ScubaBoard Invasion Central 2025 Belize

[cardzard]

My U.K. provider has gone completely paperless, therefore no ‘insurance card’ is issued.

We just need proof of valid insurance and understand not everyone use DAN dive insurance.

 

[Edward3c]

We just need proof of valid insurance and understand not everyone use DAN dive insurance.

The problem for UK citizens using DAN is they are not registered (or approved) by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to provide insurance or other financial activities. Anything goes wrong there is no avenue for recourse.

Even BSAC is registered with the FCA because we provide 3rd Party liability insurance to our members worldwide – excluding North America.

 

[J&M Blowing Bubbles]

Your insurance covering dive accidents might be state-specific, since policies may differ widely from state to state. DAN Guardian insurance is pretty cheap, and to avoid subrogation issues (as you mentioned), it's worth it to me (I do several dive trips a year). The membership is definitely worth it, with all of the benefits of having 24/7 experts on call to consult with the doctors on medical issues related to diving and the excellent articles and photos in the magazine.

Beyond that, i also get trip insurance just to avoid subrogation issues for non-dive related medical stuff. Not all that expensive, and worth it to have the coverage in the event of a problem (actually used my trip policy for Roatan when American Airlines changed my morning flight at midnight the night before to a time that was too late to make the connection to Roatan, and I had to quickly rebook on Delta - the insurance covered the $350 difference in ticket cost, and I got flight credit for the cancelled flights).

I do compliance consulting work for companies all across the US and have reviewed thousands of group health insurance policies. In general your major carriers (the BUCA i.e., Blue Cross, UHC, Cigna, Aetna) all have international coverage for emergencies (yes, including recreational diving accidents, or any injury in the course of recreational activities.) Employers who are self-funded may have exclusions for international emergencies and yes, each employer’s plan can be different as can each BUCA plan within a market and market segment (e.g., small vs. large). Marketplace or individual coverage I wouldn’t begin to speak about without reviewing first. My expertise is in the group health insurance market. Generally, for an international emergency it may mean paying out of pocket (OOP) first because the international provider doesn’t accept the US insurance but that doesn’t mean there isn’t coverage. (And we’re prepared and able to pay OOP if necessary.) It may be true that the cost of DAN for some makes more sense than paying OOP for the medical expenses (DAN membership or our AmEX platinum Global Assist pays for transport) and waiting for reimbursement, and it’s also true that DAN has helped thousands of divers over it’s 40+ years and there are plenty of fabulous testimonies even on this forum. However, that’s not the point of my question. Rather, it was asking if specific dive insurance was required for this trip, or was it that we simply needed to have insurance that would cover diving accidents, which was answered —it’s the latter, we need proof that we have insurance that will cover us for diving accidents.

As stated from the onset, we currently have DAN enhanced membership & the Guardian plan and have for the last several years (we take 2-3 international 10+ day diving trips/year). However, it’s up for renewal and the more we look into the specifics of the Guardian plan coverage (something we honestly didn’t evaluate when purchasing initially) at this point in our lives when we still have employer group health coverage which covers diving accidents too, we were evaluating whether it made financial sense to pay for duplicate coverage when we are financially able to pay OOP and wait to be reimbursed if an incident occurs (subrogation is only an issue when you have multiple insurance plans involved). Once we’re retired and our insurance situation changes then absolutely DAN’s insurance will be a necessity and well worth the cost. Each diver’s situation is unique and their specifics need to be considered when making the best decision for them when it comes to insurance and what type of coverage is needed. It’s similar to home or car insurance…everyone has a different comfort zone with the coverage level they put on their house or vehicle…there is no right or wrong, it’s an individual decision based on all their facts. Knowing a diving specific insurance plan is not required for the SB trip to Belize was just another data point for us to use when weighing our decision.