Instr. Liability Insurance...I've read previous psots...

[Lisa M]

...but have not seen any conclusions reached.

I've been looking into alternatives to Vincencia. I contacted PADI and was told they accept Insurance Management Services, Marsh, Gale Smith and of course Vincenia.

IMS says they don't take PADI members, Marsh says they don't accept individuals only organizations and in fact had never heard of PADI or even NAUI for that matter. I called their offices in NY NY, Stamford CT, Middletown NJ, and Pitt. PA, all had smae response.
Gale has insurance @ $420 but I am not sure how its coverage compares to Vincencia. I understand that Vincencia has "unlimited legal coverage" but have heard that Gale's is "limited". I need to look into this further and will post what I discover.

Does anyone have any further insight ot advice they could share? I would be most grateful.

Thank you very much,
Lisa

 

[MikeFerrara]

I received my letter about the rate increase when it was almost too late to do anything about it. My DM's were not going to renew and the shop insurance went way up along with the instructor insurance. In other words I was going to call it quits. I don't make squat off the shop as it is. Luckily I am also an IANTD instructor so I was able to get the shop and instructor insurance from marsh. The interesting thing is that for about what I used to pay just for the shop I now have insurance that covers the shop and all instructors and DM's that I list as staff.

 

[TexasMike]

Lisa....

TDI (Technical Diving International) has some info on their site regarding handling the insurance issue for PADI folks. Unfortunately, I don't have the links. But I have always found the staff up there in Maine a real treat to talk to. Pleasent, very helpful, and listening to the Maine accent is cool too. (This from a Texan who says "y'all" and "yanto" all the time.)

Call them with your questions, 207-729-4201

 

[cmay]

I have decided to go with Gale Smith. When I compared their policy with the V&B policy I could not tell any difference. I also contacted all the others that PADI listed and got the same response you did. IMS (NAUI, and SSI), and Marsh (TDI, SDI, and i think YMCA) I know TDI was offering a reasonable cross over, but I don't know if it is still going on. I did not know if it was worth paying another set of dues just to save a couple of hundred bucks.

Anyway, just my $.02,

Hope it helps

 

[MudDog]

found similar responsed to what you and the others have posted (re: IMS, Marsh, and Gale).

I was told directly from Gale Smith that:
-their insurance is with Lloyds of London
-they cover ALL Padi programs
-their defense costs are separate from the 1 and 2 million coverage in policy.
-that this policy compares equally with Vincencia's old one...they said that they can't address Vincenia's new policy because no-one really knows what this "new" policy covers...it's a mystery.

Regarding the SDI/TDI crossover...that ended July 15th and they "might possiblly" re-instate the $100 special crossover in October, but not sure yet.

This stuff can be confusing at best...in the end you must do what makes the most sense for you. Hope this helps.

MudDog