Trip insurance, missing liveaboard departure due to flight issues

[AdivingBel]

I would imagine a liveaboard might similarly give you a voucher for a future trip if they cancel the trip you booked.

Some may do that, but many state that if a trip is canceled by something beyond their control, including adverse weather, you should purchase trip insurance if you expect to be reimbursed. Be sure to read and understand ALL the booking terms, cancellation guidelines, and release forms before you decide.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Some may do that, but many state that if a trip is canceled by something beyond their control, including adverse weather, you should purchase trip insurance if you expect to be reimbursed. Be sure to read and understand ALL the booking terms, cancellation guidelines, and release forms before you decide.

But what have they actually done in practice? They all seem to be worded to avoid accepting any liability in advance--who wouldn't? As far I have seen, they never explicitly say "if we cancel for reasons beyond our control, we will give you a voucher for a rescheduled trip." Does a reputable liveaboard brand really cancel a trip because they deem the weather too rough, and then they just take all the guests' money without offering any compensation, such as a voucher for a future booking?

 

[AdivingBel]

I get what you are saying. All I know is what they "explicitly" say in their documentation. What I posted is virtually word for word (including the mention of trip insurance) off one of the forms from a very prominent live aboard provider. Not saying it's right or wrong, but not sure I want to be at the mercy of their good graces. Best to be informed.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I get what you are saying. All I know is what they "explicitly" say in their documentation. What I posted is virtually word for word (including the mention of trip insurance) off one of the forms from a very prominent live aboard provider. Not saying it's right or wrong, but not sure I want to be at the mercy of their good graces. Best to be informed.

Insurance, whether for the seller or the buyer, is about probabilities. Despite the expected weasel-wording of a liveaboard operator's policies, if a particular liveaboard operator is known to do what it can to compensate guests for trips the operator chooses to cancel for weather or mechanical problems, I would like to know that so that I can take it into account in weighing the odds. Aggressor, for example, issues vouchers. My random check of prices indicated a policy of the type people have discussed in other threads would be in the ballpark of $200-$300. Paying that much for each of a number of trips over the years adds up. This isn't like health insurance in the US, where a bad stroke of luck while uninsured could bankrupt a person; at the worst, a diver loses a few thousand dollars of discretionary spending money. In deciding how to place my bet, I would like to gather all the information I can, including both written policies and travelers' actual experiences with liveaboards and insurance companies.

 

[Altamira]

It is best to remember that the insurance companies and, I suspect, most vendors terms and conditions or insurance policies are written by lawyers. With that in mind, read and understand every word in the documents to best understand how they will try to get out of paying you for your loss if they can. If you do not fully understand something in the policy, get a clarification in writing. Unfortunately, most of us do not follow the basic "read and understand" the contract until we get burned.

 

[KeithG]

Insurance, whether for the seller or the buyer, is about probabilities. Despite the expected weasel-wording of a liveaboard operator's policies, if a particular liveaboard operator is known to do what it can to compensate guests for trips the operator chooses to cancel for weather or mechanical problems, I would like to know that so that I can take it into account in weighing the odds. Aggressor, for example, issues vouchers. My random check of prices indicated a policy of the type people have discussed in other threads would be in the ballpark of $200-$300. Paying that much for each of a number of trips over the years adds up. This isn't like health insurance in the US, where a bad stroke of luck while uninsured could bankrupt a person; at the worst, a diver loses a few thousand dollars of discretionary spending money. In deciding how to place my bet, I would like to gather all the information I can, including both written policies and travelers' actual experiences with liveaboards and insurance companies.

Self insuring is a valid plan, but you need to consider unanticipated extra costs.

I would not make any assumptions about getting money back from a LOB since there are lots of reasons why you may need to cancel that are not related to the LOB.

The other thing to consider is that last minute change of plan expenses will be much higher than your original low cost travel plans. Finding a hotel last minute in a place you did not plan to be in will mean you pay rack rate. Booking a different return flight means you pay market price. Due to availability you may be forced to go upscale since the low cost rooms / seats are already taken. That non refundable elcheapo $300 return flight you booked 9 months ago just turned into a $800 one way replacement flight...

 

[drbill]

Had a cancelled flight from Miami get me to the Bahamas the next day after the boat was to depart. The LOB actually waited for me and I sensed no hostility from the other passengers.

A company I worked for on an eco-cruise ship booked me on the wrong flight to Belize City and I arrived after the vessel had departed. Since I was staff and it was the company's error, they sent a boat back to pick me up.

I always try to allow two days ahead of a LOB departure and two days after returning to port. Gives me a chance to film topside attractions at any destination I travel to.

 

[KathyV]

There are pros and cons to travel insurance but the incident that removed my doubts was Gary McNabb's diving injury in Belize and his subsequent death, see the link below.

I didn't know him, but that accident was discussed at length here on scuba board and it made a powerful impression on me. I am now more cautious about evaluating dive ops in advance. I ask about their first aid supplies and staff training, their communications systems, and whether they have oxygen on board and know how to use it. I am also very careful about selecting travel insurance policies and I include optional coverage for "evacuation to the hospital of my choice".

For those of you who don't know the details. Gary McNabb owned a dive shop in Tennessee for many years and he taught a lot of people how to dive and he led may trips to dive destinations.

During a busy time while he was retiring, closing his shop, and moving to Florida, he forgot to renew his DAN insurance. He and his wife then took a dive vacation to Ambergris Cay to stay and dive with Ramon's. During a dive at Tenerife on a rough day, he got hit by the boat and suffered a serious head injury.

No one is suggesting that the dive op was responsible for his injury but there were reports that they were ill-prepared to handle the emergency, lacking supplies, skills, and good communication systems and protocols. Gary was transported to Belize City for care and eventually transported to a hospital in Texas where he died.

Besides the terrible bereavement, the costs of his care and transportation to medical facilities placed a big financial burden on his family. So there are more risks to dive vacations than flight delays and missed boats. I'm just sayin!

Click here to support Gary McNabb Family Support Fund organized by Barbara Brower

 

[Lorenzoid]

I have DAN accident insurance--the top level. My quandary concerns the product generally called "travel insurance."

 

[KeithG]

I have DAN accident insurance--the top level. My quandary concerns the product generally called "travel insurance."

Is your process backwards? DAN is the last insurance I would consider since it is a niche product.

I claim you need to think of coverage in the following order: (YMMV)
- travel medical insurance
- trip interruption insurance
- trip cancellation insurance

Travel medical insurance is a crap shoot. Lots of people have "free" group products via their employer or something like a credit card. My divebuddy has a new group travel medical policy that covers scuba, but only if you are certified via Padi, Naui, Acuc or Ssi. So no need for DAN.

Next to think about is interruption and cancellation. Most of these seem to be focussed on medical causes only, which ignores weather and trip operator issues. My divebuddys group medical and my credit card travel insurance only cover medical issues. So not fully useful.

We travel a lot. A few times for scuba. So we looked for a single annual insurance product that covered all of our concerns, in the above order. Since we wanted travel medical we found an umbrella policy that included trip cancellation and trip interuption coverage for more than just medical issues. And it also covered way more than DAN (and cost more) So need for DAN in my world.

By approaching the problem in this order we found a single solution. We do not have multiple travel insurance products.