Why I Travel Insured... Sponsored By DAN

[@andrecandrade]

I believe DAN works fine. Well… unless you get bent cave-diving on a remote island in the Bahamas, go home cook some burgers, and then start asking for medivac….

[@peterjulianphotos4659]

Gus and Woody still haven't put up a follow up video as they promised they would. I'm sure there is enough blame for everyone to have to a very large slice.

[@MostlyDiving]

They did post a followup with a dive safety expert just recently. Based on that, most of the fault does seem to lie with DAN although they were very diplomatic about it. My takeaway is your high limit credit card is your actual life-saver (if you wanna take the substantial risk traveling with a high limit card - I usually use a semi-disposable low limit card for theft/scam protection). DAN is just maybe-they'll-pay-you-back-after-the-fact-if-you-shame-them-on-a-popular-youtube-channel. They do still provide some maybe-valuable travel protection, but there's still that trust problem - hard to gain, easy to lose. Will they actually be there for you when you need it, or will their algorithm or a middle manager with a quota throw red tape at you? EDIT: my expectation would be that any time there's a life threatening incident where DCS is suspected and can't be ruled out, they'd err on the side of not letting someone die to save a buck. Clearly they disagree, much as everyone seems to be running cover for DAN in this case, for reasons that aren't clear to me. Even the DiveTalk videos don't really explain why they're being so circumspect about it.

[@lukem2889]

He did say respected dive professionals..

[@Dmnick155]

@@peterjulianphotos4659 They did already

[@jeffworst9939]

@@peterjulianphotos4659 It's there now. They never said how long it would take to get the response from DAN... which of course is mostly in DAN's control. DAN did respond and their latest video is quite educational regarding what DAN can and can't do and how to communicate with DAN during an emergency. For example, if you get in trouble at Bikini Atoll, there isn't much DAN can do for you.

[@michaelcozad1944]

James, will you be doing a video discussing Woody’s medivac experience with DAN?

[@DiversReady]

I don’t know anything about this, so no.

[@dulio2161]

Interesting timing given the video that just dropped on another dive channel today. DAN being clever in their sponsored content

[@JAB24100]

I have DAN, but more importantly I have an AMEX platinum card…

[@peterjulianphotos4659]

I totally agree, finding a good travel insurance company is like finding Unicorn Poo. About 10 years ago I found a not for profit health insurer who also does travel insurance in Australia , and at last count I'd bought > 20 policies from them. One year my wife and I went to Russia for the Rugby 7's World Cup and our luggage went to somewhere between China and Inner Mongolia - not only did our insurer keep us informed of what we could spend on replacements, they also worked with the airline involved to retrieve our bags as soon as possible. At then end of the trip I just sent in photos of all of our receipts for replacement items (which were in Russian) and they sent me a check 3 weeks later for the full amount in Aussie dollars, no questions, no haggling, just a phone call to say they accepted our claim in full. These days we do a 5-6 week trip every year to the US or Europe from Australia and short trips around Asia in between. Next week-end we fly to Singapore for the Rugby 7's for 4 days, and then at the end of the month we are off to Spain (for the Rugby 7's) and a side trip to Portugal. James have you dived the Portugese coast?? any suggestions.

[@matthewhignite]

James you should to an interview with gus and woody from dive talk they did a trip to abaco bahamas they were cave diving in rebreathers

[@giulianogiordano100]

Unfortunately DAN has abandoned Brazil and now refuse to insure Brazilian residents. DiveAssure is the solution

[@kevindavison6019]

Ive purchased DAN insurance several times for piece of mind I haven't had to file a claim for anything so i don't have any experience of how user friendly it is or not. I've decided to go with Dive Assure for my next trip as they have a specific Liveaboard Rider i case of boat related problems. It is only valid outside of the USA so won't work for any domestic trips. Again hopefully I wont have any claims. After watching the reviews of DAN and Woody's experiences I made contact with the chamber operator at my destination and asked for procedures in case of an accident so I can be prepared They were helpful in giving me the contact information for their location as well as Dive Medicine doctors contact information for the remote sides i will be visiting. I specifically asked about billing and procedures for treatment. In addition to the information they invited me for a tour of the facility while I am in town. I believe the lesson learned from the Dive Talk Crew is to be more aware of having to be your own advocate instead of just relying on the insurance company.

[@alex6008]

DAN policies exclude rental car coverage for residents of couple states. Read the policy doc very carefully!

[@brettL.hoelzer]

I just had a my first experience with decompression illness and DAN was so helpful to help me thru it all. I only needed to be put on oxygen and not the chamber. I was curious as to your diving after DCS illness. Have you experienced any trouble returning to diving?

[@srfzone]

I did extensive global traveling in my 20s and 30s, oftentimes to regions of the world where the infrastructure and care services were questionable, and never had travel insurance. This month (April 2024) at the ripe age of 60 I went with my wife on our first liveaboard trip to a lovely but still developing country. A tragedy struck one of our fellow divers. While far, *far* less important, we lost two of seven dive days that we had been waiting 2 years for. The incident reminded me of the importance of our DAN membership and dive insurance; the travel insurance with Generali I had reluctantly purchased reimbursed us for the 2 days that we lost. This type of coverage is of course a personal decision, but we will continue to use it on all of our future adventures.

[@xineissm]

I wish DAN hadn't just "up and left" us here in Brazil. We had a local DAN office and during the pandemic they told us that we would be joining DAN World. We are in 2024 and are still unable to join DAN. So, no thanks! DiveAssure, here we come!

[@krisvanaut]

Hi, I checked with our dive center on the need of personal insurance, they told me it’s not required, as when you dive with instructor or guide it’s covered by the dive centers insurance. Would you agree or is this wrong information?

[@Boopadoop]

DAN provides so much for the global diving community. Their contribution is invaluable!!! Thank you DAN!

[@optionchuc1]

This is a misnomer, there are 192 countries in the world... its easier to list where you've been.... That being said.. this guy is 99.999999% correct for anything diving

[@turgutvelettin6727]

Travel insurance is always necessary you dive or not I have BSAC insurance also I take additional Travel insurance. Also when I am travelling always my mask and regulators I have them I do carry them in my back pack because I do use prescription lenses and would like to use my own regs.

[@dannyholden5361]

The competition isn’t registering the Facebook visit

[@absabs3811]

It's a shame Dan Europe doesn't have as comprehensive options for travel insurance, the gold option is very reassuring for diving but would be great to have it all under one roof 😊

[@HKstuntman]

exactly. Can't get any of it (except medical/diving ) in you live in Europe :(

[@lukem2889]

Canada either, just their dive insurance but no travel insurance

[@FedericoLucchi]

I've seen more than once comments about DAN being completely unreliable when it comes to actually doing what they promise. Dive Talk had a particularly eye-opening experience recently... looks like DAN rushed some KZbin sponsored content to make up for it. I doubt they'll be quite as generous towards divers in distress.

[@souswes]

This series feels like DAN scrambling to recover face since woody had his incident…especially with the swag give away

[@jr3628]

James, talk to woody at dive talk @dive talk about his issues with DAN! He damn near dies and they cant even approve a chamber trip let alone the plane to get him to the chamber. Now his AMEX card had no issues covering him in his time of need where DAN left him dieing on a gurney in a "hospital".