attached? Any one with any more know how / experience give me a comment. I have asked for a full policy wording but been told that this is it! I also commented on the fact it was a 5 to 3 year old photocopy at low resolution. I will offer them my services in the the very advanced service of OCR and formatting if they wanted to upgrade their service.

(I am an Aussie citizen so i have private health insurance, I work on yacht so i have international medical cover, i dive a lot so have DAN medical insurance (since V&B is only liability)
 

Attachments

  • 2019-20 Individual PL Policy.pdf
    1.1 MB · Views: 133
I work in insurance and whilst i did not go over the entire policy you attached from a quick 2 minutes glance it seems very fishy.

The biggest concern i have with this is they dont even seem to have a section for "policy wording". (unless i've missed it)
Its nice that they write cover in case of "damage" , but how do they define damage? these small things can mean a lot if something ever happens and you are required to use your insurance.

Where are the listed exclusions ? a break down of coverage limits ?

Second, this is not how a policy should look like. it looks like someone created this in Microsoft Word as a draft.
Not to mention the general appearance of it which looks unprofessional and in some parts barley readable. That would be the first "warning" for me.

They have too many "gray areas" in this "policy" that i personally would stay away from.
 
I wish i could stay away but unfortunately this is the only insurance available to me as a non US resident who wants to be protected against being sued in the USA or Canada. no other insurer will includes those 2 countries.

This is Vicencia & Buckley - A Division of HUB International - Dive Insurance, Dive Boats, Dive Store/Resorts, Professional Liability and are approved by PADI!

I know your the first response but im glad that im not the only one who thought it looks...terrible!

I will be sending a longer email tomorrow to them asking for some more details as well as PADI to confirm that these are the same people. I had to ditch my DAN Pro which is very clear and easy to read, hell even my car rentals are better looking that this thing!
 
WHEN HE SIAD IT WAS AN ENDORSEMENT TO THE BASE POLICY. I sounds like you are supposed to have the base policy. It also sounds like the base policy perhaps had coverages and are being changed . You should always be able to get a copy ofhte base policy you signed.

Next this sounds lie the wording you et when you have a will and you later create a codicile to it. A a small change to one portion could throughthe domino effect leave other portions as non valid.

I think I would want to see how the changes you received effect the rest of your policy coverages.
 
WHEN HE SIAD IT WAS AN ENDORSEMENT TO THE BASE POLICY. I sounds like you are supposed to have the base policy. It also sounds like the base policy perhaps had coverages and are being changed . You should always be able to get a copy ofhte base policy you signed.

Next this sounds lie the wording you et when you have a will and you later create a codicile to it. A a small change to one portion could throughthe domino effect leave other portions as non valid.

I think I would want to see how the changes you received effect the rest of your policy coverages.

Direct quote from my request for a copy of the policy "That is the only copy of the policy that I sent to you. "

Me thinks i will be sending a lot of emails in the next few days.
 
A policy consists of terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and definitions. An endorsement as it means, is an amendment to a policy! No policy...no coverage! sometimes a policy can be called a Jacket..either way, your spending your money on a piece of useless paper without a Policy.

May as well Send me your premium.
 
i think the annual premium for me as an instructor with these guys approaches $1000USD!

It was less than that with DAN/V Insurance or other agencies and included medical . Sorry to the Americans here but i really hate the US sometimes!
 
So, reading one of the other documents sent to me, the last 2 are more endorsements, the 3rd is my certificate of insurance,

It seems to read that the master policy is issued to PADI and that i am insured under that version. It does state that my policy wording and definitions are included with said certificate....which they are not.

The bit i cut off the top of this page are all my personal details and certificate number but that is the entire document else.
 

Attachments

  • Annotation 2019-12-04 203735.png
    Annotation 2019-12-04 203735.png
    117.9 KB · Views: 88
i think the annual premium for me as an instructor with these guys approaches $1000USD!

It was less than that with DAN/V Insurance or other agencies and included medical . Sorry to the Americans here but i really hate the US sometimes!
$1000 for a 2 mill limit seems reasonable to me! U pay a grand, their on the hook for up to 2mill...if they pay.
 
$1000 for a 2 mill limit seems reasonable to me! U pay a grand, their on the hook for up to 2mill...if they pay.

I cant tell if your being sarcastic......

Yes the pay/payout ratio is huge and if that was the "standard" in diving I wouldn't bat an eye lid (although no one in South East Asia or central America would ever have dive insurance if it was that much)

Compared to my previous cover, approx $4mill cover + medical cover for me and my students included and travel insurance to boot, for 25% of the cost (and thats the lowest of the 3 levels of cover).
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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