Travel insurance coverage question

[Lorenzoid]

It has been my understanding that DAN coverage is limited to accidents, so it wouldn't cover illness. (Admittedly, I did not take the time to read the policy again before posting this comment.) The medical insurance I have through an employer may or may not cover events outside the US, as it may depend on how much of an emergency it is. So I have been buying separate travel medical coverage from GeoBlue.

As for trip cancellation and interruption, I haven't taken an expensive liveaboard in a while, but I would buy something, even if it didn't cover the events living4experiences mentioned. I think we have to realize that insurance simply does not cover every possible event. If you lose money due to the fault of the liveaboard operator, and the operator refuses to make you whole, your only option may be to pursue legal action against them, which may not be worth the effort. Some risks are just ours to bear if we want to do these kinds of dive trips, it seems.

 

[twistypencil]

I don't think you need "cancel for any reason" coverage. That's meant to offer you the option to cancel if you just don't want to go anymore and is usually very expensive. I think you're looking for "trip protection" which would let you cancel if you have some kind of medical issue or a family member dies or something major like that. I typically use Trawick International and it looks like they have lots of reasonably priced plans that offer trip protection.

Thanks, I think you are right - I don't want to cancel for arbitrary reasons, I'd only cancel if I absolutely had to, because I actually do want to go!

 

[Barrel SpongeBob]

I'll just put it out there....I would never book on Aggressor, given their recent history of sinking boats and other poor reviews of passenger experience.

I got burned last December on my Damai II liveaboard because a noncovered event happened and all my claims have been denied. I had DAN Guardian insurance, an annual trip policy through Travel Guard, and a comprehensive single-trip policy through Generali. I also used the right Chase credit card to pay for the trip. What happened was a diver died on the liveaboard trip. It turns out that there is no coverage for a fellow passenger dying on your trip (liveaboard or other types of trips) unless he/she is your traveling companion or a relative. I looked into Dive Assure for their liveaboard coverage. They do have coverage for a death during the trip and the person doesn't have to be your traveling companion or related to you. However, the daily benefit for lost days of diving is something like $300 per day. These days, there are few quality liveaboards that cost you $300 per day. My daily cost as a single in a cabin was over $900. It was going to cost $1,100 for Dive Assure. I didn't buy it. This is from their website. Noticeably missing is coverage for an event, like fire, that doesn't sink the boat and a breakdown of the boat that's not related to air supply.

Trip Cancellations Due To:​

• Trip cancellation coverage due to a missed connection resulting in missing the liveaboard or in additional cost to join it.
• Trip cancellation coverage for missing liveaboard departure due to airline delays.
• Trip cancellation due to sinking of the liveaboard boat.

Lost Diving Days Due To:​

• Medical inability to dive.
• Weather conditions not enabling diving/sailing.
• Diving accident involving another passenger on the boat, causing the boat to abort the planned diving.
• Expenses not reimbursed by the tour operator for default /mechanical breakdown to air supply.
• Financial Default of the liveaboard operating company, or tour operator (Covered already by the Elite Plan).

Most U.S. health insurance policies don't have coverage outside the U.S. You can call DAN and talk to their insurance reps for clarification of coverages. I also use insuremytrip.com to search for policies that fit my needs each trip. It's an aggregator site of many of the major travel insurance companies.

Wow, dying. That's a force majeure right there. The daily benefit for $300/day works well for Red Sea and maybe Mexico and/or Maldives. I agree with you about larger liveaboard destinations such as Cocos or Wolf/Darwin. Definitely will not cover it and also for entry level divers.

Are you saying that you have yet to find *any* insurance that would have covered your trip cancellation?

Probably can. Too busy to look

 

[Barrel SpongeBob]

Wow, dying. That's a force majeure right there. The daily benefit for $300/day works well for Red Sea and maybe Mexico and/or Maldives. I agree with you about larger liveaboard destinations such as Cocos or Wolf/Darwin. Definitely will not cover it and also for entry level divers.

Actually now that I think of it, Thailand or Indonesia (sans Raja) too. But Mexico might not be cause of Soccoro.

 

[twistypencil]

I agree with you about larger liveaboard destinations such as Cocos or Wolf/Darwin. Definitely will not cover it and also for entry level divers.

I did not understand what you meant by this sentence, what wont cover things like Cocos?

 

[twistypencil]

Dive assure, Elite level coverage (highest), in the secondary position, including the liveaboard rider is about $700 (for my state). Without the liveaboard coverage its $526 (the deluxe is $422)

 

[Barrel SpongeBob]

I meant his comment on $300 coverage for land based reimbursement claims. I definitely agree it cannot compensate for a daily rate on more than half the liveaboards.

Dive assure, Elite level coverage (highest), in the secondary position, including the liveaboard rider is about $700 (for my state). Without the liveaboard coverage its $526 (the deluxe is $422)

I did not get that one, but I remember seeing it as a higher end package. I did not want to overspend for the Red Sea. The diving is always easy where nobody should die or require Nautilus, but then there is a lot happening with onboard electrical issues lately and "wrecks" unlucky passengers.

 

[living4experiences]

Are you saying that you have yet to find *any* insurance that would have covered your trip cancellation?

When it comes to liveaboard coverage, that's correct--I've found no insurance company offering liveaboard coverage that will fully compensate for the losses due to a cancellation or interruption.

 

[lermontov]

I have a yearly insurance package with DAN and extended travel ins benefits - just bear in mind that if you get sick on a LOB you must have a doctor to say you aren't well to dive - so if theres no doctor on board your out of luck
With allianz theres a clause that states you can only claim one loss per each catergory/grouping -so for example if you flew somewhere and your connecting flight was cancelled they will only pay for one event ( your inability to to get to the LOB ) as loss of flights and a LOB trip are in the same group/category.

Last year I flew to hawai to get a united flight to dive in Bikini - and because United canceled the hawai-i kawajelin leg they didn't refund any of the flights ( nearly 6k) and only refunded the lost LOB cost as you can only claim one event in each category

 

[coolazul]

World Nomads covers diving, and well as a lot of other activities and they seem to be the least expensive (if you are under 70). I have not had major medical but I did loose my camera and they paid the max which is $500. If you go on dive vacations more that 2 or 3 times per year you might want to look at an annual policy through DAN, Global rescue or ??? You can see ratings and coverage for various travel insurance companies on Squaremouth.com