Travel Insurance

[kelemvor]

Wow another biggie here. I guess if an airline cancels a flight, no coverage.

The following exclusion applies to the Emergency
Assistance and Transportation, Medical and
Dental, Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption, Missed
Connection, Travel Delay, and Rental Car Damage
coverages:
a.
failure of any tour operator, Common Carrier, or
other travel supplier, person or agency to provide
the bargained-for travel arrangements other than
Financial Insolvency.

 

[Hawkwood]

Interesting. I remember a thread on this subject and didn't notice that "or". It was a big head scratching moment. However, that does seem to be a policy from the Canadian DAN, which might be different from USA right?

All,
Thanks for the tip on finding the details.. I didn't see any obvious mention of it on the page I looked at so it didn't even occur to me.

Yes, it is from one of the Canadian plans. Could be different.

 

[Hawkwood]

However, this is from the US Handbook (of course there is something different for New York, Hawaii, etc. residents):

COVERED DIVE or COVERED DIVING ACTIVITY means a recreational dive or diving while a scuba instructor, divemaster, underwater photographer, or while performing research under the auspices and following the diving safety guidelines of the American Academy of Underwater Scientists (AAUS), Canadian Academy of Underwater Scientists (CAUS) or a group whose written diving research protocol meets or exceeds those of the AAUS or CAUS. A dive begins upon entry into the water and ends upon exit from the water. A Covered Dive must begin while insurance is in force.

COVERED DIVING ACCIDENT means an Accident, DCI, or any Injury that results from a Covered Dive, regardless of the depth.

 

[kelemvor]

Thanks. So it sounds like DAN might be better option regardless of their otherwise lesser coverage if Card/Roxanne don't answer with a "yes" to my earlier question about DM's for this trip. Personally, (outside of this insurance being a need) I'd rather not have a DM. However, I bet my wife will think differently on the matter .

 

[ROXANNE]

Yes, there is a DM in the water with all groups regardless of skill level.

 

[cargo13]

Divers Alert Network offers travel insurance if you are a DAN member.
I think DAN has an annual policy or per trip.
DAN's insurance provider is CSA Travel Protection.

 

[Altamira]

I am pleased to see that DAN removed the requirement to have a DM present to avoid being excluded from travel coverage. After discovering the offending exclusion, I wrote to the DAN president, pointing out the absurdity of the requirement, and that restriction was not in the interests of their diver clients. He told me they would look at possible changes, but I did not expect them to change the policy since they had been operating that way in the past without complaints from their clients. Well, I was wrong, and congratulate DAN for doing the right thing. Now, I will start using them again for travel insurance. Never stopped using them for dive insurace.

 

[boulderjohn]

IMO, travel insurance is generally far too expensive in relation to the coverage and the risk. By "risk," I mean the amount you actually stand to lose, which is not the entire cost of the trip. In many cases, you can recover a lot of the costs on your own. I have canceled some trips that were not covered and gotten pretty much all my money back.

You can have coverage in ways you do not expect. I have a very expensive trip coming up, and I get pretty good travel insurance automatically through the credit card with which I paid for it, without paying an additional cent.

Finally, think about the odds of a problem that calls for insurance and then think long term. It can be cheaper to skip it, even if you take a loss. I can't even estimate how many dive trips I have taken over the years without taking travel insurance and without needing it. Let's say that the next big trip I take has a problem that for some reason costs me every dime--I can't recover any of it. In that case, given the cost of the insurance I didn't pay for on the other trips, I am still way ahead overall.

 

[KeithG]

IMO, travel insurance is generally far too expansive in relation to the coverage and the risk. By "risk," I mean the amount you actually stand to lose, which is not the entire cost of the trip. In many cases, you can recover a lot of the costs on your own. I have canceled some trips that were not covered and gotten pretty much all my money back.

You can have coverage in ways you do not expect. I have a very expensive trip coming up, and I get pretty good travel insurance automatically through the credit card with which I paid for it, without paying an additional cent.

Finally, think about the odds of a problem that calls for insurance and then think long term. It can be cheaper to skip it, even if you take a loss. I can't even estimate how many dive trips I have taken over the years without taking travel insurance and without needing it. Let's say that the next big trip I take has a problem that for some reason costs me every dime--I can't recover any of it. In that case, given the cost of the insurance I didn't pay for on the other trips, I am still way ahead overall.

it all depends. we have an annual travel medical plan. we have made 3 trip interuption claims, each claim exceeded our annual premium. i am actually concerned that they may refuse to renew our policy one of these years.

first claim was a snow storm which caused a 2 day delay in our departure for a liveaboard. private water taxis in belize are very expensive. the second was a 3 day delay in newark due to a freak snow storm. last summer we had a 1 day plane delay in boston due to weather conditions that closed toronto. every delay day involves a hotel room, 3 meals for 2 people and extra shuttle costs. it adds up very quickly.

the annual policy makes sense for us because we travel a lot and weather storms are an issue in the winter.

 

[kelemvor]

For this trip, it's non-refundable after February, and the trip isn't until June. Seems like a long time for something to go wrong, and makes me nervous. I was also particularly interested in the insurance on my "stuff" since I check a bit of my gear. Probably around $1k worth. The most expensive stuff I do keep in a carry on, but some of it is just too big for that... and I don't want to buy and use separate not quite as good travel gear.

Divers Alert Network offers travel insurance if you are a DAN member.
I think DAN has an annual policy or per trip.
DAN's insurance provider is CSA Travel Protection.

I compared the DAN insurance (and I am a member). The premium was about the same but the coverage DAN offered was much lower on almost every line item.

We've got DM's on every boat, so the DM requirement is a non issue.

I am fairly certain my medical insurance will cover medical issues. I'm mainly worried about the other stuff this covers. It'll probably be about a $3,000 trip for two of us including flights. More if I include alcohol as this is not an all inclusive trip.