Dive Trip Insurance: Dive Assure, DAN? Necessary?

[mediumone]

Your trip insurance or your home medical insurance may cover diving accidents but something to consider is that in many countries you aren't getting the treatment until they confirm they are getting paid for it. Getting into a chamber can be time critical and most chambers instantly recognize DAN but how long will it take them to confirm coverage with some insurer they've never heard of?

Probably about the same amount of time that it takes them to verify your DAN status.

 

[deepsea21]

We've been diving for almost 20 years now and we've never purchased any form of travel insurance or dive insurance such as DAN offers. DAN is just a brand that is sold by numerous insurers world wide so wherever you may live when you purchase a DAN policy you are going to be dealing with the local insurance company that underwrote your policy. DAN insurance is secondary insurance and does not kick in or provide any benefit to you, the hospital you may be in, or anyone else until your PRIMARY insurance provider may decline coverage. READ THE FINE PRINT OF THE POLICY! There are actually people who believe DAN insurance is going to pay to get you back to the USA under the Medical EVAC it offers. Again, READ THE POLICY as it will not in 99.99% of cases. One is far better traveling with a your high limit credit cards. If it hits the fan, you pull out a credit card and say, "Charge it, I'll deal with my primary US insurance provider later".

I've been down this rabbit hole before with those who tout DAN and similar secondary insurance policies who never read the entire policy they were purchasing... They just clicked on "Buy Now" after a few minutes and think they are fully protected from everything which is an absolute fallacy. Insurance companies make $ by selling more and more insurance and layers of insurance that they know you will never need or they will never need to pay out on. DAN resides in the secondary insurance market that insures and pays only if/when your primary insurance won't. That may as well be a license to steal but DAN certainly pumps the marketing $ out there trying to convince everyone that DAN is something special or necessary. LOOK AT THE TOP OF YOUR SCREEN RIGHT NOW.. DAN IS PAYING FOR ADVERTISING HERE RIGHT NOW AS IT SCROLLS! It is nothing more than a brand that different insurance companies all over the world that signed on will gladly sell you.

I say DAN is meaningless insurance and a waste of $ for most everyone other than the totally uninsured who lack any form of primary health insurance. Of course, others will differ and that is their right. Those who differ have probably never fought with an insurance company they purchased a policy from and tried to collect on it. You're best friend insurance company that sold you that policy turns into your worst enemy in a second when you file a claim.

 

[Dan]

I used to have both DAN dive accident & travel insurance until last year, when I talked to DAN and asked about whether their travel insurance would cover any COVID-19 related medical expenses including quarantine expenses. They said they don’t. So, I dropped DAN travel insurance and got me DiveAssure, which covers those COVID-19 related medical expenses, including upto $2000 for quarantine.

I’ll be traveling a lot this year, I went to Socorro 3 weeks ago and going to Belize next week + 9 other overseas trip later this year. So I get the annual DiveAssure travel insurance to save money.

I have used DAN dive accident insurance before when I fell off a liveaboard stair & broke my right knee cap when I was in Cendrawasih Bay, Papua, Indonesia. My medical insurance paid for my knee surgery in Jakarta and DAN reimbursed my $5000 one way flight home on business class since I needed to keep my right leg straight during the 24-hour flight home and business seat has such legroom.

One time, coming back home from Palau, I caught a flu on the Palau Aggressor II and fainted on the flight from Koror to Honolulu. They put me on the stretcher when we landed in Honolulu and brought me to the emergency room in a hospital there. They infused me with saline and watched me overnight until my temperature went back to normal before releasing me to continue my journey home to Houston. I remember celebrating the New Year twice, once in Palau & once in Honolulu as we passed the international dateline between Palau & Hawaii. Any rate, my health insurance paid for the emergency treatment in Honolulu (~ $8000) & DAN travel insurance reimbursement the deductible expenses (~ $1500). So, nothing was coming out of my pocket.

So, folks, get yourself both travel & dive accident insurance!

 

[Dan]

We've been diving for almost 20 years now and we've never purchased any form of travel insurance or dive insurance such as DAN offers. DAN is just a brand that is sold by numerous insurers world wide so wherever you may live when you purchase a DAN policy you are going to be dealing with the local insurance company that underwrote your policy. DAN insurance is secondary insurance and does not kick in or provide any benefit to you, the hospital you may be in, or anyone else until your PRIMARY insurance provider may decline coverage. READ THE FINE PRINT OF THE POLICY! There are actually people who believe DAN insurance is going to pay to get you back to the USA under the Medical EVAC it offers. Again, READ THE POLICY as it will not in 99.99% of cases. One is far better traveling with a your high limit credit cards. If it hits the fan, you pull out a credit card and say, "Charge it, I'll deal with my primary US insurance provider later".

