DAN's H2OInsurance

[rcasey]

How do you guys feel about insurance on your equipment... Pro's vs. Cons

Dan's H2OInsurance?
Other Diving Insurance providers
Adding to your homeowners policy?

I am about to drop abour $4G's on equipment and want to consider the possibility of my equipment getting stolen, lost, broken, etc...

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[notabob]

I just went through the same exercise. Aside from DAN's H2O, the only other dive equipment insurance provider I was able to find is DEPP. Which to chose depends on your needs. Up to about $5k worth of non-floodable equipment they're similar in premiums. For less eqpt. than that DEPP seemed cheaper. If you have any floodable gear (i.e. photo/video equipment), however, then H2O stops being a good deal much quicker. Their minimal deductible for flood claims is $250. With DEPP the deductible is 10% of value or $250, whichever is lower. For non-flood claims, the deductibles I think are similar. Also, H2O will send you a check, while DEPP will repair or replace the equipment. I've heard of people having good luck resolving claims with both providers. I chose to go with DEPP, mainly because of the flood considerations.

DocVickingo also had a review of both plans in this thread.

Hope this helps.

-Roman.

 

[Lawman]

insuring personal property a/k/a "stuff" is not
a good investment. Because:
1] the deductable and
2] you get paid depreciated value. "stuff" depre
ciates quickly. The burden is on you to establish
a value higher than that placed by the company
3] disputes may be subject to arbitration which
is expensive.
4] you would rarely lose enough stuff at a time
to make your claim [minus deductable] worth
while.

 

[lucid]

... He was at some Scuba Camp for instructors and his gear was locked in his room. Someone came in and stole everythiny piece of gear he owned. Several Thousand dollars worth of stuff. On a typical dive trip I carry over $3000 ($5000 if I am using my dry suit) worth of gear and on more advanced dives its more than that. I have been thinking about insuring it for a while.

 

[notabob]

Lawman, while not having any personal experience with claims for scuba equipment losses as of yet, both DEPP and DAN's H2O plan are geared specifically towards scuba gear and scuba gear only. I have heard numerous reports from many different people (many of whom are from this board) that had very good luck with getting reimbursed for their losses by those two plans. Equipment lost was replaced or a check for full replacement value was provided with minimal hassle by both plans. Even when cause of loss was less than reasonable. As for value - consider flooding a $700 digital camera during a dive. The deductible under DEPP, for instance, is $70. $70 vs $700 for a replacement. Or paying a $25 deductible when an airline loses $2000 worth of your scuba gear. In my opinion that's worth every penny of the premiums.

While your reasoning may hold some water when dealing with a typical homeowner's insurance policy with a rider or a policy purchased from a non-scuba oriented provider, we were not discussing such a policy. Provided that you do not inflate the insured value of your equipment to unreasonable levels (i.e. my Canon G2 is a $700 camera, not a $1000 camera and there is no way that my Aladin Pro Nitrox is more than a $450-500 computer), you shouldn't have any problems. Hence, I will disagree that it is not a good investment and suggest the opposite.

-Roman.

 

[Lawman]

"as a general rule." If you read the policy, ALL OF THE
POLICY, and not just the Dec sheet [the summary
of declarations] it may be for you and it may not.
I guarentee that the company knows that policy
in detail [ Underwriting wrote it] and if there's any
way out of a claim they will take it. You really
won't know how a company will react to a
claim until you have a large claim. They may pay
the little ones as a matter of course, but it's the
big claims that get looked over by the Claims
Department.

This isn't necessarily wrong. A policy is a contract
and you're supposed to know what you contract
for. It's just that most people don't.

This is based on 33 years of representing insurance
companies in court fighting claims.:doctor:

 

[VTernovski]

So, with my new Tetra 5050 package and all my gear that I can addup, it's about $5000 to $6000 worth of diving equipment... I am going to Bonaire in 2 weeks, and considering insuring everything with H2OInsurance...

The question are:

1) does this cover theft? I heard this is a problem in Bonaire that poeple steal stuff form your car and sometimes fro your room. Will this insurance cover me from a total theft? What will I need to claom it? a police report?

2) What about damage (or theft for that matter too) to my gear by transportation, i.e. Airport people, taxi, etc... Will this be covered?

3) what if I flood or lose my gear while diving (Camera, housing and strobes as well as light canister), I understand the deductable for flooding is higher than a lose??? How do they know if I flood it vs. the clip broke and equipment sank to the bottom where I couldn't recover it, i.e. total lose.

4) Do I have to specify each peice of equipment in a separate line? or can I do somehting like "Light & Motion Terta 5050 Travel Package I with Olympus C-5050 Camera - $3489

5) Last but not least, do I specify the list price or the actual price that I paid? How do they evaluate the price? Do I need to present the original receipt that I paid?

6) Any other things I do not know about, or youhad some experience, tips or suggestions you want to share with me?