Dive Accident Insurance Limitations

[boulderjohn]

In a recent thread, a poster related a story about having to correct someone's misinformation about dive accident insurance. That misinformation has been repeated often in ScubaBoard threads. The correction is well buried in a long thread, so I thought I would create a dedicated thread that makes it clear and which can easily be linked in future threads. This one specifically refers to DAN accident insurance, but I think it would be good if other companies had their policies clarified here as well.

The misinformed person had stated that dive accident insurance only covers you if you are diving within the depths covered by your certification level. For a basic OW diver, that would be 60 feet. I checked with DAN and got the following response from Greg Moore, programs manager at DAN:

Coverage under DAN dive accident insurance is not limited to the maximum depth of a diver's certification level. It is based on the definition of a covered dive accident, as outlined in the certificate of insurance:​

​

"COVERED DIVE ACCIDENT means an Accident, DCI, or In-water Accident that results from a Covered Dive, regardless of the depth."​

 

[Eric802]

Right, but how do they define “covered dive”?

 

[Underwater Tourist]

Have to watch out if its DAN EU or DAN US

I read and heard several stories how DAN EU is way way inferior and more anal to deal with than DAN US

For example:

Post in thread 'Diving beyond cert?'

Jul 19, 2024

Good reason to have silver plan (?) with Dan. No cert limitations.

DAN basic insurance covers any diver to 40m even with OW certification. So do other agencies.
If you have higher level DAN insurance there is no depth limit. OW is certified to the recreational depth limits. 40m.

I am all for people expanding there skill and exploring deeper if they have the knowledge and skill set to do so. I think a number on a plastic card should not hold people back. I mean that is how diving evolved and got to where it is at, people pushing the limits safely. Heck pretty much...

• GF99/99

• 

 

[MyBuddy]

From my DAN US Handbook for Guardian insurance here is the definition of a Covered Dive/Diving Activity and Covered Dive Accident. (For some reason my mobile device wouldn’t let me copy the text but a screenshot should suffice.)

Key words being “…regardless of the depth.”

 

[LI-er]

The misinformed person had stated that dive accident insurance only covers you if you are diving within the depths covered by your certification level. For a basic OW diver, that would be 60 feet. I checked with DAN and got the following response from Greg Moore, programs manager at DAN:

Coverage under DAN dive accident insurance is not limited to the maximum depth​

The misinformed person you are referring to stated that there are other insurance plans for divers besides DAN and they might have depth limitations.

 

[jborg]

DAN Europe insurance does have depth limitations, though they are not in any way related to your cert level.

The simplest "Bronze" plan covers recreational diving only, to a maximum of 40m. The Silver and Gold plans don't have that limitation and cover "technical diving", but there is a second floor at 130m where you need to clear the dive plan with them first in order to be covered.

 

[Redtwo]

I have diveassure and it has no depth limit except it states that your intended dive should be within your certification/standards.

* You must perform all dives (a) according to the level of Your certification and (b) in strict adherence to the standards and
procedures set up by Your certifying agency (provided it is listed below) for the type and depth of the dive You make. You must never
plan to exceed the maximum depth and/or bottom time set by Your certifying agency for this type of dive.

For me thats fair enough. I read that as if i by accident exceed my planned depth (down current navigational error, running after buddy whatever) im still ok. But if i plan to do a dive to 70m on al single 80 im not covered.

 

[Blackcrusader]

In a recent thread, a poster related a story about having to correct someone's misinformation about dive accident insurance. That misinformation has been repeated often in ScubaBoard threads. The correction is well buried in a long thread,

Thanks.. This is one of the threads discussing this.

Post in thread 'Diving beyond cert?'

Jul 15, 2024

Exactly how many dives (beyond OW training dives) have you completed in the two months since your OW certification? (Exactly how many is "a few dives"?)

rx7diver

• rx7diver

• 

I was diving in Cebu in February and a woman on the boat claimed to work as a technical staff at a chamber in Europe. She also repeated the claim insurance companies would not pay out of you dived beyond 18m as PADI OW and 30m as PADI AOW. She told some vacation divers the chamber would forward their dive computer logs to the insurance company. Thing is these vacation divers held up thir arms to show they had no DCs lol

I then showed her the email I got from DAN that what she said was untrue. She tried to argue with me that the DAN staff were wrong lol. She would not admit she was wrong.

 

[BoltSnap]

there is a second floor at 130m where you need to clear the dive plan with them first in order to be covered.

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

 

[LI-er]

I have diveassure and it has no depth limit except it states that your intended dive should be within your certification/standards.

* You must perform all dives (a) according to the level of Your certification and (b) in strict adherence to the standards and
procedures set up by Your certifying agency (provided it is listed below) for the type and depth of the dive You make. You must never plan to exceed the maximum depth and/or bottom time set by Your certifying agency for this type of dive.

Well that clears things up for sure.

There are in fact insurance companies that require divers to adhere to their certification depths in order for there to be coverage in the event of a dive accident.

That "misinformed poster" was absolutely right.

Frequently Asked Questions

diveassure.com

Q: Do the programs have a depth limit?

A: DiveAssure has no depth limits (as long as standards and protocols are followed and the diver is certified accordingly). Diving to a depth past your certification level will not be covered.