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RE: divers vs. life insurance companies in Canada
- Posted Thu, Apr 12th, 2007 by Monty Loree Post a reply

FURTHER:
Actually John Vigars from London,Ont. is an independent broker who is only licensed to sell insurance in Ontario as far as I know. If anyone wants his number to buy insurance and is looking for a good broker in Ontario then Email me and I will happily send it to them. As for my other broker as far as
I am concerned the guy made a mistake and I don't think that it is appropriate to drag his name through the mud for it. I think what is more beneficial to divers is to name the companies involved. The first company is the TranAmerica Life Insurance Company of Canada who gave me the hassle with
being a diver. The more diver friendly life insurance company that gets my full recommendation is Westbury Life. Anyone seeking a policy with this company should contact an insurance broker in their area. I don't know if Westbury Life only operates in Canada or is an international company
operating outside of our borders.

The point that I am trying to make is that if you want life insurance and are a diver then it is best to shop around as policies from one company to another show quite a bit of variation. If you have life insurance now I would strongly recommend checking the wording of your policy. If unsatisfactory
then now be aware that there is always another alternative. I hope my experience will help someone else in the future.

divers vs. life insurance companies in Canada
- Posted Thu, Apr 12th, 2007 by Monty Loree Post a reply

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If you hadn't read my previous post let my fill you in. My life insurance policy came up for renewal and my broker suggested that he could get me a slightly better rate with another company so I agreed to switch. I filled out the forms, had a physical with a nurse representative and set up a payment plan. On one of the forms I was asked two questions (1) do you dive (2) what is your greatest depth. I answered (1) yes (2) 130 ft. I based my answer of depth on the dive industry standard of 130 ft. being the suggested maximum depth for rec. diving, automatically assuming that the insurance company would be aware and in agreement. Imagine my shock when I received a letter from the
insurance company saying that I was considered a high risk diver and the insurance company would only insure me with a waiver against scuba diving or pay an extra hundred bucks a month for this "high risk" activity. Worse yet I had already cancelled my original policy and was now without coverage. I have two kids from a previous marriage and a mortgage on a house I share with my common law so there are people that need some coverage should I have ever croak. I called my (now ex) insurance broker and he said that there was nothing that could be done and that any life insurance company would feel the same way. I called an underwriter at the company and he(obviously a non diver) said I was diving dangerously because I had a small percentage of my dives over 100 ft.

Well fortunately this story has a happy ending. Through my first post I was put in touch with John Vigars, an insurance broker and very experienced dive instructor. John contacted the representative of another company and had a form faxed to me. This form asked all kinds of intelligent questions about diving: how often, certification levels, where, how long, type of equipment, keep a log book, etc. I filled this out and John has informed me that my application has been accepted and I now have life insurance coverage without have to pay that ridiculous
rip-off premium. It turns out that the new company realizes that I am a safe diver. Their concern involves divers that do cave, ice or
decompression diving as high risk divers.

What really upset me about the first company was that they asked only two questions about diving. Never mind twenty-years experience, dive master rating, 100 dives per year, redundant air supply, never dive solo, new quality equipment, and lots of speciality courses and continuing education. Yet some yahoo who dives to 60 ft. once every few years on a holiday with rented equipment with an umpteen year old basic OW card is considered "safe".

Obviously the company that I am now with is much more tuned in to scuba diving than is the other. Also my first insurance broker didn't have a clue so he gets the boot also. This should be a lesson to all divers.

This makes me wonder about the organizations that we pay fees to - PADI, NAUI, DAN, etc. I feel that perhaps they should have spent more time educating life insurance companies, etc. about diving and what is safe and what isn't. Also perhaps they should also make recommendations to their members as to who is/isn't diver friendly and we could support or boycott those companies.

Any discussion on this?

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