Insurance and the Traveling Diver; Part I

For traveling divers, dive insurance is essential because dive injury treatment is unique, perhaps even requiring air evacuation. For general travel insurance - flight delays, missing baggage, trip interruption, illness before departure, medical coverage - some people take their chances, and, in a sense, self-insure. Still, as divers age, taking out a general travel and medical policy becomes wise, especially recognizing that Medicare does not cover medical costs outside the U.S. and its territories. One can find all kinds of policy variations to meet individual needs - trip interruption, COVID coverage, medical, medical evacuation, etc.

We asked Undercurrent readers to tell us their experiences with diving and travel insurance, and scores responded, some with successful reimbursements and others with unfortunate outcomes. We've pulled together the most salient examples of issues you might face, including some tips if you ever need to file a claim.

Make an Error, and You're Toast

Insurance companies are not munificent uncles that pay out unstintingly. Like any business, they must take in more money than they spend, and to accomplish that, their policy language is precise. And your claim must be as well.

As an example of how tough a travel insurance company can be, Ralph Bell (Springfield, VA) told us of his plight: Last year, he checked in for his American Airlines flight to Providenciales, where he was to board the Turks and Caicos Aggressor, but A.A. refused to board him. For whatever reason, his passport number did not match the number on his T&C travel authorization document. Much to his great disappointment, he could not fly to Provo to board his boat. After several months, Trawick International refused his claim for reimbursement for an error they did not cover.

DAN and DiveAssure

Both companies offer dive insurance and travel insurance. DiveAssure is underwritten by Chubb, and DAN is underwritten by Generali, with the organizations earning a fee by marketing the insurance. If you file a claim, you deal with the insurance company. Both seem to perform reasonably well for divers, but there can be surprises.

Michael Ginsberg (Vallejo, CA) has filed three claims with DiveAssure. He lost prepaid dives in Yap due to an eye injury, and they reimbursed him. He had scheduled a solo trip aboard the Roatan Aggressor, but beforehand his wife broke her arm, and he had to stay home to help.

"Aggressor had zero flexibility for a future trip credit, so I put in the claim to DiveAssure. They promptly paid. The only issue that surprised me was an additional 20 percent liveaboard deductible that I had no idea was part of the policy. I objected, but they did not budge."

His third claim was also due to his wife's wrist injury. "I planned a trip to Thailand and prepaid for my hotel for three weeks." He had to cancel, and DiveAssure, that is, Chubb, paid for it.

David Steinberg (Portland, OR) was very creative when he insured his 5-star trip to Cuba to surprise his wife. "I booked through the travel company, Ya'lla, which recommended insurance through Travel Insured International, and purchased the most comprehensive policy for $1756. While I already had a DAN Guardian plan, the trip cancellation coverage was $10,000 per occurrence and $15,000 per trip interruption, and my trip would exceed $20,000, so I added the second policy.

"Due to my wife's illness, I canceled the trip. I filed a claim with Travel International for the $10,000 down payment and was paid the entire amount after I provided extensive medical documentation. I then filed a claim with DAN for the $400 Ya'lla charged for cancellation and the Travel-Insurance International premium, a total of $2,156. I explained to DAN that if I hadn't purchased the Travel Insurance International policy, DAN would be liable for the entire $10,400. DAN reimbursed me $2,156."

David Dornbusch (Oakland, CA) had a successful experience with DAN's trip insurance carrier, Generali. "We bought coverage for a November/December 2022 Stanford-organized trip on Aqua Blu in the Banda Sea, Indonesia. Unfortunately, Helen tested positive for COVID, so we were confined to our cabin for seven days until she tested negative twice. Generali compensated us for the prorated portion of the trip we spent quarantined.

"I think two things were necessary for our claim's success: a letter from Stanford that described the reason for, duration of, and nature of our quarantine, and our submitting independent proof of Helen's positive COVID test. While on the boat and from our cabin, the Stanford trip manager helped us transmit an image of Helen's test to the lab, which then confirmed the result in a lab result report."

Medical Evacuation

A primary reason to buy insurance is to ensure that if you're injured in some desolate part of the globe, you won't have to pay out-of-pocket and upfront to be airlifted to a chamber for care. Larry Schnabel (Templeton, CA), a retired attorney, tells us that he reviewed his policy before a trip to Egypt.

"The policy stipulated that the local physician in the country where you were injured or got sick would make the final decision whether you would be transported to a sophisticated medical center or treated at a local medical facility. I asked myself if a local physician - either very proud of his local medical facility or with a financial interest in seeing the patient treated locally - might nix an airlift out of the country. If I travel in areas where I suspect the medical care may not be ideal, I will look into how the insurer deals with this issue for whatever injury or illness may arise."

