Scuba diving and life insurance

[fjpatrum]

Have you looked into DAN's life insurance? It's not a great amount of coverage but it seems reasonably priced to me. (I haven't compare shopped for term insurance though...)

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

As an agent for the co-operators up here in Canada I always tell my clients to max out their group coverage they have at work. In most cases is much cheaper and usually automatic issue up to certain limits, usually 3-5 times your annual salary. The various life insurance companies have very different underwriting procedures so explore a number of them before you sign on the dotted line. You could save yourself a lot of $$.

In some cases this might be true, but I found the it not so with my company.

The reason being is the company insurance (at least mine) does not require a medical exam and the rates are based only on age / sex. So the rates are based on the group average of the entire population. When you buy insurance on the open market, the company rates you risk based on objective medical measurements (body mass index, medical lab results, blood pressure, family history, etc...). So if you are a good risk healthy) the open market should have better rates. If you are high risk, then the company rates should be better.

The other issues is term insurance is a fixed rate for the entire term. Company insurance will increase every year, its not capped (at least in the US).

Diving is a contributor to some degree on you risk rating, but only part of it. Different companies allow diving to be a smaller or larger influence on the risk ratings.

For example: I was able to purchase $500,000 10 year term on the open market for about the same as adding $200,000 at work. So I carry the free insurance at work + $500K term + a couple of whole life policies I paid up when I was young and stupid.

No offense intended to you, but Insurance Companies are in the business to make profit, not to be your friend. Their rates vary to maximize profits (just as airline prices vary to maximize profits) and the key is to find the best match. The only way to do this is to shop insurance on a regular basis.

 

[Garrobo]

When I was age 32 I took up flying and sky-diving. I don't know how the life insurance found out about it but they tripled my premium. Of course, I cancelled the policy right away and have never had life insurance since then except for a two thousand burial pay out from the union I belonged to. That was forty years ago. Really saved a bunch of money over the years and have outlived anyone who would benefit by a payoff. Life insurance is for suckers. That's why 50% of the high-rise office building built are insurance company projects.

 

[molina67]

dallas-- I am not an insurance agent, but as long as you answered truthfully to the questions they asked (do you participate or plan to participate in diving, rock climbing, etc). it shouldn't be an issue.

If, when you got your insurance, you planned to dive and knew it and lied if they asked you about it, you may want to take that up with them.

It would be hard to get that answer from a dead person though....Jk

 

[Ozwald]

When I was age 32 I took up flying and sky-diving. I don't know how the life insurance found out about it but they tripled my premium. Of course, I cancelled the policy right away and have never had life insurance since then except for a two thousand burial pay out from the union I belonged to. That was forty years ago. Really saved a bunch of money over the years and have outlived anyone who would benefit by a payoff. Life insurance is for suckers. That's why 50% of the high-rise office building built are insurance company projects.

Probably one of the most retarded comments I have ever read.

 

[Garrobo]

Ozwald: Thank you for the compliment. What you don't understand is that I never raised any rugrats or stayed married long enough to consider worrying about the outcome if I died all of a sudden and all my siblings have gone to Valhalla. No one would ever benefit or have financial problems if I kicked it. I've never had any debts to speak of since all the the things I have acquired in life have been through saving up the money for it, winning it, trading up, gambling or outright thievery. So, why life insurance? I can understand the fears of someone who has a bunch of brood or siblings and want to make sure that they are taken care of after their untimely death but I have never had that problem. It's always been about ME. But, anyway, that is just one of the reasons I have a 165 acre cacoa farm and home in Honduras, an apartment strip in Columbus, several muscle cars and two pickup trucks, and a 182 acre farm in north central Ohio. My cash always went for something useful and not insurance. And thank you very much for your consideration about my mental health. You may be absolutely correct.

 

[Ozwald]

Well yay for you. I won't get into the personal assets I have managed to accumulate throughout the course of my lifetime including two beautiful kids and a lovely wife that mean the world to me. So with that being said should anything happen to me I would want them to maintain the lifestyle they have become accustom to and then some. There are three instances where I have had to "deliver the cheque" and thank god the people who met untimely deaths were not the selfish sort otherwise in one case three beautifull little kids would be living in a cardboard box somewhere.

 

[fjpatrum]

Well yay for you. I won't get into the personal assets I have managed to accumulate throughout the course of my lifetime including two beautiful kids and a lovely wife that mean the world to me. So with that being said should anything happen to me I would want them to maintain the lifestyle they have become accustom to and then some. There are three instances where I have had to "deliver the cheque" and thank god the people who met untimely deaths were not the selfish sort otherwise in one case three beautifull little kids would be living in a cardboard box somewhere.

While I agree, for most of us, Garrobo's original post may not be applicable, he explained quite clearly he has no need for life insurance to take care of those left behind. If you don't have debt and you don't have children/spouse, there's absolutely no reason for life insurance. It is a scam and quite ridiculous to pay for it if it's unnecessary to support people you might leave behind. It's the same for independently wealthy people. If I won the lottery tomorrow, the first thing I'd do would be to cancel my life insurance.

I haven't won the lottery though, so my family will get ~22 times my salary if I die diving. If I die of cancer, they only get half that. Either way it's sufficient to raise my kids and keep my wife in the house we have without worrying month to month whether she can make the bills. When the kids are old enough most of that will go away too. Having unnecessary coverage is just silly.

 

[Garrobo]

Gee. Someone actually READ my first post before making a silly comment. Thanks fjpatrum.

 

[Denisem]

[FONT=&amp]Group life insurance is not very reliable because you can lose it any time. As a recreational diver, you should be able to get term life insurance rates that will allow you to dive for an extra but affordable amount every year. This really depends on the agent/ go-between you find. Try looking for multiple quotes on large aggregator websites that host a variety of reputed, well-rated insurers; mention diving to an agent online or on the phone because they may be able to find a carrier from their larger gamut that specializes in high risk activities.

[/FONT]Denise Mancini
Disclaimer: I work for AccuQuote and this is my personal opinion.