Third party dive insurance

[Odin]

I was a member of a branch where two claims were going on simultaneously!
One was the Family of a member who lost his life on a non-branch dive, who sued the buddy. It went to court and the legal costs were horrendus.
Costs were awarded against the defendant.

The second was a member who suffered DCI on a branch dive. This was settled out of court.

The first case? I did agree with the decision to sue - but not with the outcome (a lot of facts were not disclosed, poor choice of "expert" witness).

The second case - I do not think should have sued.

Starngely both cases had a common denominator... the "buddy"!!!

I was a member of a branch - our first rule was members of all training facilities welcome, the second rule was you must have third party insurance.

Paul

[Mark Davies]

Rock climbers tend to do their thing in pairs. Do they take out third party liability insurance in case their partner is injured or killed? Not to my knowledge. Do they ever sue each other? Not that I have ever heard of.

What about the tens of thousands of Sunday league footballers? Rugby players? Injuries are far more common than in diving and there are plenty of documented rugby related deaths, so why do these people not feel the need for insurance?

Whatever we are doing we can all be sued in tort for negligence, but you are only going to be expected to have done what a reasonable person in your position and with your training would be expected to do. So, the practicalities are that if you are a simple recreational diver, not instructing and not taking any specific responsibility for your buddy other than the basics then you are highly unlikely to have anything to worry about provided you perform the basics and don't simply abandon your buddy. Bottom line, if there's a problem as long as you've tried your best you've little to worry about. You are not a professional so not much is expected of you.

There is a BSAC obsession with insurance, and sure people in BSAC clubs do get sued as we have seen above - but frankly that's probably only because the insurance exists in the first place! It's like sueing your partner if they happen to be driving in a car crash in which you are injured, because it is the insurer who is going to pay out, not them. You certainly wouldn't be doing it otherwise.

It's a personal choice but I certainly don't have insurance and see very little value in it for personal recreation diving. In my opinion the 'issues' created by the insurance requirements within clubs make it far more trouble than it's worth.

[nigelH]

The thing about BSAC insurance is that nobody is prepared to commit to what it does cover. Unknown insurance is no insurance so I paid the extra on my kit policy to have third party where I got to read the small print.

It still probably doesn't cover everything. I just put a mouse trap in the club kit store as something has been nibbling the booties. Say somebody puts a toe in it and succumbs to the ensuing infection. Is that a third party diving accident?

[JamesW]

Originally Posted by colinicky

We as a non affiliated club have Dan insurance for the club & as it was put to us you only need to be at a dive site & your cylinder falls over on the toe of a ballet dancer & your in the ****. Dan club insurance covers all our members both for club dives & for diving when not arranged by the club .

You say you are non affiliated dive club and have DAN Insurance, I thought DAN Club Insurance only covers clubs who are affiliated to a dive agency or a dive centre.

[Barbel]

Surley as sport divers with have no legal obligation to a buddy.

If in a organised trainning situation paid ot not this will change as we are putting ourself's outside our confort/experience zone and trusting the instructor. Even though when i did my OW i had to sign a wavier. I would doubt the validiate of this depending on the situation.

If this is not the case we will soon be asking buddys to sign waviers. Especially if on holiday and being buddyed with total strangers.

[JamesW]

Originally Posted by Barbel

Surley as sport divers with have no legal obligation to a buddy.

If in a organised trainning situation paid ot not this will change as we are putting ourself's outside our confort/experience zone and trusting the instructor. Even though when i did my OW i had to sign a wavier. I would doubt the validiate of this depending on the situation.

If this is not the case we will soon be asking buddys to sign waviers. Especially if on holiday and being buddyed with total strangers.

But you have a care of duty to others.

[colinicky]

Originally Posted by JamesW

You say you are non affiliated dive club and have DAN Insurance, I thought DAN Club Insurance only covers clubs who are affiliated to a dive agency or a dive centre.

Well they covered us & it is on the policy that we are non affiliated so they can't say they weren't told .

[JamesW]

Originally Posted by colinicky

Well they covered us & it is on the policy that we are non affiliated so they can't say they weren't told .

Hi Colin
The reason I said this we had a club down our way and after a few years some one read the small print and they were not insuranced just worth reading the small print.
Thanks

[colinicky]

Originally Posted by JamesW

Hi Colin
The reason I said this we had a club down our way and after a few years some one read the small print and they were not insuranced just worth reading the small print.
Thanks

No thats fine & I will check it again to be certain you always end up with a muppet writing the policy !

[Barbel]

Originally Posted by JamesW

But you have a care of duty to others.

Everybody as that not just divers.