Yeah, I realize that with the trip insurance I'm covered.
This is interesting. Which DiveAssure program would cover cancelation by oil slick? Their best policy, Diamond, doesn't seem to cover such an event. It seems to cover only situations where travel is delayed or canceled for a covered reason, such as sickness or hurricane, and as a result you can't get to your hotel or if your hotel is destroyed before travel begins or after you arrive. An oil slick won't keep you from getting to your hotel nor keep you from staying in the hotel. Expressly excluded from coverage are cancelations by a tour operator unless a result of weather. An oil slick isn't weather. SD and/or Fisher are surely tour operators. Also expressly excluded from coverage is diving in an area where diving is forbidden, which, I presume, would include a situation where government closes an area to diving. In the event, you might file a claim with BP. Good luck with that!
I took a look at the DAN trip cancellation coverage via the link here on SD. It, too, does not seem to provide any coverage for anything like oil slick. It does, however, cover voluntary cancellation due to a terrorist incident, something not covered by DiveAssure.
I also took a look at the CSA Freestyle Luxe policy via the link here on SD. Unlike the other two policies, it does provide optional (for an extra charge) cancellation "for any reason." Cancellation must be made at least 48 hours before the original scheduled departure. The maximum recovery on a claim is on a sliding scale. As far as I know, SD never refunds payments made, in which case the maximum reimbursement payable by CSA is 70% of the trip cost. After travel has started but you cannot continue, you cannot collect unless you are sick or injured, hurricane, or the like. If the tour operator fails to deliver promised services, you get nothing unless they file for bankruptcy (but only if you paid for the optional insurance within 24 hours of booking the trip and the operator doesn't go bankrupt for at least 14 days thereafter). There is no payment on a claim if you have completed 50% or more of your trip or have fewer than 5 days remaining.
In any case, it is clear that "can't dive due to oil slick" is almost certainly not covered by any of these policies except the "cancel for any reason" CSA policy that will reimburse you no more than 70% and only if you have satisfied their numerous "gotcha" conditions.
Before paying for any of these policies, read and understand the fine print. I can tell you from personal experience that it can be exceedingly difficult to collect on these sorts of policies. My mother signed up for a cruise and bought a policy recommended by the cruise line. She died about 3 weeks prior to sailing. The cruise and insurance companies were notified immediately. Nonetheless, it took me more than 5 months and many, many hours of my time (as executor of her estate) to collect ("how do we know this death certificate is real? Was she ill when she signed up for the cruise 11 months prior? Provide a doctor's statement saying so. We lost the paperwork, send it again. That person no longer works here. Can you prove that is her signature on the insurance form? The application doesn't include her middle name, maybe it is someone else. etc."). In the end, considering my billable rate, it would have been more economic to just forget it.
Edited by TexasDiver, 15 June 2010 - 05:15 PM.
