Life Insurance for Scuba Divers: Undercurrent 11/2012

If you've had a difficult time getting a good rate on a life-insurance policy because you let on that you're a scuba diver, you're not alone. What's considered risky can vary by company. For instance, some will rate you negatively if you dive too frequently for their taste. But by shopping around, you may find a company that doesn't penalize for diving. Insurance companies will often change their criteria annually to be competitive.

Jeff Root, an independent life insurance agent in Lake Forest, CA ( www.rootfin.com ), says that when he has scuba-diving customers contacting him about obtaining life insurance, he asks them these questions:

What's your average number of dives per year?
What's the average depth of your dives, and what's your deepest dive?
Are you diving in overhead environments (caves, shipwrecks, ice)?
Do you do any rescue diving or diving for pay?
What are your certifications?

Then he references the answers across all the top-rated life insurance companies to see which carrier will look most favorably at their diving.

On a recent blog post on his website ( www.rootfin.com/blog ), Root posted 15 of the top insurance companies' scuba diving underwriting summaries, and let us publish them here.

You'll notice in the "Notes" column the frequent mention of a "flat extra." That's a charge insurance companies use to handle higher than standard mortality risks (you have cancer, you work in a dangerous occupation or, apparently, you're a scuba diver). The flat extra can be temporary, say for five years, or it can be permanent. A flat extra is an additional cost added to the price of a policy. Flat extras are expressed as a cost per thousand dollars of coverage, and they typically range between $2.50 and $15.00 per thousand. So say you bought a $100,000 policy and were given a flat extra of $2.50 per thousand. That would add an additional $250 cost to your policy.

Carrier	Best Class Available	Max # of Dives Annually	Max Depth Allowed	Notes
American General	Preferred Plus	10	100 feet	Open water, no penetration diving; PADI-certified or dive with guide
AXA	Preferred Elite	No max listed	100 feet	76-100 ft. can get Preferred Elite, but with a $2.50 flat extra. Penetration diving at $7.50 flat extra
Banner Life	Preferred Plus	Not strictly defined	75 feet	Certification and frequency are different between Standard and Preferred
Fidelity	Standard	Vacation only	100 feet	Plus. $2.50 flat extra for beyond 75 ft. No medical exam required.
Genworth	Preferred Best	No stated max	100 feet	If no participation in a year or more, no flat extra applies; beyond 125 feet and penetration diving are $2.50 flat extra
ING	Super Preferred	No limit	100 feet	Must be formally trained with a basic or better certification; 100 to 130 feet requires flat extra
Lincoln Financial	Super Preferred	No max stated	100 feet	Must be certified
MetLife	Standard Plus	No max	100 feet	Formally trained and always accom- -panied; dives past 100 feet add a $2.50-$3.50 flat extra
Minnesota Life	Preferred Select	No limit	100 feet	Limited to lakes, rivers, pits/quarries and coastal waters.
Mutual of Omaha	Preferred Plus	19	100 feet	Must be certified; 100-130 feet is $3.50 flat extra; if less than 10 dives per year, it's $5 flat extra. Cave diving is $2.50-$5 flat extra.
Protective	Select Preferred	Individual consideration	75 feet	Lakes, rivers, pits and coastal waters. Must be certified & accompanied. 100-foot-plus diving is $2.50-plus flat extra
Prudential	Preferred	No limit	100 feet	101-130 feet ok at Preferred with advanced certificate and 10+ dives/year
SBLI	Preferred Plus	10	75 feet	Penetration diving and diving beyond 100 feet is $2.50-plus flat extra
Transamerica	Preferred Plus	No Max	75 feet	Preferred up to 100 feet; 101 to 250 feet is a $2.50-$5 flat extra; 250-plus feet is a $7.50-$10 flat extra