Another dive insurance thread, Diveassure experience?

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Yup, lots of threads on this topic on the board. Recent coverage in Undercurrent (also posted in part on this board under the Diveassure forum). I've been reading the small print of the diveassure diamond plan description of coverage, and note that they do not cover costs related to changes from "travel arrangements canceled or changed by an airline, cruise line, or tour operator, unless...the result of bad weather". In Part C, they say that personal dive equipment will only be covered up to $500 for the first item, then up to $250 item thereafter to the limit of coverage. Thus, it seems you are out of luck if you flooded your $4000 dive camera/housing. But most interesting is the "additional exlusion" to personal diving equipment coverage, item (d) "LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY UNDERWATER USE" (my emphasis). What? Does this really mean your dive equipment insurance doesn't cover damage to dive equipment that occurs while diving?

To be fair, I am awaiting responses to these questions from diveassure, and will post any clarifications received. If you have direct experience and can comment on this coverage, please chime in. If you have gone through the policies of alternatives such as DAN Insurance/Travel Guard, etc. and can comment on the differences in regards to the loss of dive equipment and coverage of travel schedule changes by airlines or boat operators, I'd love to hear. From reading the posts on scubaboard, it seemed Diveassure is pretty well regarded given its primary (vs secondary) status.

DEPP seems to have been battered on the boards lately due to trouble some have reported with reimbursements for dive camera losses, but does anyone have some positives to point out? How about using riders on homeowner's policies? Or just gambling that all will be well?

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Okay, spent some time with the DAN membership handbook. Absent the purchase of add on coverage for dive equipment, it sounds like coverage in the most comprehensive plan ("preferred") is limited to losses that occur during a "covered diving accident" and specifically to equipment that is "cut loose...lost or damaged... in an attempt to rescue the diver as a result of injury..." Photographic equipment of any kind is specifically excluded. To my read, that is pretty restrictive. DAN does refer you to a third party provider of dive camera equipment, to the tune of $3.50 per $100 of coverage.

 

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It may also be worth pointing out that trip cancellation coverage is only offered with Diveassure's highest level plan, and is a separate entity for DAN, which divides coverage into Diving Accident and Trip Cancellation/Interruption policies. Buying the highest level trip cancellation plan through DAN does give you the option of getting $40k of primary medical coverage, but otherwise DANs medical coverage is secondary. Anyone have ideas on how much a series of chamber rides and hospitalization for a DCS hit might cost you overseas, say, in the Netherlands Antilles? Does anyone else get the feeling that insurance policies are written to trip you up more than help you out? Sorry, I've been spending the night looking at policies on line and have mostly gathered that I'm glad I'm not a lawyer.