Diver's Insurance

[reefugee]

I have seen a few references the DAN and PADI dive insurance. My question is why are people purchasing dive insurance? Is your personal life insurance good enough? I have accidental life / dismemberment insurance through my work that is pretty good. Should I be considering diver's insurance? What am I missing?

Thanks
Minh

 

[Diver Dennis]

You should check to see if your insurance covers chamber rides and evacuation. Check their website here: http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/insurance/index.asp

The cost of these can be many thousands of dollars.

 

[eclipse785]

Most health/life insurance have restrictions on what they will cover, especially as it relates to "high risk behavior" like diving. Some 'regular' life insurance policies won't pay out in the event that you die as a result of diving because the policy doesn't cover diving related accidents. Life insurance aside, if you have an accident while diving and need to take a trip in a deco chamber, chances are your current insurance wont cover that either.

The nice thing about dive insurance is that (generally) all of the policies out there (DAN, PADI, DiveAssure, DiveSafe, NAUI, etc...) cover all of these situations and more, including:
Chamber rides, Emergency Evacuation, Any Diving related health problems, Trip insurance, gear insurance for what you have to ditch or gets lost in the event of an accident, etc.

And for less than $100 a year... that's great peace of mind.

 

[Melicertes]

I have seen a few references the DAN and PADI dive insurance. My question is why are people purchasing dive insurance? Is your personal life insurance good enough? I have accidental life / dismemberment insurance through my work that is pretty good. Should I be considering diver's insurance? What am I missing?

Thanks
Minh

Normal everyday life & medical insurance often may exclude activities that are considered extreme sports or hazardous activities - you should carefully consult your insurance cover schedules to see what is covered and what not to avoid getting into a situation where you might not receive the benefits you expect because you unwittingly violated the terms and conditions of your policy/ies. DAN also offers life insurance to their members aside from their normal medical insurance for divers, albeit at an extra charge of course. I'm not too sure how well it compares to regular policies for the same cost though - anybody have a clue?

Diver insurance is for cover "in the unlikely event" (doesn't that just ring sound like the texr book?) that something should happen to you while diving and your regular medical insurance doesn't cover the costs. This is where DAN and Vincentia & Buckley, and a few other companies, step in. You would sign up for additional diver insurance to cover you when your regular insurance doesn't kick in as per their terms and conditions (again consultt your coverage schedule carefully) in diving related emergencies. Both companies I mentioned also offer a few spin off benefits you could look at.

Voncentia & Buckley's schedule can be viewed at:
http://www.diveinsurance.com/dp/DP-index.htm

DAN's at:
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/insurance/compare.asp

Hope this helps.

 

[Louma]

I'm not in insurance so someone who is more qualified feel free to correct me but from personal experiance - if you are going to check your normal everyday life & medical insurance, do so “gingerly”. Diving raises a lot of red flags with them – “you do what?”, “You dive how deep?”, “You dive HOW many times a year?” Every one of these questions can cause problems. For the most part, you are being questioned by someone who knows nothing about diving. Dive insurance avoids a lot of problems.

 

[Melicertes]

I'm not in insurance so someone who is more qualified feel free to correct me but from personal experiance - if you are going to check your normal everyday life & medical insurance, do so “gingerly”. Diving raises a lot of red flags with them – “you do what?”, “You dive how deep?”, “You dive HOW many times a year?” Every one of these questions can cause problems. For the most part, you are being questioned by someone who knows nothing about diving. Dive insurance avoids a lot of problems.

I agree with you 100% Louma. Sometimes I think, no let me correct that, sometimes I just know insurance companies are looking for every scraping reason to not pay you out when you claim against your policy. In the event of a diving related emergency, however, it's probably not going to be too difficult for them to ascertain that your injuries were sustained when you were doing something your policy doesn't cover, if it indeed didn't. If they are to throw their toys out of the cot then I think I'd rather have them do that on a phone call informing me that I won't be covered when I enquire safely from my home/office than having to hear it from a medical facility when I really, urgently need the treatment. I'm also not in insurance myself, but I have in the past not been paid out for claims because they found some loop hole.
:shakehead

 

[scubamickey]

My health and life insurance covers dive accidents anywhere in the USA. But that does me no good when I'm outside the country. I therefore have DAN insurance to cover us when we travel as well as acting as secondary insurance to pick up the cost of deductables and copays for any accident within the country.

 

[reefugee]

Thanks everyone for the great information. I will have to check into my life insurance and medical insurance to see if it covers "dangerous sports" and out of country emergencies. Fortunately I work for a very large university system, so they can't cancel my insurance.

Minh