With lots of us finally travelling to scuba dive again, it’s time to think about one of the often forgotten parts of dive travel planning – insurance. Diving involves some inherent risk, so it’s incredibly important that we always have scuba diving insurance for unexpected situations.
During the pandemic, travel insurance (and therefore also scuba diving insurance) became slightly more difficult to navigate. Many insurers wouldn’t cover cancellations in relation to Covid, and some also wouldn’t cover your healthcare if you became infected whilst travelling.
With this in mind, divers looking for insurance understandably have a lot of questions. Luckily we’re here to help answer some of those questions, with the help of Shannen from DiveAssure. Read on to learn more about why it’s important to have a scuba diving policy, what DiveAssure can offer with their coverage, and how insurance coverage has changed in response to Covid.
Choose a Specific Dive Insurance Policy
A quick search on an insurance comparison website will show you that there are countless providers on offer when it comes to travel insurance, and many of these generic travel policies will provide scuba diving cover within their included activities.
However, once you get into the small print they’re often not comprehensive enough to cover the medical complications that can occur from diving accidents, or they have limitations such as depth limits which may not match your certification level.
Divers also tend to carry expensive equipment, so the value of our luggage can be considerably higher than a normal lost baggage claim. Here’s what Shannen had to say about the benefits of a dive policy as opposed to relying on generic travel coverage:
GTS: Why should every diver have specific dive insurance, rather than diving being covered on a travel policy?
Shannen: “Unlike DiveAssure, general travel insurance doesn’t offer the extensive coverage divers require when traveling abroad. Often, diving is not a covered event or the limits of cover are not sufficient for chamber and/or evacuations which can be costly.
At DiveAssure, we make sure to offer all the necessary coverages for divers in one membership. Including but not limited to: lost diving days, medical assistance for diving and non-diving incidents, lost/delayed diving gear, specialized liveaboard coverage, cancellation/interruption of your trip, and much more.”
Many of the members of our Girls that Scuba Facebook group can testify to the importance of having dive specific insurance – a quick search of the word “insurance” brings up numerous posts of divers who are grateful that they had insurance in a dive accident scenario.
Whilst we all hope it will never happen to us, the reality is that even the safest diver may find themselves in a situation where they need medical help, and having the correct, comprehensive insurance can save you from financially crippling medical bills.
Choosing a Dive Insurance Provider
In contrast to the countless regular travel insurance providers, the choice of dive-specific insurers is much smaller. It’s important to do your research and compare policies to ensure you’re getting the right coverage for you and your trip(s), as not all dive insurers are created equal, and some will have better policies for your specific needs.
GTS: What sets DiveAssure’s cover apart from other dive insurance offerings?
Shannen: “Based on over 20 years of service dedicated exclusively to diving insurance and with expertise gained through insuring hundreds of thousands of divers in the USA and all over the world, you are guaranteed the best available programs, designed specifically for divers.”
“Should you require our help with claims or emergencies you will find that our dedication and knowledge of diving and dive-travel insurance makes a significant difference.”
“We offer a variety of insurance plans to suit your specific needs, from basic diving accident insurance or a single dive-trip insurance, to premium annual multi-trip travel insurance. Our travel plans can closely match the cost of your trip.”
“For those going on a liveaboard trip we offer our exclusive Liveaboard Rider with specific coverage of unique scenarios such as missing the boat’s departure and lost diving days due to many reasons.”
Covid Coverage on Dive Policies
As well as the obvious risk of illness due to infection, the pandemic brought with it a whole host of travel related issues, including cancellation due to catching the virus, quarantining due to exposure, last minute trip cancellation due to border closures – the list is almost endless.
Within the dive insurance world, DiveAssure is offering some of the best Covid related coverage, and Shannen shared with us some of the specifics of their policies:
GTS: What additional Covid coverage is in place on your diving and travel policies?
Shannen: “Our Dive-Travel plans offer trip cancellation/interruption due to contracting Covid-19 before your trip. We offer excellent limits for non-diving accidents/incidents which includes contracting Covid-19 while on a covered trip and quarantine expenses.”
For more information on what DiveAssure covers in relation to Covid-19, read their notice here.
DiveAssure are one of the many brands included on our Girls that Scuba Membership Platform, which is the first of its kind within the scuba industry. Membership Card holders receive exclusive offers on a huge variety of scuba diving brands – from reductions on liveaboards, to savings with dive centres across the globe, and special discounts with incredible dive equipment and lifestyle brands.
Check out the full list of brands and dive centres involved, and sign up to benefit from 5% off your next policy with DiveAssure.
Disclaimer: This article is not a paid for advertisement, however it includes affiliate links, which means that we make a small amount of commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase a policy.