DAN travel insurance

[Azbuceadora]

I just talked to a CSA rep (the carrier for DAN's travel insurance) to verify coverage for the Voyager plan, which has the highest limits. He had to put me on hold for quite a while so I'm not totally confident in his response. The Voyager plan has a $5000 limit for Trip Cancellation and the same for Trip Interruption. My question was, is that a limit per trip, or the aggregate limit per year? He said it was for the whole year.

Can that possibly be true?? One liveaboard trip will cost more than that, and an upcoming land-based trip upwards of $3-4000. Those limits are really...limiting. A claim for just one cancelled trip can put me at or near the limit for the year.

 

[Duncan123]

You were looking at the annual travel plan, try looking at the per trip plans in order to increase the claim limit.

 

[Azbuceadora]

Yep, I was hoping one premium would cover me for a whole year of travel. Guess I'm back to insuremytrip.com

 

[tursiops]

Yep, I was hoping one premium would cover me for a whole year of travel. Guess I'm back to insuremytrip.com

Maybe you're missing the point? The annual plan only costs a bit more than for a single trip, but covers all trips for any purpose, not just diving. How many trips a year are you planning to make a claim on, anyway?

 

[redacted]

Why are you buying travel insurance? Do you believe you are in an exceptional risk group? If you can not afford the trip, or the lose of that trip; then maybe you should not do it.

 

[billt4sf]

I hope you find good travel insurance. If you do, let me know. I tried several years ago and decided it wasn't worth the cost. I do have DAN accident insurance.

My understanding is that travel insurance for most countries NOT including the US, is a good deal. But for some reason, in the US it's a bad deal -- at least, that's what I found.

- Bill

 

[redacted]

I hope you find good travel insurance. If you do, let me know. I tried several years ago and decided it wasn't worth the cost. I do have DAN accident insurance.

My understanding is that travel insurance for most countries NOT including the US, is a good deal. But for some reason, in the US it's a bad deal -- at least, that's what I found.

- Bill

If you can afford the lose and you are not in a high risk group, insurance is usually a bad deal.

 

[Azbuceadora]

Jesus, what a pile-on. The first response answered my question; the supercilious editorials are unnecessary. Awap, your tag line certainly fits. And it's "loss," not "lose."

I can afford to pay thousands for a single trip; I can't afford to lose thousands if the trip must be cancelled or aborted for some reason. No one "plans" to make a claim. One doesn't have to be in an "exceptional risk" category--a family emergency, a snow storm, a tree falling on your roof, or appendicitis can all conspire against completing a trip. One has to assess one's tolerance for risk and my personal threshold is when I've had to pony up a couple thousand or more in air, hotels, and dive packages.

 

[Damselfish]

Pile-on? No where near it yet. But pile-on is how scubaboard usually goes, lots of good info to be found but it is what it is and little point complaining about that part. Realize that a thread you start is not just for you - many others will read it over time and it doesn't always hurt that people have provided additional info and opinions.

So I'll pile on - What awap says is very true - since the insurance company is in the business of making money it can't really be otherwise than a better deal for them than you, statistically. The point as I'm sure you know is that over many trips, self-insuring is financially a much better deal if there aren't major risk factors. Another aspect is that claims may sometimes be difficult and a pain in the neck, since insurance companies are notorious for finding excuses to not pay for things. Of course people have different levels of risk tolerance that may have nothing to do with being able to afford it, want the travel medical included, or whatever, and that's their business.

Dive Assure has annual travel insurance and you can get a much higher amount, I think pretty much whatever you want - but you will pay for it. I usually do self insure (my clip level is pretty high) but I was hoping it would be a good deal if you were doing several trips a year. I looked into it a few years ago and found it crazy expensive, and not really a savings over just insuring all the trips separately. So to me it makes more sense to pick and choose which trips I insure.

 

[Azbuceadora]

Thanks for a balanced view of insurance and an explanation of SB culture, Damselfish. I quit another dive forum because of its clique-y atmosphere and middle-school food fights, and thought this place looked friendlier.

I don't insure every trip, either, especially not domestic trips. DAN's dive accident plan covers enough that a separate policy is simply duplication of coverage. But for a big layout of money I'll take a chance on adding insult to injury if I have to file a claim. )For the record, I've never actually had to file a claim in all my years of travel.)