Scuba diving and life insurance

[GrumpyOldGuy]

[FONT=&amp]Group lifeinsurance is not very reliable because you can lose it any time. As arecreational diver, you should be able to getterm life insurance rates that will allow you to dive for an extra but affordable amount every year. Thisreally depends on the agent/ go-between you find. Try looking for multiplequotes on large aggregator websites that host a variety of reputed, well-ratedinsurers; mention diving to an agent online or on the phone because they may beable to find a carrier from their larger gamut that specializes in high riskactivities.

[/FONT]Denise Mancini
Disclaimer: I work for AccuQuote and this is my personal opinion.

I found a combination of both work for me. Group insurance can be terminated (with your job, no Cobra), but is pretax and not dependent on medical condition or activities. As long as you are employed you are golden. Term insurance ends (every 10 years or so) and when it renews your at the insurance companies whim if they will and they can set any price they want. If you had a medical condition in the mean time, you are screwed. Remember, if you need lots of life insurance, its probably due to kids and they are a 20 year commitment.

 

[rk288]

I'm over 60 and when searching for a wonderful term life policy with a great, competion busting premium for a diver I came up with nothing. Once you fess up to your love for the bottom of the ocean you can kiss that first class rate category bye bye...

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I'm over 60 and when searching for a wonderful term life policy with a great, competion busting premium for a diver I came up with nothing. Once you fess up to your love for the bottom of the ocean you can kiss that first class rate category bye bye...

Duh! At 60 you should not need to purchase term life insurance! Your kids should be capable of supporting themselves and you should have enough retirement savings to take care of your spouse (if applicable) if you kick the can before you retire. Looking for life insurance at 60+ is like starting to save for retirement at 60+, you are screwed.

Term Life insurance is a numbers game. Its a great deal when you are in your 30's and 40's, the chance of you dying in the following 10 years is low so the price is reasonable. Jump into the 60+ category and the chance of you croaking in the next 10 years is pretty decent. Term insurance is going to be difficult regardless of diving. This is where you need group life insurance from your employer.

 

[sbroh]

Well, my husband and I finished the underwriting process (medical exam, long questionnaire, etc) and heard back from our agent today. So, in response to my original question, as a recreational diver who doesn't ever really go below 50-60 feet, it is possible to get in the best rate class offered (at least with Prudential) since we did.

 

[SinkLikeaRock]

Does anyone know what companies there are, if any, where divers who don't go below 60 feet and only do recreational diving can still get their top rate class?

There are a handful of life insurance companies that are pretty friendly to scuba divers. If you are a recreational diver and you generally stay above 100 feet then you can qualify for preferred plus at Banner, Genworth and Prudential. I run a national life insurance brokerage, and we've placed top health class cases at all three. If you are a cave diver, or wreck diver or tend towards dives that the carriers find more risky then you can still get covered, but you will pay what's called a "Flat Extra". Depending on your diving risks and the carrier, that flat extra can range from 2 dollars per 1000 of coverage up to 7.50 per 1000 of coverage. You just need to get an agent and underwriter who understand how various carriers look at the issue. There's a (hopefully useful) article at LifeInsurance.Net ( Life Insurance for Scuba and Skin Divers | Life Insurance) that lists out the questions the carriers use to determine whether your life insurance quote for scuba diving should be at a preferred health class or should carry a flat extra risk premium. The only two guys I've tried to cover and simply couldn't was a demolition diver who worked on rigs in the gulf, and a guy whose hobby was diving in limestone springs and swimming through the caves to the next spring down the way. The first guy was able to get a couple hundred thousand of coverage through his company's group plan. The second guy just has to work on being immortal.

You can always call me directly at (310)246-5199 and I'll help you figure out how the carriers will look at you. Just ask for Howard.

 

[Superlyte27]

I'm licensed in FL now. I can write in FL.

To give you an example...
I'm 38 years old. I've spent time at 200+' recently. I almost only cave dive. Every question on the application that looks like poor risk in relation to diving, I checked. 100k for 20 year term cost me 80 per month.

If you're in FL, and you want a quote, let me know.

 

[diverrex]

I recently got a quote from Prudential. At first they said they might do the preferred rate but then they said they would only give me the standard rate. Maybe because I told the truth and said sometimes I go to 130 ft.

 

[Ozwald]

I always advise my clients to max out their NEM (non evidence maximum) group life insurance, it's cheap. Should you pay for your life premiums within your group plan it is NOT a taxable benefit as someone mentioned.

Also, as well as 10 year terms there are 20 year term policies available as well. Up here in Canada I have a 25 year term and an "Infinity Term" product. Doesn't do anyone much good south of the border however.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I always advise my clients to max out their NEM (non evidence maximum) group life insurance, it's cheap. Should you pay for your life premiums within your group plan it is NOT a taxable benefit as someone mentioned.

I thought this too and did exactly this. Then I actually did the calculation and found the group was not such a good deal in my specific case. It may be good advice many times, but nothing beats actually shopping and running the numbers.

While it was pretax, the group rate was pretty much based on the average health of everyone in my age bracket. I don't smoke, drink once a month, exercise 3x a week, been married forever and have good lab numbers. The rates for term insurance get cheaper the larger the policy (at least in my case). I found I could push my term from 250K to 500K for less increasing the group policy 180K from 120K (including the tax break).

 

[bbarnett51]

Guys please don't take advice from this thread. As a financial professional that specializes in insurance I can tell you there is a lot of really bad advice and misinformation i'm this thread!