Schnabel's questions make us wonder about the failed evacuation of Todd Monroe (Jeffersonville, OH), who suffered a DCS incident in Dominica.

The local doctor told him that DAN could not make evacuation flight arrangements but said he could make those arrangements, and then the hospital could request reimbursement from DAN. He contacted DAN, and then the company DAN used contacted us at 1.00 a.m., wanting to contact the hospital for more information, and wanted me to find a fax machine to send them paperwork. I had a 6.00 a.m. commercial flight, so I didn't want to run around trying to find a fax machine. I flew myself to Miami, where I found excellent treatment without any assistance from DAN."

We contacted DAN's Director of Marketing, Steve Jamaroz, who said, "DAN must arrange all transportation. Since this is a service provided to DAN members, if a third party makes the arrangement, the cost is not reimbursable under the DAN plans."

While flying commercially after a bends diagnosis is a danger itself, it looks like Monroe would have faced a huge bill had he let that Dominican doctor arrange a flight.

Cancel for Any Reason

When COVID struck, many people decided to forgo their trips and were shocked to find their insurance did not cover their cancellation just because of the fear of flying due to COVID. Most travel insurance delineates specific, narrowly interpreted rules for cancellations, and if it is outside those boundaries, the insurance doesn't apply. Many policies don't ever cover claims from "epidemics or pandemics."

Those with DAN insurance have been fortunate. Jack Bernstein (Englewood, OH) says, "I used DAN insurance on a non-dive trip and got stranded due to a COVID quarantine. They immediately paid me what I was entitled to."

But did DAN have to pay? Subscriber Scott Conroy was planning a trip and DAN claimed COVID cancellations were covered, so he read the policy. It stated that epidemic- and pandemic-related claims are excluded. He got in touch with their underwriter, Generali, and was told that "they have made a business decision to pay COVID-related claims so they can keep selling policies, but the policy does not guarantee it. Generali is asking us to trust that they will do the right thing, and apparently, so far they are, but they could change their mind at any time." DAN and Generali continue to cover COVID.

But, if you want assurance for your insurance, consider a "Cancel for Any Reason" policy, which may cost 20-30 percent more, depending upon one's age. But as much as 75 percent of the costs are covered, even if you just change your mind. However, one must buy this policy shortly after making your first deposit, and in most cases, it must cover your entire trip expenses.

It worked for Randall Harwood and three others who had booked a trip to Misool, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, through World Diving in Hermosa Beach, CA. They added cancel-for-any-reason travel insurance through Travel Insured International. When they canceled their trip due to the pandemic, "Travel Insured honored the policy that stipulated a refund of up to 75 percent of the trip cost, which is the amount we received from them. World Diving also returned all but a small, reasonable amount as soon as we requested it."

And Then There is Credit Card Insurance

Almost every credit card offers some insurance; generally, the higher the annual fee, the more insurance. David Hollabaugh (Fulton, MO) says, "I have never purchased travel insurance for any trip, including diving. I am 69 years old and have come out far ahead over a lifetime of travel. My wife and I had to cancel two trips to Cozumel a few days before we were scheduled to travel. In both cases, we were reimbursed for losses by the trip cancellation insurance benefit provided at no charge by my Chase Freedom Visa."

A year ago, Lisa Evans (Ft. Collins, CO) was about to leave for Palau when she tested positive for COVID. While the Fish and Fins and Ocean Hunter refunded most of her money, she turned to her Chase Sapphire Reserve card. "I filed it three months past the 90-day deadline, but they still reimbursed me the $574. The card has an expensive annual fee, but you get several really good benefits."

We've seen mixed results for people who rely on credit cards for primary insurance, even for backup. Jose Cancelmo (Houston, TX) purchased an Antarctica trip for himself and his wife for $24,300, with air for each at $2197, but took out only $8000 apiece in trip insurance from Travelex. His wife became ill, so he canceled her airfare. Then, after a COVID outbreak on the vessel, his five-day stay in Antarctica became two, and he spent $2367 additionally for an early flight home. With no refund from the ship, he sought reimbursement from Travelex. He only received $750 for "missing" the flight and was reimbursed $8000 for his wife's illness. He applied to his credit card company for all lost expenses but was refused.

He says, "Of course, I wished I had bought more insurance for this trip, $15K each instead of $8K each. I did get the full amount I insured for my wife with Travelex."

Next Month: Where to get the best coverage and how to collect.

- John Bantin and Ben Davison