The value of Diver’s Alert Network insurance
by Tahoe Dive Center
Insurance is one of those products that at times, one resents paying their hard earned dollars towards.
It is not uncommon to have a negative claims experience where the “insured’ is denied a claim or is low balled on a settlement, be it a car accident, homeowners claim; and I don’t even want to go there…health care, with high premiums.
However, there is a provider, albeit, secondary coverage, that is affordable, and provides value unsurpassed by any other insurer.
That is DAN (Diver Alert Network) insurance for divers.
Recently on one of our trips, we had an individual that suffered inner ear barotrauma, inner ear DCS. The onset of symptoms started about one hour after the second day of diving. Symptoms were severe vertigo, nausea, and vomiting.
We immediately requested oxygen from the dive shop and within minutes our resort had an ambulance there to transport the individual to the nearest recompression facility located at the hospital.
This diver required two initial recompression therapies with a two night stay for observation. Subsequent shorter recompressions were conducted for a total of five recompressions over five days.
Once released from the hospital, DAN was on the phone with the client getting the individuals’ flight information in case they needed to stay longer. DAN was prepared to make all the flight changes if necessary. Our diver was on the Preferred Plan.
Now that is top quality customer service!
On one of the recompression treatments, our diver had to share the chamber with a gentleman that suffered a severe Type 2 DCS, neurological hit. Unfortunately, this diver did not have DAN insurance, and the hospital demanded $5000 up front for treatment.
If that is not a wakeup call for divers without DAN insurance, then I don’t know what is, hopefully your credit card limit will cover the costs of treatment.
DAN membership offers three plans, Master at $40/year, Preferred at $75/year and Guardian (which is what I have being a tech diver) at $125/year. With each of these plans there is an annual $35 membership fee which covers the quarterly DAN magazine subscription.
The breakdowns on the three coverages are as follows, no depth limit: K = $1,000
| Coverage | Guardian $125 | Preferred $75 | Master $40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Expense | 500K | 250K | 125K |
| Accidental Death | 30K | 15K | 15K |
| Disability | 30K | 15K | 15K |
| Extra Transportation | 10K | 2K | 1K |
| Extra Accommodation | 10K | 3K | 1.5K |
| Loss of Dive Equipment | 5K | 2.5K | 2.5K |
| Non Diving Medical | 20K | 10K | |
| Extra Medical Transport | 100K | ||
| Repatriation | 50K | ||
| Search and Rescue | 50K | ||
| Injuries for any water sport | 30K |
In considering the exorbitant medical premiums that we and our employers are required to pay, clearly the value of DAN insurance speaks for itself.
All too often, individuals “cheap out” thinking they won’t need DAN insurance and then once they need it, as the gentleman that had to fork up $5000, they wish they had made the minimal investment.
On our home page www.tahoedivecenter.com we have a link to sign up for DAN insurance, use code 414077 to sign up.