Max depths for various qualifications

[Morag]

Do you actually need to declare your qualification to life insurance companies now? when I got mine and declared I was a diver I was asked to what depths I dive and my premium was calculated accordingly. I did not have to declare with whom I had trained.

Do insurance companies care who you trained with? I could start the monkeypony diving agency and certify people to 50m. Would an insurance company accept this as 'diving within certification'?

I don't think you need to, but my insurance company asked about qualifications, diving etc.

In th event of a diving death, the coroners court would be expected to reach some sort of vedict, which could be (and, IIRC, has been) used by insurance companies to deny payout.

The established training agencys carry a certain amount of credibility, and have standards individuals are supposed to meet. I doubt a card issued by monkeypny diving agency would carry the same level of credibility in its training standards as, for example, TDI.

The taining undertaken by a diver to be awarded the qualification would be evaluated at some point.

[milldog]

If you die, then your insurance company will have to make a decision as to whether your dependants are going to recieve a payout. They will resist paying out if you have dived beyond your qualifications.

BUT they still have to pay out because there isnt a legal requirment for the cert.

Graham

[Morag]

BUT they still have to pay out because there isnt a legal requirment for the cert.

Graham

Depending on what is in the policy, if all 'material facts' have been divulged

Insurance companies wriggle. they always have and they always will. Whether they actually pay out depends on whether the beneficiary has the stomach for a fight.

[milldog]

Depending on what is in the policy, if all 'material facts' have been divulged

Insurance companies wriggle. they always have and they always will. Whether they actually pay out depends on whether the beneficiary has the stomach for a fight.

regardless of all the letters and fight if you die the insurance has to pay, and thats from the claims agent ....... unless the beneficiary signs off on the policy.


Graham

[milldog]

Steve,

Don't fret - the insurance company won't touch his case - or rather the case brought by the family - as he didn't observe the limits of certification &/or insurance - as seen with the Tony Allen incident a few years back.

His accident was a bend and he didn't load the risk fee, for the chance of a bend so the insurance argued the fact, however i think you'll find it has been settled in full by the insurance (due to the fact the insurance expert cant say when the bend occurred in court)

and as a insurance risk it's better if your dead as it's a one off payment

Graham

[John63]

DAN insurance abroad doesn't mention your qualifications at all and it's unlimited depth on air. There are some limits on trimix diving, but not exactly arduous.

And I don't have any dependants.

Jason

Are you sure about this?

I have DAN insurance and was under the impression that whilst there were no set depth limits in the text of the policy, the cover only extended to the limit of your certification. So with the same policy an Open water diver would be okay to 18m, but a normoxic trimix would be covered to 60m

Cheers, John

[JasonP]

Are you sure about this?

I have DAN insurance and was under the impression that whilst there were no set depth limits in the text of the policy, the cover only extended to the limit of your certification. So with the same policy an Open water diver would be okay to 18m, but a normoxic trimix would be covered to 60m

Sure about what? The lack of dependants?
Pretty sure.

There aren't any exclusions in the policy document of that nature that I can find. It doesn't actually appear to mention certification at all.

Jason

[Arfie]

Do you actually need to declare your qualification to life insurance companies now? when I got mine and declared I was a diver I was asked to what depths I dive and my premium was calculated accordingly. I did not have to declare with whom I had trained.

From a life cover point of view, some do ask and some don't. They are mostly bothered about the frequency and depths that you dive to and whether you mess about in caves and wrecks. However if they do ask, you have a "duty of disclosure" to give the correct information, if you don't you are voiding your own policy.

Do insurance companies care who you trained with? I could start the monkeypony diving agency and certify people to 50m. Would an insurance company accept this as 'diving within certification'?

If you were with an agency the insurer had never heard of or had no information on, rather than spend time researching the agency they would possibly ignore the qualification and only accept whatever level you have from an agency they do recognise. If all your qualifications were with an agency they didn't know about, it is entirely possible that they would refuse to accept your business.

It is better to know these things before you spend money on premiums, so declare everything. It's better to pay increased premiums on a policy that will pay out, than pay lower premiums on a policy that they will not pay out on due to being give false information or having "material facts" withheld.

Arfie