I'm 71 and DAN won't insure me -- now what?

[BRT]

As a business operator you must have insurance to cover your clients,

Here that would be against things that might happen to them from your negligence, ie if you backed the boat over them.

 

[BRT]

Wondering why coverage is regulated state by state and not nationally ? And whatever became of age discrimination?

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

 

[BRT]

That's BS. They operate on the principal of cherry selection and discard everything else that actually costs money. That's what happens when you allow capitalism into medicine.

A 71 year old could be at some physiological risk due to age. OTOH they are also likely to be very cognizant of their shortcomings and possibly have a pretty impressive background of experience.

A 20 year old is not likely to have a heart attack, but likely has very little experience, and a whole lot of risk taking poorly tempered with any experience. This is a recipe for some rather catastrophic problems. I think we've all been there.

Statistically in diving, who is more likely to have serious medical issues, 20-30 year olds, or 60-70 year olds? Can't say I know for sure. But I do know the difference between THIS 70 year old, and a former 20 year old in this body and the approach to risk taking.

Believe me, in diving it is the older people who usually have the problems.

 

[KathyV]

Various credit cards include some travel insurance benefits, like lost luggage, trip cancellation, etc. So check your card out and see what it offers. Most of them include rental car collision insurance but not liability insurance.

 

[caydiver]

In my limited experience as a chamber attendant so far most of the patients I have had (not counting medical) have been divers doing shore dives or tech. Ages have been all over but most in the 40s with more on the younger side rather than older. Had someone celebrating 50 b’day this week and so he was probably my oldest. Realize this is totally not scientific but just based on limited personal experience. Also realize that the age factor in this specific location could also be influenced by the socioeconomic group that comes to this destination for their diving. Ironically however from the dive op standpoint we have many customers that are easily in 60s and 70s. We love them. They are easy, incredibly competent divers that are just a total pleasure as they are so easy to deal with. Returning family!
Maybe they will just stop insuring everyone. Will say we definitely seem to have fewer ladies

 

[ThatDogDontHunt]

That's BS. They operate on the principal of cherry selection and discard everything else that actually costs money...

Actually we are saying the same thing!

Remember that insurance companies are FOR PROFIT organizations, just like Apple and Nike. They create products that they believe they can sell and still make money. For insurance this requires strict rules to control costs (inclusions and exclusions) since they are selling a future service.

And just like other consumer goods, they are not obligated to provide a product for everyone. They get to pick what they sell, how they price it and who they offer it to. In the US this is all made more difficult since the laws can be different in each state.

It appears that the company underwriting some DAN products has decided that they can not make money from old farts at the price point that typical DAN members are willing to pay.

And yes medical related insurance, if available, gets more expensive as you age because the likelyhood of an insurable event increases with age.

 

[tursiops]

And yes medical related insurance, if available, gets more expensive as you age because the likelyhood of an insurable event increases with age.

It is accident insurance that in part covers medical things. The likelihood of an accident is not clearly related to age, even though the likelihood of a medical event might be. Accidents tend to happen more to the inexperienced divers and the foolhardy, not actually the older divers, who tend more to be old rather than bold, and often quite experienced. So there is some counter-balancing going on....the older divers may have more medical events, but fewer accidents....thus the cost of the insurance need not necessarily increase with age.

 

[BRT]

It is accident insurance that in part covers medical things. The likelihood of an accident is not clearly related to age, even though the likelihood of a medical event might be. Accidents tend to happen more to the inexperienced divers and the foolhardy, not actually the older divers, who tend more to be old rather than bold, and often quite experienced. So there is some counter-balancing going on....the older divers may have more medical events, but fewer accidents....thus the cost of the insurance need not necessarily increase with age.

As you pass 70 the number of divers drops and the chance of an incident rises.

 

[tursiops]

As you pass 70 the ... chance of an incident rises.

Show me the data on this.

 

[BenjaminF]

Does this also affect people who are covered by DAN Europe?