Source
r/scuba•
verbanan

DAN vs ‘regular’ insurance?

As the title suggests, what are the pros of a DAN insurance for a casual holiday diver like me (AOWD, ~50 dives under my belt, 2 trips a year max and I don’t dive at home)?

My regular insurance provider clearly states that they cover scuba diving related accidents, it really seems to tick all the boxes, and it’s significantly cheaper than a DAN insurance (one-third the cost), which leads me to believe that I’m clearly missing something.

Posted May 14, 2022, 2:35 PM UTC

2219
also_anon_dc•

I’m a DAN member and have DAN insurance. I don’t have any faith that traditional insurance would be able to organize care for me in remote places. DAN has a proven track record being able to do that. If you have suspected DCS in remote Indonesia you couldn’t call your insurance and ask where to go and what to do but you could do that with DAN. Further, DAN is actively conducting research about diving, supporting chambers and running a 24/7 hotline which are all things I want to contribute to for the diving community.

78
leko916•

To support your last point- I’m having sinus surgery (non diving related) in a month but my ENT doesn’t have any experience with sinuses relative to diving. I called DAN and talked to someone for nearly an hour about my upcoming surgery and the impact to diving. The medic at DAN said my ENT could call and they would consult with her on my surgery too -which she did. Insurance doesn’t do any of this.

34
toragirl•

This right here is why I have DAN insurance. It's a pretty small price to pay for the research, support and peace of mind.

5
Munnin41Nx Advanced•

You can still call DAN for advice if you're not a member though.

5
Dip__Stick•

True, but it's good to support the stuff that you use/value. If you want to see it continue to exist that is

8
verbananOP•

Thanks for the help/insight everyone, I’m 100% sold on DAN.

21
Jordangander•

Check in to the details of your insurance and diving related coverage. Many say they cover injuries but they only cover basic injuries like an animal bite/sting, or other injury. They may not cover something like a chamber ride, or flights and other not ambulance emergency transport.

19
ciprian1000•

It really depends what you want from your insurance. If you only need costs covered, then your regular insurance might be ok. You need to read the fine print though.

DAN is more than just an insurance. Imagine that you just had what you think is an accident. You can call DAN and ask what to do in that case. They have specialists waiting on the other end to asses the situation and give you advice. In some countries they can even arrange transportation by helicopter or otherwise to get emergency care when needed. Also, you need to check the levels of coverage from both. Emergency care is expensive, and regular insurances don't understand or care about that. They might cover the medical costs, but not the transport.

Good luck with your decision.

17
WetRocksManateeOpen Water•

DAN has a couple of advantages over getting additional coverage in your health insurance.

First it covers international trips, something that few health insurances covers. And it covers not just chamber rides but other minor things like dive related ear infections (though you have to go through the useless motions of submitting it to your insurance first as DAN is a secondary insurance).

Second it covers more than just the treatment, but a lot of transportation costs related to treatments that most health insurances have limited coverage for. There are also SAR costs. And other misc expenses that health insurance doesn't cover.

Finally you have simplified approvals process. You call DAN and you/representative are talking directly to someone that can approval evacuations. And send you to the nearest chamber (though in the US you often are often used to use the EMS system as a front line for fairly minor hots).

7
MyFaceSaysItsSugar•

I’m blanking on the exact price but I know it was under $200 for a year of DAN. How is your health insurance cheaper than that?

3
verbananOP•

We might be looking at different products (or they're making you pay stupid amounts for insurance in the US...), but here in the UK, 1 year of DAN's Sport Silver would set me back approx. 100 USD, whereas the simplest 1-year travel insurance is around 35 USD. Having said that, I travel light and cheap, so I don't need high coverage on my hotels/flights and belongings.

1
MyFaceSaysItsSugar•

Ah, yeah that’s different. I suspect DAN’s products vary by country, but in the US we can get insurance that covers recreational injury only, medical costs, airlift, etc. with DAN and then a more expensive trip insurance that covers changes in trip expenses and non-dive-related medical issues like Covid.

1
Indifferentchildren•

Does that $35/yr cover medical expenses while traveling to the U.S.? Our health insurance is usually over $600/month for a single person (depending on coverage).

1
verbananOP•

Yes... but it 'only' covers emergency medical expenses and some other things that come with it if necessary (hospital stay, emergency transportation, flight ticket if I have to miss my original flight that come to mind).

Edited to clarify: I can opt. for coverage that is worldwide, except for the US, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbeans. That would make it even cheaper.

2
mikemerriman•

Your regular insurance isn’t going to evacuate you from a remote island to a working chamber. At best you’ll pay out of pocket for transport and treatment in advance and maybe get some of it back.

3
jschall2•

DAN will scramble a private jet for you if they have to to get you to the appropriate facilities. Do you think anyone else is equipped to do that kind of thing?

I'd go with DAN, personally.

3
thedirtygerman•

Don't forget that then will also cover you in a motor vehicle accident when you need a helicopter fly out or at least they used to back in the day.

1
Celairiel16•

I had a similar question before my first dive trip. Luckily I haven't had to use it, but I bought from Dive Assure. $54 for a week of their basic coverage. I felt much better having diver specific coverage, but I liked that I could get shirt term coverage instead of a full membership.

1
CaribbeanDiverDude•

Both for sure. It’s very low cost for what you get and like others have said it supports diving. I had to use it only 3 months after getting it. They were wonderful to work with and even talked my wife through things while I was in a foreign hospital after a dive accident. Really helped to calm her down when there was a language barrier keeping her from talking to the hospital staff. Even just driving a few times a year I’d recommend it to anyone

1