Forrest may remember this- In the late 70's when I first got started in open water diving, a sport diver (recreational, no-deco, air only, open water, open circuit) could not get life insurance. It was considered a "high risk" activity. Today, open water sport diving has a lower fatality rate than bowling!
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
I read that comment out loud at work, and my co-worker said "I understand that one. There's always a bar at the bowling ally".
Actually, if they don't catch that you are a cave diver in the first two years of the policy, it doesn't matter if you die in the cave at all. They still have to pay.Originally Posted by stairman
Yes, sorry I wasn't clearer. They would still sell him a life policy, but if he died in a cave, it would be void.
Super, you're just trying to sell insurance and get rich off the cave divers.
That's not the way I understand the law.
If you lie on the application, they have a legal reason to not pay if they can prove it.
My wife's family is involved in insurance and has seen several times where the company did not pay out because of that very reason.
Joe
I doubt there is a check box for being a cave diver. I'm betting he means if you just keep your mouth shut, not actively lie.
Best answer: give up cave diving!
Actually this problem is not limited to cave diving. Dives below 130 FSW will de-insure you. Most policies will cover scuba diving (check the box) but that only triggers a follow-up to clarify.
One insurer had a bizarre formula whereby you were covered for open water scuba events IF your "average depth" did not exceed 60 fsw. I asked how would you possibly know/prove this. The rep pointed out that there are dive computers that can do this and you should get one.
I scrolled back through my He and found a EN dive for 271 FFW runtime 88 minutes. The Average Depth was 67 FFW. With a little forethought, I could have thrown in a 12 minute 7 foot stop and get my average down to a 59.8 FFW dive.
Still won't help for a cave dive, though.
Last edited by diveongas; 05-19-2012 at 10:50 AM.
This is genius!
You understand it incorrectly. I promise in FL, if they don't catch it in the first two years, they have to pay the claim. It's called "the contestable period". It's a state law.
Edit* And just about every insurance application has a few check boxes that says "have you in the past 5 years been a pilot, have you in the last 5 years been a scuba diver, have you in the last five years been a skydiver". If you answer yes to the SCUBA question, then you get another page to fill out, that asks you if you are a cave diver, how deep you go, do you do night dives, do you wreck dive, etc etc etc.
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