I've been down this rabbit hole before with those who tout DAN and similar secondary insurance policies who never read the entire policy they were purchasing... They just clicked on "Buy Now" after a few minutes and think they are fully protected from everything which is an absolute fallacy. Insurance companies make $ by selling more and more insurance and layers of insurance that they know you will never need or they will never need to pay out on. DAN resides in the secondary insurance market that insures and pays only if/when your primary insurance won't. That may as well be a license to steal but DAN certainly pumps the marketing $ out there trying to convince everyone that DAN is something special or necessary. LOOK AT THE TOP OF YOUR SCREEN RIGHT NOW.. DAN IS PAYING FOR ADVERTISING HERE RIGHT NOW AS IT SCROLLS! It is nothing more than a brand that different insurance companies all over the world that signed on will gladly sell you.

I say DAN is meaningless insurance and a waste of $ for most everyone other than the totally uninsured who lack any form of primary health insurance. Of course, others will differ and that is their right. Those who differ have probably never fought with an insurance company they purchased a policy from and tried to collect on it. You're best friend insurance company that sold you that policy turns into your worst enemy in a second when you file a claim.

I select the PRIMARY insurance provider option for my annual DiveAssure policy.

 

[Saxonjd]

There are several reasons that I buy trip insurance.
I use Travel Insurance - Compare and Buy | Squaremouth as I find their site the most user friendly and efficient.

The policies offer better coverage for less than DAN and Dive Assure.

Yes, no need to cover the cost of your flights at this time.

I do always make sure that the medical coverage is secondary. That way I'm covered for the out of pocket expenses that my primary insurer, (Blue Cross), doesn't cover.

When we fly United and purchase with my Mileage Plus card, the accompanying benefits are very good. The only reason I buy is for the medical and for emergency evacuation and repatriation of my remains. My wife wouldn't be comfortable in hauling my carcass out into the jungle.

The last time I purchased, it was under $60.00 for our trip for way, way more than enough to take care of the most catastrophic situation.


Edit to add: It's really not a big deal to read the exclusions to see if scuba is covered. Some cover to 120', some to 130'. You can also do a search to filter the results in the site I referenced

I do the same thing. Once we purchase our tickets I go on Squaremouth and price out different policies. If you open the pdf of the policy and hit the search button and enter "scuba" or "diving" it will quickly show you where those words are in the policy. You can then read the relevant section.

The nice thing with Squaremouth is you can customize parts of what you want such as how much coverage you want for certain things, whether you want primary or secondary medical, the $ amount for emergency evacuation, etc. It's not the most exciting, but as folks have said, read the policy.

As mentioned above, DAN is secondary medical coverage so it won't kick in unless you have excess charges or no insurance coverage. I've read through (a long time ago) some of the coverages and restrictions, and I prefer the more expansive coverages I can get through Squaremouth. Certainly one size doesn't fit all and this isn't a knock on those who use DAN as most of the group I dive with does. I just find this route fits our needs better.

 

[Dan]

I do the same thing. Once we purchase our tickets I go on Squaremouth and price out different policies. If you open the pdf of the policy and hit the search button and enter "scuba" or "diving" it will quickly show you where those words are in the policy. You can then read the relevant section.

The nice thing with Squaremouth is you can customize parts of what you want such as how much coverage you want for certain things, whether you want primary or secondary medical, the $ amount for emergency evacuation, etc. It's not the most exciting, but as folks have said, read the policy.

As mentioned above, DAN is secondary medical coverage so it won't kick in unless you have excess charges or no insurance coverage. I've read through (a long time ago) some of the coverages and restrictions, and I prefer the more expansive coverages I can get through Squaremouth. Certainly one size doesn't fit all and this isn't a knock on those who use DAN as most of the group I dive with does. I just find this route fits our needs better.

What coverage you would get if you get COVID-19 overseas that is required you to be hospitalized there and/or quarantined?

 

[flyboy08]

If your a diver, you want to be a member of DAN including their inexpensive med offers...just sayn

 

[Dan]

If your a diver, you want to be a member of DAN including their inexpensive med offers...just sayn

Yep. My one time dive accident (see the quoted post, below), is equivalent to 30 years of my annual premium.

I have used DAN dive accident insurance before when I fell off a liveaboard stair & broke my right knee cap when I was in Cendrawasih Bay, Papua, Indonesia. My medical insurance paid for my knee surgery in Jakarta and DAN reimbursed my $5000 one way flight home on business class since I needed to keep my right leg straight during the 24-hour flight home and business seat has such legroom.

 

[mediumone]

What coverage you would get if you get COVID-19 overseas that is required you to be hospitalized there and/or quarantined?

You can stipulate Covid coverage in your search parameters on the Squaremouth site.

 

[mediumone]

If your a diver, you want to be a member of DAN including their inexpensive med offers...just sayn

Why on earth would I want to do that instead of my current trip insurance policy?